| | | Question of the Week The first-ever auction in Indian telecom took place in 1994 for 23 telecom circles in the country, and licenses and spectrum were awarded to two operators per circle. Who are the two remaining incumbents in the sector who bagged a license in 1994? | | |  | Here's a great value proposition Mint Monsoon Bonanza - Subscribe to Mint today and get 40% off (Flat 25% plus special bank offers). Your subscription now also comes with 8 leading OTTs. All this can be yours for just ₹160 per month. But hurry, the offer is valid till 27th July. Check out the convenient and affordable plans we have for you here. | | Good Morning Prefer audio? Now you can listen to your favourite newsletter. | | The News in Summary Ahead of the 5G spectrum auction this week, analysts expect Reliance Jio to bid more aggressively than Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, while India’s retailing pioneer, Future Retail, was finally admitted to a bankruptcy court after one of its creditors filed an insolvency plea against the ailing company. Meanwhile, HDFC chief executive Sashidhar Jagdishan clarified that the public listing of its NBFC and brokerage units could only happen once its merger with HDFC Bank was complete. Macro factors roiling its key markets are beginning to hurt Indian IT, with Infosy’s and Wipro’s latest quarterly results confirming the margin pressures that companies like Tata Consultancy Services and HCL Technologies have already posted. And NSE will soon have a new boss in Ashish Chauhan, who currently heads rival BSE. | | | | Jio Likely to Dominate Spectrum Auction  With the 5G spectrum auction by the government starting on Tuesday, the battle lines are drawn. Based on the earnest money deposited by various telcos, Reliance Jio is likely to emerge as the biggest buyer, followed by Bharti Airtel. The Rs 14,000 crore Jio has put in will allow it to buy Rs 1.4 trillion worth of spectrum, a third of all the radio spectrum put up for auction. Similarly, Bharti’s deposited amount indicates that it can buy airwaves worth Rs 50,000 crore. Similarly, with its Rs 2,200 crore deposit Vodafone Idea can purchase airwaves worth about Rs 25,000 crore, though, given its weak financial status, that looks like a remote possibility. Analysts expect the auction process to be a short one with bids at reserve prices. The much-speculated competition from Adani Data Networks, a surprise contender for 5G airwaves, seems to have fizzled out since the paltry Rs 100 crore the company deposited as earnest money suggests it will only bid for airwaves in a few circles for enterprise or captive use. But even as Jio gears up to bid for spectrum, there was sobering news for its parent, Reliance Industries, which reported a 46% jump in quarterly profit aided by robust refining margins but missed analysts’ expectations because of a surge in input costs. In a post-earnings call, the company warned that a global recession could hurt oil refining margins, flagging the possibility of more pain ahead. | | |  | | | | It is Over for Future Future Retail is finally being put out of its misery. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has ordered bankruptcy proceedings against the debt-ridden company and named Vijay Kumar Iyer as the interim resolution professional for the exercise. The tribunal accepted the insolvency petition filed by Bank of India, to which its owes Rs 856.10 crore, part of the company’s total debt of Rs 15,000 crore. It also dismissed an intervention application filed by Amazon opposing the insolvency on the grounds that it scuttles its rights. Amazon, which had alleged collusion by lenders, a plea dismissed by the NCLT, is expected to challenge the order in the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). Meanwhile, a section of the company’s minority shareholders has written to the government and the markets regulator opposing the rebranding of former Big Bazaar stores to ‘Smart Bazaar’ by Reliance Retail, which in January this year, took over 950-odd Big Bazaar stores through lease rental transfers from the owners of the premises after FRL defaulted on payments. The shareholders have alleged that the move was an attempt to appropriate FRL’s brand value. | | |  | | | | | | | | HDFC in no Hurry to List Units India’s largest private lender HDFC Bank Ltd will consider public listings of its brokerage and non-banking financial company (NBFC) units only after the completion of an ongoing merger with parent HDFC Ltd, an exercise that could take well over a year. Speaking at its annual general meeting, the bank’s managing director and chief executive, Sashidhar Jagdishan, said that HDB Financial Services, the NBFC arm of HDFC Bank, was a financial investment and it would await directions from the Reserve Bank of India on the status of holding in these companies. He also said that the bank would consider raising long-term liabilities