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Without Cold War competition, India would not have had such a significant and resilient public sector: Historian Mircea Raianu

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Author of Tata: The Global Corporation that built Indian Capitalism spoke of how India and its old business houses managed to work the earlier geopolitical minefield to their advantageWithout Cold War competition, India would not have had such a significant  and resilient public sector: Historian Mircea Raianu

Once again the western countries are at loggerheads with Russia. This time over Ukraine. Once again, India is placed in a tight spot–in having to choose between new opportunities and old allies.

In the fifties, when India had to take a position in the Cold War period, its political leaders managed to stay ‘non-aligned’ and help state-run businesses benefit from the US-Soviet Union stand-off. Competing business houses used their political connections on either side to gain an advantage over each other. Despite the hard circumstances, Indian political and business leaders scored big wins, according to Mircea Raianu.

This time, there are other factors muddying the waters.

In an interview with Moneycontrol, the historian of modern South Asia and author of Tata: The Global Corporation that Built Indian Capitalism, spoke about India’s history with non-alignment and why that political stand may not work as well this time.

India’s continuing economic and military links with Russia can be directly traced back to the first decade after independence. As the Cold War split the world into competing power blocs, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru adopted a posture of non-alignment alongside many other ex-colonial nations such as Egypt, Indonesia, and Ghana (but also European socialist countries like Yugoslavia that broke with Stalin). This was done for both pragmatic and ideological reasons, in order to benefit materially by attracting capital and expertise from both West and East (for example in the construction of state-owned steel plants), and due to Nehru’s orientation toward socialism in a democratic political context. Military aid from the Soviet Union eventually became more important, particularly after the 1971 war for Bangladeshi independence and growing US ties with Pakistan.

 What have been the benefits India has got from this relationship over the years, and what has it given in return?

 I’ll speak more about the economic aspects since I am not an expert on the military side. At first, the Indian state benefited considerably from Soviet aid for projects such as the steel plants at Bhilai and Bokaro. These were very successful in increasing steel output and technical training at low cost, while avoiding dependence on foreign exchange (in short supply in the late 1950s and early 60s). The technology was older but free of the patent protections insisted on by German and British private partners. Meanwhile, the US mainly directed aid toward agriculture rather than heavy industry. Seeking assistance from both sides (and in different sectors) created a vital space of maneuver for the Indian state to implement its desired industrial policy. In return, the Soviets obtained additional markets for export of grain and other commodities. As Oscar Sanchez-Sibony has pointed out in the excellent book Red Globalization, they were far from a dominant partner, merely using India to widen their participation in the global economy beyond the Iron Curtain. It was a win-win scenario but not for long.

 With the thawing of the Cold War, did Russia's interest in India weaken and therefore its investments in India reduce? 

 The shift to primarily military aid in the 1970s accompanied both détente (thawing) in the Cold War and stagnation in the Soviet economy. India, too, was undergoing a period of economic instability in the aftermath of the oil crisis of 1973. Under those conditions the relationship weakened. With limited liberalisation by Indira and Rajiv Gandhi in the 1980s, a more pronounced shift toward the US occurred (especially in the technology sector). But during this time India faced another balance of payments crisis (just as in the late 50s) and took advantage of oil purchases in rupees pegged to the ruble. The spike in oil prices due to the Gulf War and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 together led to the well-known liberalising reforms under Prime Minister Narasimha Rao and Finance Minister Manmohan Singh.

Also read: Share Market Closing Note - Sharetipsinfo

 Which are the old business houses that thrived thanks to India's friendship with the Soviet Union? 

