Good morning! Move over K-drama and Thai queer drama. Indian audiences are swooning over C-dramas or Chinese web series. According to The Economic Times, Indian regional OTT platforms such as MX Player, Amazon Mini, YouTube, and even TV channels like Atarangi are driving this surge in popularity. Their popularity also says something about Asian audiences. They are suckers for mushy love.

Soumya Gupta also contributed to this edition.

The Market Signal* 

Stocks & Economy: Chipmaker Nvidia, which has risen over 40% in 2024, is now also the favourite stock of retail investors. It has replaced Tesla as the most popular stock and now accounts for about 8% trading volume among everyday investors compared to Tesla’s 7%. 

Gold purchases by China are pushing up the price of the yellow metal once again. A US Fed rate cut could be one reason but rising global tensions could be the other. Monday’s attack on Iran’s embassy in Syria is likely to worsen the situation in West Asia. That, and China’s positive factory output in February are fuelling oil prices. 

Asian markets were awash in green Tuesday morning. The GIFT Nifty indicates a flat opening for Indian shares. March GST collections rising 11.5% to Rs 1.78 lakh crore and record auto sales in FY24 are perhaps already priced in but may buoy investor sentiment.

AUTO

 Hyundai, Tata Duke It Out For #2

South Korean car maker Hyundai easily raced up to just behind leader Maruti Suzuki in a matter of a few years since  it launched hatchbacks with actor Shah Rukh Khan as its chief endorser in 1998. 

Now, home-grown competitor Tata Motors is nipping at its heels, having shed its truck-maker tag and building a reputation for making  top-end cars, including EVs, The Core reports in this long read. So much so that Hyundai India is planning an IPO while the Tata Group has separated its commercial and passenger vehicles businesses (including EV), with plans to list the latter. 

Reinvention: With EVs, Tata Motors has grown its market share from about 5% to 14% in just four years, leaving behind several setbacks including the spectacular failure of the Tata Nano. 

While the race to the second position on the podium is on, Maruti Suzuki is still India’s car-king with a ~42% market share.

PODCAST

Tune in every Monday to Friday as financial journalist and host Govindraj Ethiraj gives you the most important take on the latest in business and economy.

Today, he speaks to Ajay Rotti, founder of tax advisory firm Tax Compass, on the significance of Infosys getting a Rs 6,200 crore refund notice from the tax man. Also in today’s episode: Somasekhar Vemuri, Senior Director, CRISIL, on what India Inc’s better credit profiles mean for the economy and investors.

HEALTHCARE

Welcome Back

US medtech giant GE HealthCare is barrelling back to India. Through its joint venture with Wipro, the company is planning to pump over Rs 8,000 crore (~$1 billion) into India in the next five years. 

The goal?: To turbocharge manufacturing. CEO & President Elie Chaillot says GE will export India-made CT scan products and MRI coils to about 15 countries. Sure, it’s partly a China-plus strategy, but that's not the only lure.

It's also India's tech talent. India-based R&D team will play a "growing role" in GE's gen AI push. And if history is any indication, they might just strike gold again.

Back in the 2000s, GE famously developed low-cost, compact ECG devices in India, which it took to the US and Europe as well, birthing reverse innovation. Making innovative products in developing countries and taking them to the developed world. 

PODCAST

The Core Report

WORK

Blue-collar champion 

One of the most attractive elements of electronics manufacturing is the number of people required to make even small gadgets. That is why Apple has emerged as the top blue-collar job creator in India, thanks to its suppliers Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron. 

The three companies employed 77,000 workers directly, with Foxconn hiring 41,000, followed by Wistron inducting 27,300, and Pegatron employing 9,200, The Economic Times reported, quoting unpublished government data. 

Apart from the trio, Tata Electronics, Salcomp Technologies, Foxlink and Sunwoda, which between them produce iPhone enclosures, cables and batteries, have hired another 70,000 workers. 

When Indian government officials first started wooing Taiwanese Foxconn to start making Apple devices in India, they also insisted that it should not merely set up assembly units but also make components, including critical ones. While the companies have increased local sourcing, most critical components are still shipped from China. Shifting their manufacturing to India would help workers move up the value chain as well. 

The Signal

The production-linked incentive scheme remains a draw for Apple device makers. They need to incrementally raise investment and production every year to be eligible for it. Foxconn said in September 2023 that it would double investments and hiring in India. But therein lies the rub. Apple devices sales have been slowing and Barclays downgraded the company in early January. It forecast that 2024 is likely to be a subdued year for Apple. The downgrade dethroned Apple as the world’s most valuable company. 

Apple is India’s top blue-collar job creator. Also in today's episode: Move over K-and Thai dramas, C-dramas are here. Tune in on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

FYI

Pay’s not coming: Edtech startup BYJU’S has delayed employees’ salaries yet again. It blamed the “irresponsible” action of four “misguided” foreign investors for the delay.

Pilots missing: Tatas-owned Vistara is cutting the number of flights it operates after a flood of complaints about delays and cancellations. It said crew unavailability (its pilots went on mass sick leave) was hampering its operations.  

Stakes go up: Israel is suspected to have blown up the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria, in an aerial bombing that killed seven military advisors, including three commanders. 

No water, no power: India’s hydropower generation fell 16.3% in FY24, the steepest in nearly 40 years, as water levels in reservoirs dropped to five-year lows.

Split and sell: Under pressure from the European Commission’s antitrust probe, Microsoft will unbundle its Office suite and Teams communication tool globally.

THE DAILY DIGIT

$1.98 billion

Or more than Rs 16,500 crore. That’s how much the government of India raised in FY24 from selling their stake in 10 PSUs, 9% lower than its target. (Reuters)

FWIW

typing my way into adulthood: When do you know you're no longer a kid but a proper freakin' adult? After finishing college? No. After the first paycheck? Not really. After buying a house of your own? Haha, not happening in this economy. But, come to think of it, all these parameters of coming of age are rather stale. For the extremely online Gen Z, the true milestone of adulting is when they start texting with uppercase letters. If you're a boomer, you won't know that Gen Zers hate capitalising letters. But when they start doing it, because they may not want their boss to dismiss them as silly, that's when adulthood happens. Many still revolt against stiff rules of capitalisation to stay forever young, at least in DMs. all we’d say is long live the gen z spirit.