Good morning! There are 200 billionaires in India, according to the latest Forbes Richie Rich ranking. It is a record for the country and it is only behind the US and China. The 200 individuals have a combined worth just shy of a trillion dollars. That is a fifth of India’s overall stock market valuation. Their wealth grew 40% from $675 billion in 2023. Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani ranked ninth-richest globally and compatriot tycoon Gautam Adani was No. 17. Between them, the duo account for a fifth of India’s billionaire wealth. Let that sink in. 

Programming note: Our colleague Venkat Ananth, who writes The Playbook, is unwell. There will be no edition of the newsletter today.

Earlier this week, Liberty Media, owner of Formula One, acquired MotoGP. What does this mean for motorsport? Also in today's episode: the California bill that wants to give employees the right to disconnect. Tune in on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Dinesh Narayanan, Roshni Nair, and Anup Semwal also contributed to today’s edition.

The Market Signal* 

Stocks & Economy: All eyes are on the Reserve Bank of India, which will reveal its monetary policy stance later today. The policy-setting committee’s meeting over the last couple of days would have been intense as global conflicts have intensified, pushing up oil prices and transportation costs. Commodity prices have also been firming up. 

Closer home, the weather is expected to play spoilsport. The meteorological department has forecast peninsular heat waves, which would affect crops and food prices. Rating agency Crisil’s monthly tracker of Indian food plates reported a 7% year-on-year increase in vegetarian thali and 7% decline in non-vegetarian meals in March to Rs 27.3 and Rs 54.9 respectively. The RBI had flagged weather-induced food price inflation as a concern in its previous monetary policy review. 

Asian stocks lost value in early trade, taking cues from the US. The GIFT Nifty hints at a flat or negative opening for Indian equities.

TECH

Pocket Change

Two California giants are shaking things up with their core businesses. One is scrambling to find alternative revenue sources after being dependent, since 2007, on its iconic consumer device. The other is scrambling to find new revenue sources within the ambit of its chief money-spinner.

Bloomberg reports that Apple is considering an entry into home robotics. Specifically, a table-top device that can “move a display around”, and robots that may be similar to Amazon’s Astro or the Roomba cleaner. Details are scarce. What’s known is that its hardware engineering and AI divisions are working together to target the smart home market.

Ad-dependent Google may offer a premium version of Search powered by Gemini AI, Financial Times reports. The catch is that the offering, which may be available at a higher tier for Google One subscribers, will still have ads. Yet, it’s a big deal, considering Search has always been free.

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 Yashwant Deshmukh, founder, C-Voter, on what first-time Indian voters want. Also in today’s episode: former Air India veteran Sanjay Lazar on the Tata-Vistara pilot crisis.

ENERGY

The Answer Is Atomic

Ending India’s nuclear pariah status was perhaps the most important political triumph of former PM Manmohan Singh, who retired from active Parliamentary politics this week. 

His successor Narendra Modi’s vow to achieve net-zero (NZ) emissions by 2070 critically rests on that achievement. A new report “Synchronizing energy transitions towards possible Net-Zero for India: Affordable and clean energy for all” (pdf) prepared by IIM-Ahmedabad and funded by the Principal Scientific Advisor and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPC), has pitched for nuclear energy as central to achieve NZ ambitions. 

Under various NZ scenarios envisioned in the report, India’s need for nuclear power will range from 78 GW to 331 GW by 2070. The nuclear-led strategy would require the least amount of investment compared to others involving combinations of fossil fuels with carbon capture and renewable energy.  

Indian Oil Corporation is meanwhile exploring setting up small modular reactors with NPC.

E-COMMERCE

Drop Shot Strategy

Another day, another celebrity launches a beauty brand. This time, though, an Indian firm is in on the action from day one. The Good Glamm Group has set up a joint venture with tennis star Serena Williams in the US to sell affordable makeup under the brand Wyn Beauty. 

Indian beauty retailers have been bringing in American celeb brands such as singer-actor Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty and Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty. But this deal gives an Indian firm direct access to the US, a more lucrative market than India. Good Glamm founder Darpan Sanghvi is hoping to use Wyn’s success to launch his other brands in the US. 

Distraction: The news is well-timed. Good Glamm was dangerously low on funds earlier this year but raised $30 million last month with no change in valuation. But it needs the money to clear old debts worth nearly Rs 100 crore and pay up in full for the brands it has acquired since FY22, The CapTable reported. 

The Signal 

This deal boosts Good Glamm Group’s standing among rivals. Nykaa, for instance, is still trading well below its listing price while Myntra has started an online beauty vertical, but hasn’t cracked any exclusive brand partnerships. 

Yet, even the US will be a challenge for Good Glamm. Americans have cut spending on beauty across segments, according to the CEO of Ulta Beauty, the retailer partnering Good Glamm and Wyn Beauty. 

FYI

Scoop: The Economic Times reports that Hindustan Unilever may spin off its ice-cream business for a potential eventual sale.

We have your back: Two Air India pilot unions have expressed support to striking Vistara pilots in a strongly-worded letter to Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekaran.

Pay up: Hero MotoCorp has received an income tax notice to pay Rs 605 crore for six assessment years up until FY20; the company will appeal against the “unsustainable” demands.

✊🏾 ✊🏾 ✊🏾: The African Union and Caribbean nations are pushing for a UN tribunal to make erstwhile western colonisers pay reparations for slavery, Reuters reports. The UN leadership has expressed support for reparations.

To buy or not to buy?: Google parent Alphabet has met with Morgan Stanley advisors to weigh a potential acquisition offer for marketing software company HubSpot—whose market value is $32 billion—Reuters reports. 

THE DAILY DIGIT

54%

The average hourly pay difference between men and women at Goldman Sachs International. (Financial Times) 

FWIW

Right to unplug: Bad news for bosses who love bugging workers after hours: a California lawmaker wants to make that illegal. If the bill passes, pain-in-the-ass bosses in the state will get fined $100 each time they bother an off-the-clock worker. Only real emergencies would get a pass. Business groups are, well, throwing a fit, calling the bill “a step backward for workplace flexibility.” Yeah, right. Trust employers to champion flexibility when it's about late messages, but that same argument won't fly for work from home. Hypocrites much?