 As I discuss in my book, Tata: The Global Corporation That Built Indian Capitalism, Indian business houses were in conflict with each other and with the Nehruvian state after independence. American and Soviet connections were leveraged to fight those battles. Tata had long been associated with the US, from the early days of building the Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) and the hydro-electric power plants in Western India. Chairman J.R.D. Tata was planning to expand production at TISCO with American help in the 1950s in order to counterbalance Nehru’s insistence on steel as a reserved sector for the state. When news of the Soviet offer for the plant at Bhilai broke, Tata feared the loss of an essential “open door” to the American steel industry. But President Einsenhower and his advisers were even more alarmed about the threat of Communism and pushed through a much-needed World Bank loan to fund TISCO’s expansion. Meanwhile, the Birlas and Lalbhais represented India in negotiations to purchase Soviet equipment for the oil and aluminium industries. This was in keeping with their calculated proximity to Nehru and the Congress. The benefits of trade with the Soviets went mostly to the Indian state, specifically to certain ministries like the Production Ministry (rather than Commerce and Industry). Without Cold War competition, India would not have had such a significant and long-lasting public sector.

How did the dissolution of the Soviet Union affect this bilateral relationship and trade?

 After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia experienced a lost decade of economic decline (culminating in the financial crisis of 1998). India was comparatively on the rise and private business looked to the West. The relationship weakened further but did not break, remaining important in the military and energy sectors (both oil and nuclear).

What industries and big business houses are still dependent on this bilateral relationship?

 Very few private businesses in India today are oriented toward Russia. This is in keeping with historical precedent and is not likely to change.

 What challenges do you see to the Indian trade reducing its dependence on Russia?

India is in a precarious position, again not unlike the 1950s. Given the continuing dominance of the dollar as a global reserve currency, deepening supply chain integration (recall the signals to move manufacturing from China to India during the first year of the pandemic), and strategic partnerships to contain China (the Quad), it will be difficult to withstand Western pressure on sanctions. At the same time, breaking with Russia completely will put a dent in India’s military capabilities and freedom to assert its own foreign policy as an aspirational regional and global power.

In the Nehru and Indira Gandhi years, non-alignment made sense politically, economically, and ideologically (a dimension that is largely absent in a post-Cold War world). Today that is not so clear. One big unknown is the resilience of the Russian economy after sanctions, which will also test the prospects for self-reliance under duress. In the short term, Russia will have very little to offer for India’s broader developmental needs, which can only be achieved by continued participation in the US-centred global economic system. But in the long run, if Russia regains some degree of stability and influence, India may decide to keep that door open. Whatever happens, it will become necessary for Indian and other Global South leaders to begin articulating a more coherent vision for where they stand and what they stand for – as Nehru once did.


Share Market Closing Note - Sharetipsinfo

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 Share Market Closing Note

Benchmark indices whipsawed in trade on Thursday, the day of weekly F&O expiry, as geopolitical tensions between Ukraine and Russia remained unabated. Besides, Brent crude prices above $120 per barrel also added to investor woes. 

Sensex Nifty Share Market Close Today Latest News: Closing On Positive Note  For Sixth Consecutive Day Sensex Above 40000 - Sensex Nifty Today: लगातार  छठे दिन बाजार में तेजी, 40000 के ऊपर


The frontline S&P BSE Sensex gyrated 690 points intra-day before settling at 57,596, down 89 points or 0.15 per cent. The Nifty50, on the other hand, ended at 17,223, down 23 points or 0.13 per cent. The 50-share index had touched an intra-day high and low of 17,292 and 17,091, respectively. 

Dr Reddys Labs (up nearly 5 per cent) was the top Nifty gainer today, followed by Coal India, Hindalco, Cipla, NTPC, JSW Steel, Tech M, and RIL. On the downside, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank, Titan, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Maruti Suzuki, Divis Labs, BPCL, Tata Consumer Products, BPCL, and M&M slipped between 1 per cent and 3 per cent, keeping a lid on the upside.

The broader markets, on the contrary, held their ground and outperformed the headline indices. The BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices added up to 0.3 per cent amid gains in Zee Entertainment, Mindtree, Jindal Steel, Mphasis, Glenmark Pharma, Suven Pharma, Ganesh Housing, Future Retail, and Dish TV.

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Topic :- Time:3.00 PM

Nifty spot close above 17260 level then expect some upmove in coming sessions and if it closes below above mentioned level then some sluggish movement is likely to be seen in the market. Avoid open positions for tomorrow.

