Goodbye zero brokerage fee apps

Top of the Morning

Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Wednesday, October 9, 2024. My name is Nelson John. Let's get started.

Do you use a zero-brokerage app? That won't last too long. Soon, brokers such as Zerodha, Groww and AngelOne have to overhaul their business, as the market regulator has barred them from pocketing exchange fee waivers. It will force these brokers to raise their fees to make money. Dipti Sharma writes that these new-age brokers will now either charge a flat fee or a percentage of the order—much like their traditional counterparts. Sebi believes this will bring a balance in the market.

Agricultural employment in India is rising. A recent survey showed that 46.1 percent of Indians now work in the farm sector, as opposed to 42.5 percent before the 2020 covid-19 outbreak. The primary drivers are the lack of better-paying jobs and more participation from women. Sayantan Bera writes that this raises concerns about productivity and disguised unemployment. Meanwhile, the political pressure for more state support due to agriculture's uncertain income continues to increase. He makes sense of the survey and proposes some solutions to counter this worrying trend.

Bigger TVs are about to get cheaper! Televisions and ACs are in for a boost, thanks to some new government perks. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology plans to scrap import duties on TV panel open cells, Shouvik Das and Mihir Mishra report. This cut could make big-screen TVs cheaper in the country and is part of a bigger plan to crank up domestic TV production from 28 to 45 percent. The government is also looking at dropping customs duties on some TV parts and reducing the GST on local production of display panels from 28 to 18 percent. The Centre is also considering setting up local factories to boost domestic manufacturing of display components. Why does this matter? Well, the cost of display panels and open cells can make up half the price of a TV. Currently, most of these parts are imported, meaning a lot of the money from TV sales ends up outside India. But with these changes, we could see more of this cash staying in the country.

India's renewable energy sector is seeing an unusual trend—companies are trading grid connectivity, with some aiming to profit quickly. Nehal Chaliawala spoke to executives who revealed that up to 10 gigawatts of the capacity to transfer renewable energy to the grid is up for grabs, priced between Rs 15-25 lakh per megawatt. In FY24, India ramped up its renewable capacity by 18.5 gigawatts to a total of 153 gigawatts. However, the infrastructure needed to connect these new green power sources to the Inter-State Transmission System hasn't kept pace. This mismatch has opened a door for middlemen and opportunists. The sellers range from companies altering their business strategies to opportunistic entities looking to cash in. Some engineering and construction firms even secure connectivity to resell it, tying it to contracts for building renewable projects.

For more than two decades, India's domestic hockey leagues have struggled to maintain any continuity. Seven years after its last season, the Hockey India League is back with its latest stint, this time featuring both men and women. Last week's announcement comes on the heels of back-to-back bronze medal finishes over the last two Olympics. We invited Venkat Ananth to write about this year's edition, its financials, and the possible marketing plans to make hockey a widely-watched sport.