India Inc’s push for democracy

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, April 10, 2024. My name is Nelson John. Let's get started:

Having opened at record highs on the back of bolstered expectations of a strong showing by companies during the last quarter of FY24, Indian benchmark indices pared most of their gains to close in the red on Tuesday. BSE’s Sensex closed 0.8 per cent down from its previous close, while Nifty dipped marginally by 0.1 per cent below its Monday close.

The last fiscal year was full of ups and downs for the Indian markets, but for one section of companies, FY24 proved to be the best one yet. Small and medium enterprises or SMEs took the Indian stock market by storm in the fiscal year ended March. A remarkable 204 SMEs launched their initial public offerings, raising close to 6,000 crore rupees. This marked a massive 167 per cent jump from previous years. Larger companies on the other hand, could only increase their IPO mop-up by a modest 20 per cent. Mint’s market correspondent Mayur Bhalerao writes about the surge which highlights the rising investor confidence in SMEs. Experts Mayur spoke to point at the rising interest for SMEs among high net worth individuals and retail investors .March 2024 alone saw 27 SMEs raise 862 crore rupees, setting a record for the highest number of SME IPOs since September 2023.

We are only in the second month of summer and the country is already struggling with severe heat waves. With heat waves comes scarcity of water. While water shortage in metros like Bengaluru makes a lot of noise in the public sphere, what goes under the radar are the depleting sources of water used by farmers. At a time when the government is trying to reign in food inflation, dwindling water reserves across the country are only going to make it worse for a number of crops. Experts are now predicting an increase in the prices of crucial winter crops like gram, paddy, and maize, due to drying up reservoirs. Water levels in India's 150 major reservoirs, as of last week, stood at 35 per cent capacity. This figure, as reported by the Central Water Commission, not only marks a 17 per cent decrease compared to the previous year but also falls 2 per cent below the decade's average. These agricultural hurdles are compounded by above-normal temperatures and diseases, particularly affecting states such as Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu. Puja Das, who writes on agriculture and climate change for Mint, spoke to experts about the anticipated rise in the price of some key winter crops. Not all is grim though, experts predict that prices of other key winter crops such as wheat and mustard are expected to remain stable.

With over 960 million eligible voters and spanning seven phases over 45 days, the upcoming Lok Sabha elections are poised to be the largest democratic event in history. In an unprecedented move, to bolster participation in the elections, India Inc is taking it upon itself to encourage voters. Companies are taking innovative steps to ensure their workforce can exercise their voting rights. Leading the charge, firms like TCS, Amazon, KPMG, and Quess Corp are making it easier for employees to vote, even if it means travelling to their registered constituencies. KPMG India, for instance, is offering special leave to employees needing to travel for voting. Tata Sons is providing a day off for Mumbai-based employees to cast their votes. The IT sector - arguably one with a large number of migrant employees - is not behind in this, with HCL and TCS announcing leave policies around the polling schedule. TCS is even planning to let its employees travel to their constituency for voting. Mint’s HR and workplace correspondent Devina Sengupta reports on the widespread initiative, covering companies of all sizes and underscoring the commitment of India Inc to democratic participation.

Amid rising global crude oil prices, now surpassing 90 dollars per barrel due to fresh geopolitical tensions, India's domestic petrol and diesel prices are a focal point of speculation, especially with the election season upon us. The surge in Brent crude prices, coupled with the Indian crude basket's price increase of over 10% since the year's start, raises questions about potential impacts on India's oil marketing companies. So what’s causing this price hike? The backdrop of these price hikes includes an attack on Iran’s embassy in Syria, escalating tensions in the Middle East, and ongoing conflicts between Israel-Palestine and in Ukraine, which threaten to further disrupt global oil supplies. However, despite these international pressures, it appears unlikely that India will see an adjustment in fuel prices before the election concludes. Mint’s autos correspondent Sumant Banerji explains what the global rise in crude oil prices means for India, in today’s Mint Primer.

In 2017, a peculiar concern was raised in Vistara's boardroom at its Gurugram headquarters. The concern? Discomfort experienced by cabin crew due to their footwear. Such a matter would not typically be discussed at such high levels. This early attention to employee comfort reflected Vistara's commitment to addressing workforce issues earnestly. However, the situation seems to have evolved significantly by 2024. There is a shift in the company's approach to employee concerns, especially as Vistara undergoes a merger with Air India. This merger has introduced a new pay structure, particularly affecting pilots, leading to considerable unrest and reports of flight cancellations due to pilots calling in sick in protest. The merger aims to standardise pay across the combined entity, reducing Vistara pilots' guaranteed monthly hours from 70 to 40, aligning them with Air India's existing structure. This change has caused distress among pilots, some of whom spoke to Mint’s aviation correspondents Mihir Mishra and Anu Sharma for today’s Long Story. Mihir and Anu examine how the merger is affecting Vistara’s employees, especially junior pilots who are struggling with reduced salaries and unclear career progression prospects.

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That’s all for today. Thank you for listening.

We'll be back tomorrow with a fresh episode of Top of the Morning. Have a nice weekend!

Show notes:

The crowd of small firms in IPO street has never been bigger

Shrivelled paddy, wilted gram signal a lousy harvest ahead

Paid leave to WFH - India Inc nudges employees to vote

Mint Primer | Indian fuel prices: which way are they headed now?

At Vistara, some employees are caught in merger turbulence