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Topic :- Time:2.40 PM

Just In:

Moscow stock exchange partially reopens after one-month closure

Trading resumed for only around 30 of the largest companies that make up the ruble-denominated MOEX Russia Index, which saw early gains of up to 10 percent.

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Topic :- Time:2.30 PM

CRUDEOIL Trading View:

CRUDEOIL is trading at 8823.If it manages to hold above 8780 level then expect some quick upmove in it and if it breaks and trade below 8780 level then some decline can follow in it.

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Topic :- Time:2.00 PM

Nifty is likely to turn volatile now in last hours. Nifty spot if manages to trade and sustain above 17200 level then expect some quick upmove in the market and if it breaks and trade below 17160 level then some decline can follow in the Nifty. Currently Nifty is trading at 17195.

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Topic :- Time:1.55 PM

Just In:

1. Anil Ambanis fire sale stretches, frustrating some of his lenders.


2. Paytm shares jump 13% after freefall, still at 72% discount to issue price

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Topic :- Time:1.40 PM

GOLD Trading View:

GOLD is trading at 51850.If it manages to trade and sustain above 51900 level then expect some quick upmove in it and if it breaks and trade below 51800 level then some decline can follow. Overall Buy from dips should be the approach till evening session.

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Topic :- Time:1.10 PM

FDI inflow to India declines to $74.01 billion in 2021:

Total foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow to India declined to $74.01 billion in the calendar year 2021, which is 15 per cent lower from $87.55 billion recorded in the previous year, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry said on Wednesday.

The FDI inflow includes equity inflow, equity capital of unincorporated bodies, re-invested earnings and other capital.

FDI is largely a matter of commercial business decisions and FDI inflow depends on a host of factors such as availability of natural resource, market size, infrastructure, political and general investment climate as well as macro-economic stability and investment decision of foreign investors. In calendar year 2021, the FDI inflow decreased by 15 per cent as compared to calendar year 2020, Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Som Parkash said in a written reply in the Lok ..

To promote FDI, the Government has put in place an investor-friendly policy, wherein most sectors except certain strategically important sectors are open for 100 per cent FDI under the automatic route. Further, the policy on FDI is reviewed on an ongoing basis, to ensure that India remains attractive and investor-friendly destination, the minister said.

Changes are made in the policy after having consultations with stakeholders including apex industry chambers, associations, representatives of industries/groups and other organizations. The government has recently undertaken a number of reforms across sectors. In the recent past, reforms in the FDI policy have been undertaken in sectors such as Insurance, Petroleum & Natural Gas, Telecom etc, the minister added.

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Topic :- Time:1.00 PM

Nifty is likely to turn volatile now. Nifty spot if manages to trade and sustain above 17200 level then expect some quick upmove and if it breaks and trade below 17160 level then some decline can follow in it.

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Topic :- Time:12.30 PM

COPPER Trading View:

COPPER is trading at 824.If it manages to trade and sustain above 825 level then expect some quick upmove in the market and if it breaks and trade below 822.80 level then some decline can follow in Copper.

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Topic :- Time:12.10 PM


Just In:

Nirmala Sitharaman to introduce Finance Bill in Lok Sabha today.

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Topic :- Time:12.00 PM

Nifty spot is trading at 17200.If it breaks and trade below 17180 level then expect some decline in it and if it manages to trade and sustain above 17240 level then some upmove can follow in it.

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Topic :- Time:11.30 AM

News Wrap Up:

1. Sensex recovers 600pts from low, Nifty nears 17,300; IT leads

2. Invesco backs Zee, Sony merger, decides against pursuing litigation | Zee surges 15%

3. 2 years after Covid, Indian economy hopping from one crisis to another

4. No bar on Maruti to make electric vehicles: Chairman R C Bhargava

5. Rajesh Jain, pioneer of Indias dotcom era, preps IPO for second startup

6. Suven Pharma gains 5% to hit record high; stock rallies 18% in three days

7. 5-day rally halts! L&T Finance down 7% on profit-taking post L&T stake hike

8. Nelco freezes at 5% upper circuit on strategic pact with Omnispace

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Topic :- Nifty Opening Note

Indian Stock Market Trading View For 24 March,2022:

More trouble for Russia expected in the form of sanctions and more restriction. Joe Biden to meet Nato members.Russia might take more agressive stand. CRUDEOIL, NATURALGAS and Oil based stocks will remain in focus. Weekly expiry will result in volatile trend. 

