Tiger Global's roar dies down to a yelp

Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Friday, July 5, 2024. My name is Nelson John. Let's get started:

Sensex and Nifty remained largely flat on Thursday. Both rose by around 0.5 percent during trading hours yesterday.

The share of foreign investors in HDFC Bank is set to drop below 55 percent. This is crucial for India's largest private lender as its weight in the MSCI India Index will double. Investors are excited for this move — HDFC's share price has increased by more than 16 and a half percent over the last month. Despite this surge, HDFC's share price has remained flat from a year ago. In sharp contrast, ICICI Bank’s share price has increased by more than 30 percent over the same period. HDFC's inclusion in the MSCI index might provide some cheer for investors in the short term, but it has plenty to catch up.

The banking industry in India looks quite different than it did just five years ago. In September 2019, the Reserve Bank of India had directed all banks to link their interest rates to the repo rate as well as the treasury bonds. This meant that when any change in RBI's repo rate or the bond yields took place, the interest rates that the banks charged to the consumer would change proportionally. Prior to that, banks were quick to pass on interest rate hikes but not the savings that came with rate cuts. Shayan Ghosh writes that this transmission has been swift: 58 percent of all floating loans in India are now tied to \rates standardised by RBI. The regulator’s main motive is to protect consumers, and it's doing a good job of it so far under governor Shaktikanta Das.

At Mint, we're closely following the next Union Budget. Our big Budget story of the day is that the government is planning on easing business-related hurdles, plugging in tax gaps, and recaliberating customs duties to empower domestic companies. The industries that are set to benefit from this move are textiles and engineering goods, report Gireesh Chandra Prasad and Rhik Kundu. Policymakers want to improve domestic production of goods, and will resort to these protective measures to ensure Indian companies fare better than their foreign counterparts.

The Indian startup industry has had one major complaint for the entirety of its existence: the angel tax. This was a duty amounting to 30.6 percent — a steep price to pay when any startup is raising money. The government imposed it in 2012, and earlier this year, extended it to NRIs as well. This made fundraising a much more expensive process for both investors and the startups. But finally, there's some reprieve: Dhirendra Kumar reports that the ministry of commerce has recommended that this tax be repealed. This decision now lies with the ministry of finance. If this goes through, expect a lot more investments in India's ever-growing startup industry.

At its peak, Tiger Global was one of the most prolific venture capital funds around the globe. It grew to prominence via its investments in China, making billions of dollars in the process. In India, Tiger has invested in more than 160 companies. Some of its notable investments in India include Flipkart, MakeMyTrip, Zomato, and Ola. But that was the Tiger Global of yesterday. Today, its roars have turned into meek yelps, writes Ranjani Raghavan. Tiger has only been making smaller, follow-up investments these days, and is afraid to take on big bets. The zero interest rate phenomenon is now dead, which means Tiger can't afford to invest in companies that believe in a growth-at-all-costs philosophy. That particular strategy allowed Tiger Global to grow to new heights, and it might be the reason why it fails spectacularly.

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Show notes:

HDFC Bank’s weight on the MSCI India Index is set to double. But does it matter? 

How Shaktikanta Das is fixing the problem of wayward bank interest rates

Govt plans duty reforms, tax tweaks to boost local manufacturing 

DPIIT recommends removal of Angel Tax 

Why Tiger Global’s ferocious roar has turned into a soft mewl