after the merger is approved. Despite rising interest rates, forcing it to let go of Rs 50,000 crore of wholesale loans to competition, the lender saw a credit growth of 21.6% and a 19% growth in standalone net profit in the quarter ended June from a year earlier. | | |  | | | | Infosys, Wipro Numbers Confirm IT’s Looming Problems Infosys Ltd and Wipro Ltd’s June quarter earnings did little to lift the clouds of concern hovering over Indian IT. While Infosys raised its full-year revenue growth outlook, indicating a robust deal pipeline, its quarterly earnings missed analysts’ estimates as wage costs soared. The country’s second-largest software company now expects revenue to grow 14-16% this fiscal, faster than the previously forecasted 13-15%. Net profit, however, rose just 3.2% to Rs 5,360 crore, trailing analysts’ consensus estimate of Rs 5,645 crore. On the other hand, Wipro’s net profit for the June quarter declined to Rs 2,563 crore, missing Bloomberg’s consensus estimate of Rs 3,048 crore by a mile and 20.7% below the Rs 3,232 crore of the year-ago period. Revenue growth, though, was in line with market estimates. As with peers like TCS and HCL Technologies, the company’s operating margin narrowed to 15% in the June quarter, down from 18.8% a year ago and 17% in the preceding three months. Higher sub-contracting costs, lower utilization and acquisitions were the factors that impacted margins. The attrition rate too rose sharply from a year ago, though it was down marginally from the previous quarter. For the company’s CEO Thierry Delaporte who took charge two years ago, this was the first quarter when the company’s growth momentum appeared to have eased off. In an interview, he refuted that, saying, “I don’t think we are slowing down at all from a growth standpoint.” | | | | NSE to Get New Boss from BSE Troubled National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) will have a new boss in Ashish Chauhan, currently chief executive of BSE Ltd. With the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) clearing a five-year term for him, Chauhan will take over the leadership of the country’s largest exchange in November this year when his 10-year stint at BSE comes to an end. He will succeed Vikram Limaye, whose term as managing director and chief executive officer ended on 16 July. Limaye, whose tenure was marred by the explosive findings of the co-location scam that took place under the watch of his predecessor Chitra Ramakrishna, didn’t seek an extension, even though he was eligible for it. The 54-year-old Chauhan, a mechanical engineer from IIT-Bombay and an alumnus of IIM Kolkata, is no stranger to NSE. He is one of its founders and worked there from 1992 to 2000, following which he was with Reliance Industries as president and chief information officer between 2000 and 2009. | | | | Here’s a short video that highlights the key milestones in Ashish Chauhan’s life: | | | | Last Word  One of the most powerful VC firms in the world with huge investments in the Indian startup system found itself in the full glare of a scandal when it terminated its contract with Algo Legal, its chosen law firm for years. The messy falling out, which has extended to a lawsuit now with Kapoor suing Sequoia, social media firm Twitter and a few media companies, (including HT Media, the publisher of Mint), has exposed critical fault lines in Sequoia’s India journey. The saga, which spotlights clear conflicts of interest, rendered particularly egregious by Kapoor’s position as the VC firm’s legal officer for nine years, raises serious questions about whether Sequoia was sufficiently vigilant against the alleged abuse of power by a top official. It also raises the big question about how a powerful entity like Sequoia, with marquee investee firms such as Byju’s, Ola, Freshworks, Zomato, Unacademy and Pine Labs, could have been unaware of the developments involving its law firm. As more and more disclosures emerge, Kapoor isn’t the only one who needs to provide some answers. | | Answer to the Question Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (Hutchison Max Telecom Ltd then) were among the companies that bagged the first few telecom services licenses and have survived to tell the story. | | | Do you have any questions? Send in your queries to sundeepkkhanna@gmail.com Were you forwarded this email? Did you stumble upon it online? Sign up here. | Please share your feedback with us What do you think about this newsletter? | | Written by Sundeep Khanna. Edited by Saikat Chatterjee. Produced by Samiksha Khanna. Send in your feedback to newsletters@livemint.com. | | | | | Download the Mint app and read premium stories | | | | | | View in Browser | Privacy Policy | Contact us You received this email because you signed up for Mint Top of the Morning or because it is included in your subscription. Copyright © HT Digital Streams. All Rights Reserved | | | | |