Nifty spot if manages to trade and sustain above 17280 level then expect some upmove in the market and if it breaks and trade below 17200 level then some decline is expected to follow in the share market. Please note this is just opening view and should not be considered as the view for the whole day.

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Tatas-backed Nelco locked in 5% upper circuit after strategic agreement with Omnispace

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The share touched a 52-week high of Rs 968.55 and a 52-week low of Rs 178.85 on 19 October 2021 and 19 April 2021 respectively.

Tatas-backed Nelco locked in 5% upper circuit after strategic agreement  with Omnispace

Tatas-backed satellite services firm Nelco's share price locked in five percent upper circuit on March 24 after the company announced a cooperation agreement with Omnispace to enable and distribute 5G non-terrestrial network direct-to-device satellite services.

The pact will expand 5G throughout India and South Asia and focus on 5G direct-to-device communications using Omnispace’s global NGSO satellite network across various market segments, Nelco said in its press release

At 14:36 hrs NELCO was quoting at Rs 678.60, up Rs 32.30 or 5 percent on the BSE.

The share touched a 52-week high of Rs 968.55 and a 52-week low of Rs 178.85 on 19 October 2021 and 19 April 2021 respectively.

Currently, it is trading 29.94 percent below its 52-week high and 279.42 percent above its 52-week low.

Read Also:- Maruti Suzuki names Hisashi Takeuchi as new Managing Director and CEO

Maruti Suzuki names Hisashi Takeuchi as new Managing Director and CEO

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The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Thursday said it has appointed Hisashi Takeuchi as the new Managing Director and CEO with effect from April 1, 2022.

Maruti Suzuki India’s royalty payments to parent Suzuki Motor Corp, which used to be investors’ concern till three years ago, touched the lowest in a decade in the financial year ended March 31.

The country's largest carmaker  India (MSI) on Thursday said it has appointed Hisashi Takeuchi as the new Managing Director and CEO with effect from April 1, 2022.

The company's board in its meeting held on Thursday, appointed Takeuchi as the Managing Director and CEO from April 1, consequent to the completion of the term of Kenichi Ayukawa on March 31, 2022, MSI said in a statement.

In order to facilitate a smooth transition, Ayukawa will continue as a whole-time Director designated as Executive Vice Chairman till September 30, 2022, and will continue to provide guidance to the auto major, it added.


Invesco backs Zee, Sony merger, decides against pursuing litigation

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Invesco will continue to monitor the proposed merger's progress. If the merger is not completed as currently proposed, Invesco retains the right to requisition a fresh EGM, it said

Zee

 Developing Markets Fund, which owns 18 per cent stake in Zee Entertainment, has backed the Zee merger with Sony and has decided not to pursue litigation against Zee.

In a statement, the company said it is pleased with the Bombay High Court’s ruling, which is an important reaffirmation of shareholder rights in India and the mechanisms under Indian law to hold Boards accountable to their shareholders. "The ruling is a boon for corporate governance in India and a win for shareholder democracy," it said.

"Since we announced our intention to requisition an EGM and add six independent directors to Zee’s Board of Directors, Zee has entered into a merger agreement with Sony. We continue to believe this deal in its current form has great potential for Zee shareholders. We also recognize that, following the merger’s consummation, the board of the newly combined company will be substantially reconstituted, which will achieve our objective of strengthening board oversight of the company. Given these developments, and our desire to facilitate the transaction, we have decided not to pursue the EGM as per our requisition dated September 11 2021," it said.

 will continue to monitor the proposed merger’s progress. If the merger is not completed as currently proposed,  retains the right to requisition a fresh EGM, it said.

Zee Entertainment, however, has three weeks time from the Bombay High Court to move the Supreme Court to appeal against Bombay HC order.

Read Also:- Indraprastha Gas hikes prices of domestic piped natural gas in Delhi-NCR: Check rates


Indraprastha Gas hikes prices of domestic piped natural gas in Delhi-NCR: Check rates

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The increase in PNG rates comes on the heels of oil marketing companies hiking petrol and diesel prices after a 137 day freeze.

Indraprastha Gas hikes prices of domestic piped natural gas in Delhi-NCR: Check  rates

Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) has hiked the price of domestic piped natural gas in Delhi by Rs 1 per standard cubic metre (SCM) to Rs 36.61 per unit.

In Noida, Greater Noida, and Ghaziabad domestic PNG will now cost Rs 35.86 per SCM. In Gurugram, it will be Rs 34.42 per SCM, as per the new rates.

Also Read: Petrol, diesel retail prices raised by 80 paise in 2nd straight hike after 137-day freeze

The increase in PNG rates comes on the heels of oil marketing companies hiking petrol and diesel prices after a 137 day freeze.

Petrol and diesel prices were hiked by 80 paise a litre each for two days in a row. Petrol in Delhi now costs Rs 97.01 per litre as against Rs 96.21 previously while diesel has gone from Rs 87.47 to Rs 88.27 per litre.

Petrol & Diesel Rates Mar 22, 2022

Show

 

At 9:38 am, shares of Indraprastha Gas Ltd were trading 1.15 per cent higher at Rs 378 apiece on the BSE.

Indians tighten belts as Ukraine war drives up prices of necessities

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Consumers in Asia’s third-largest economy are feeling the bite as companies pass on a surge in costs since the invasion, battling the first hikes in five months this week in the prices of diesel and petrol, as well as more expensive vegetable oils.

Indians tighten belts as Ukraine war drives up prices of necessities

Many Indians are cutting down on fried food and even vegetables as the Ukraine war inflates the prices of items from edible oils to fuel, threatening a sputtering recovery in the consumption-based economy after two years battling COVID-19.

Consumers in Asia’s third-largest economy are feeling the bite as companies pass on a surge in costs since the invasion, battling the first hikes in five months this week in the prices of diesel and petrol, as well as more expensive vegetable oils.

"God only knows how we will manage this level of price rise,” said Indrani Majumder, the sole earner in a family of four in the eastern city of Kolkata, adding that the past two years of the pandemic had brought a halving in salaries.

These days her family eats more boiled food to save on the cost of edible oil, she said. It is just one of almost a dozen homes were people said they were taking similar steps.

India’s economy expanded at a pace slower than expected in the quarter from October to December, and economists forecast a further dent to growth in the current one, as high fuel prices bring a jump in inflation.

Private consumption contributes the largest share of gross domestic output, at nearly 60 percent.

But since the invasion late in February, which Russia calls a special operation, Indian firms have raised prices of milk, instant noodles, chicken and other key items by about 5 percent to 20 percent.

About 800 million of a population of nearly 1.4 billion received free government supplies of staple foods during the pandemic, and even small price rises now can mean a knock for their budgets.

Families’ finances could stay anaemic for the third year in a row, warned Pronab Sen, formerly India’s chief statistician.

”The process of rebuilding savings was only beginning post the pandemic,” he added.

"Because of this latest shock, they will have to cut back on consumption.”

DARKENING PICTURE

Surging global prices of crude have prompted companies in the import-dependent nation to raise retail prices of petrol and diesel twice this week. India imports 85 percent of its crude oil, which has seen prices rise nearly 50 percent this year.

The South Asian nation is also the world’s biggest importer of edible oil, shipping in nearly 60 percent of its needs.

But the price of palm, the country’s most widely consumed edible oil, has jumped 45 percent this year. And supplies of sunflower oil, which Ukraine and Russia produce in large quantities, have been disrupted.

Some wholesalers said their sales of edible oil had fallen by a quarter in the past month as prices rose.

These factors helped keep India’s retail inflation in February above the central bank’s comfort level of 6 percent for the second month in a row, while the wholesale rate was more than 13 percent.

”The timing of input price inflation could not have been worse in the context of a slowing consumption trend,” financial services firm Jefferies said in a note.

The central bank has said it is monitoring crude and commodity prices ahead of its next monetary policy meeting in early April. But markets do not expect the Reserve Bank of India to change key rates, as it looks to prioritise growth.

This stance compares with global central banks, which have either raised rates or are weighing whether to do so to curb inflation. For instance, policymakers of the U.S. Federal Reserve called this week for big rate hikes in May.

For consumers, there is little relief in sight.

The Confederation of All India Traders estimates input costs for makers of consumer durables and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) to rise another 10 percent to 15 percent this month as fuel prices rise, an expense destined to be passed on to the final consumer.

In Kolkata, vegetable vendor Debashis Dhara said higher transport costs would bump up vegetable prices by a further 5 percent this week. His sales have already halved since February.

India’s Mother Dairy and Amul raised milk prices by nearly 5 percent this month, while FMCG companies such as Hindustan Unilever and Nestle are charging more for items such as instant noodles, tea and coffee.

Broiler chicken prices have jumped nearly 45 percent in six months to a record 145 rupees ($1.90) a kg this week, as key feed ingredients corn and soymeal have become costlier after supplies from the Black Sea region were affected.

Fertiliser prices have shot up to a record $150 a tonne since Russia, one of the biggest producers, rolled tanks and soldiers into Ukraine.

"It has become very difficult to manage our monthly budget,” said Archana Pawar, a housewife in the financial capital of Mumbai.

"This kind of price rise is forcing us to cut down consumption.”

Indians tighten belts as Ukraine war drives up prices of necessities

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Consumers in Asia’s third-largest economy are feeling the bite as companies pass on a surge in costs since the invasion, battling the first hikes in five months this week in the prices of diesel and petrol, as well as more expensive vegetable oils.

Indians tighten belts as Ukraine war drives up prices of necessities

Many Indians are cutting down on fried food and even vegetables as the Ukraine war inflates the prices of items from edible oils to fuel, threatening a sputtering recovery in the consumption-based economy after two years battling COVID-19.

Consumers in Asia’s third-largest economy are feeling the bite as companies pass on a surge in costs since the invasion, battling the first hikes in five months this week in the prices of diesel and petrol, as well as more expensive vegetable oils.

"God only knows how we will manage this level of price rise,” said Indrani Majumder, the sole earner in a family of four in the eastern city of Kolkata, adding that the past two years of the pandemic had brought a halving in salaries.

These days her family eats more boiled food to save on the cost of edible oil, she said. It is just one of almost a dozen homes were people said they were taking similar steps.

India’s economy expanded at a pace slower than expected in the quarter from October to December, and economists forecast a further dent to growth in the current one, as high fuel prices bring a jump in inflation.

Private consumption contributes the largest share of gross domestic output, at nearly 60 percent.

But since the invasion late in February, which Russia calls a special operation, Indian firms have raised prices of milk, instant noodles, chicken and other key items by about 5 percent to 20 percent.

About 800 million of a population of nearly 1.4 billion received free government supplies of staple foods during the pandemic, and even small price rises now can mean a knock for their budgets.

Families’ finances could stay anaemic for the third year in a row, warned Pronab Sen, formerly India’s chief statistician.

”The process of rebuilding savings was only beginning post the pandemic,” he added.

"Because of this latest shock, they will have to cut back on consumption.”

DARKENING PICTURE

Surging global prices of crude have prompted companies in the import-dependent nation to raise retail prices of petrol and diesel twice this week. India imports 85 percent of its crude oil, which has seen prices rise nearly 50 percent this year.

The South Asian nation is also the world’s biggest importer of edible oil, shipping in nearly 60 percent of its needs.

But the price of palm, the country’s most widely consumed edible oil, has jumped 45 percent this year. And supplies of sunflower oil, which Ukraine and Russia produce in large quantities, have been disrupted.

Some wholesalers said their sales of edible oil had fallen by a quarter in the past month as prices rose.

These factors helped keep India’s retail inflation in February above the central bank’s comfort level of 6 percent for the second month in a row, while the wholesale rate was more than 13 percent.

”The timing of input price inflation could not have been worse in the context of a slowing consumption trend,” financial services firm Jefferies said in a note.

The central bank has said it is monitoring crude and commodity prices ahead of its next monetary policy meeting in early April. But markets do not expect the Reserve Bank of India to change key rates, as it looks to prioritise growth.

This stance compares with global central banks, which have either raised rates or are weighing whether to do so to curb inflation. For instance, policymakers of the U.S. Federal Reserve called this week for big rate hikes in May.

For consumers, there is little relief in sight.

The Confederation of All India Traders estimates input costs for makers of consumer durables and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) to rise another 10 percent to 15 percent this month as fuel prices rise, an expense destined to be passed on to the final consumer.

In Kolkata, vegetable vendor Debashis Dhara said higher transport costs would bump up vegetable prices by a further 5 percent this week. His sales have already halved since February.

India’s Mother Dairy and Amul raised milk prices by nearly 5 percent this month, while FMCG companies such as Hindustan Unilever and Nestle are charging more for items such as instant noodles, tea and coffee.

Broiler chicken prices have jumped nearly 45 percent in six months to a record 145 rupees ($1.90) a kg this week, as key feed ingredients corn and soymeal have become costlier after supplies from the Black Sea region were affected.

Fertiliser prices have shot up to a record $150 a tonne since Russia, one of the biggest producers, rolled tanks and soldiers into Ukraine.

"It has become very difficult to manage our monthly budget,” said Archana Pawar, a housewife in the financial capital of Mumbai.

"This kind of price rise is forcing us to cut down consumption.”

Lebanon plans tender for Indian wheat, minister says

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Lebanon bought the bulk of its wheat from Ukraine until Russia invaded, and the World Bank has warned it is one of a number of developing countries that face near-term wheat supply shortages as a result.Lebanon Plans Tender For Indian Wheat, Economy Minister Says | Milling

Lebanon is planning a tender to import 50,000 tonnes of wheat from India but the timing depends on the Lebanese central bank opening the necessary credit line, the economy minister told Reuters, as Beirut seeks alternatives to Ukrainian grain.

Lebanon bought the bulk of its wheat from Ukraine until Russia invaded, and the World Bank has warned it is one of a number of developing countries that face near-term wheat supply shortages as a result.

The Lebanese government has asked the central bank for a $26 million advance to launch the tender, economy minister Amin Salam said, adding that the tender would be launched very quickly once the credit line was opened.

"India is the first state to give me a final answer on quantities and tomorrow it will give me answer on the price," Salam said.

Lebanon was still waiting to hear from the United States and Kazakhstan on specifications and prices, he said.

"We still have a few purchases that are coming in the next week (from Ukraine)," he said, adding that 26,000 tonnes was on its way. "But after that we are not sure what we can get from Ukraine."

Grab some popcorn: Mukesh Ambani vs Gautam Adani rivalry is getting intense

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Their balance sheets and visions are different but a confrontation between the billionaires looks almost guaranteed.Gautam Adani. Photo: Bloomberg

 and  tiptoed around each other for years to reach the top two rungs of Asia’s wealth ladder. While one of them built an empire in telecom and retail, the other established a lock on transport and energy distribution. Increasingly, though, the two billionaires from India’s Gujarat state are starting to overlap, setting the stage for a clash that could alter the country’s business landscape. Given the duo’s proximity to politics, the shock is bound to reverberate through the corridors of power as well.

In the latest sign of their coalescing orbits, the Adani Group has discussed the idea of buying a stake in Saudi Aramco from the oil-rich kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, potentially linking the investment to a broader tie-up or asset swap deal, according to Bloomberg . This is just months after Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd. and Aramco called off more than two years of talks to sell 20% of the Indian conglomerate’s oils-to-chemicals unit to the Saudi behemoth for about $20 billion to $25 billion-worth of Aramco shares. In an attempt to cement the partnership, Reliance even got Aramco chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan to join its board as an independent director last year.

Aramco, the No. 1 crude oil producer, is still a better fit with Ambani’s Reliance, which owns the world’s largest refining complex at Jamnagar in Gujarat. Reliance is also a leading manufacturer of polymers, polyester and fiber-intermediates. But, Adani, too, has wanted to enter petrochemicals by putting up a $4 billion acrylics complex near his Mundra port in Gujarat in collaboration with BASF SE, Borealis AG, and Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., or Adnoc. Covid-19 put a dampener on the plan. This wasn’t the first retreat from his petro-ambitions: Nothing also came of a plant in Gujarat, which was looking to rope in Taiwan’s CPC Corp.

Adani’s main interest in hydrocarbons continues to be coal. He mines it in India and Indonesia, produces coal-fueled power at plants like the one in Mundra and berths vessels laden with the stuff at his vast network of ports. Exports of coal from the Carmichael mine would start soon, the group said in December, after slogging for a decade over the environmentally controversial project in Australia’s Galilee Basin. But while coal is very much India’s past and present, it’s not the future. Which is why Adani made a big bet on solar power. He also started circling around plastics.

after Adani set up a new petrochemicals subsidiary last year, it became clear that sooner or later he was going to try and breach the moat of stable cash-flows established by the rival group’s founder Dhirubhai Ambani, India’s “Polyester Prince” (and father of Reliance’s current boss). The tantalizing question is whether Adani’s ambitions include a refinery as well.

Back in 2018, Aramco and Adnoc were going to partner with state-owned Indian firms to set up a mammoth $44-billion refinery. That plan has gone nowhere after the project lost its original site in India’s Maharashtra state because of local political opposition. Could the Adani Group insert itself into a revival of that project? For now, the preliminary talks with Aramco seem to have a modest focus: collaboration in renewable energy, crop nutrients or chemicals, according to Bloomberg . However, if Aramco is still keen on owning a captive refinery in India, the contours of its Adani partnership might well expand.

That would put the billionaires in direct competition — though not for the first time. In June last year, Ambani told his shareholders he was embarking on his life’s “most challenging” undertaking by making a pivot to clean power and fuel. He followed up with a blitzkrieg of acquisitions in the field. Before that, it was Adani who wanted to be the world’s largest renewable energy producer by 2030. By revealing his plans for four gigafactories in Jamnagar — one each for solar panels, batteries, green hydrogen and fuel cells — Ambani put Reliance in the lead role in India’s climate-change narrative. And he did it just before the COP26 summit in Glasgow where Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a bold commitment to lower the country’s dependence on fossil fuels.

Analysts like to clump Ambani and Adani together as a kind of India Inc. duopoly. “By backing the ‘2As’ at the expense of other companies, both domestic and foreign, the government is encouraging an extraordinary concentration of economic power,” economist Arvind Subramanian, an adviser to the Modi administration until 2018, and Josh Felman, a former International Monetary Fund official in New Delhi, wrote in a recent Foreign Affairs article about how India’s inward turn could stymie its rise.

The two superstar business groups are indeed reducing the competitive intensity in the broader economy by swallowing smaller and weaker firms adjacent to their operations. Still, every indication suggests they’ll compete fiercely against each other. Ambani took the telecom route to emerge as the czar of India’s consumer data; Adani wants to come in from the other end by providing storage services to bits and bytes, powered by green energy. Ambani is engaged in a brutal contest with Amazon.com Inc. for control of the grocery supply chain. Adani warehouses grain for the state-run Food Corp. of India and owns the country’s No. 1 edible oil brand.

Their balance sheets are different. For the past five years, firms linked to Adani have been hyperactive in the international debt market, borrowing more than any other Indian company. Ambani, meanwhile, has turned Reliance into a sparsely leveraged fortress--not a bad place to be as global interest rates harden. Visions are different, too. While Adani, 59, supplies grid power (and cooking gas, in partnership with with France’s TotalEnergies SE) to households, Ambani, who’s five years older, imagines a future in which “every house, every farm, factory and habitat could, in principle, free itself from the grid by generating its own power.” Will the two billionaires try to shape policies--and influence politics--according to their competing goals? You bet. A confrontation looks almost guaranteed. Investors in India should grab some popcorn.

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