Reliance Capital has sold its stake in Paytm’s parent One97Communications to China’s Alibaba in a deal estimated at.̀ 275 crore, reports Payal Ganguly. The deal signifies an

over-27-fold return on investment for Reliance Cap.��PAGE 6

Fat Profit: Rel Cap Exits One97

THEECON MICTIMESINTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

BRANDS: CREATING DESIRE��5 SPORTS: THE GREAT GAMES��20AROUND THE WORLD��17

Parle Adds Fizz to Frooti,Signs Up Alia Bhatt

Republicans Unveil Plan to Repeal, Replace Obamacare

Ashwin’s Super 6 HelpsIndia Level Test Series

Last Phase of Uttar Pradesh Polls Covering 40 Seats Today The last phase of Uttar Pradesh assembly pollscovering 40 seats will be held on Wednesday.Three Naxal-affected districts, along with thefive assembly segments under Varanasi LokSabha constituency, will be in prime focus. Pure Politics ��2

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‘Metro Man’ Sreedharan Seeks Nod for Aarey Metro Carshed‘Metro Man’ E Sreedharan has written to Maha-rashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavisseeking final clearance for Aarey metro carshed,saying it “is not going to be a threat either to thegovernment or to the eco system.”Pure Politics��3

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Lack of Reforms, Not Offers,Weakening Telecom Ind: TraiTelecom regular Telecom Regulatory Authorityof India (Trai) has cited lack of reforms forweakening of the industry, and not promotionaloffers as suggested by Department of Tele-communications, triggering a blame gamebetween the two.Companies: Pursuit of Profit ��12

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Tata Motors Takes Technology Leap,Unveils Sports Coupe TaMo RaceMoNearly two decades after its first car Indica, TataMotors took a leap of faith and technology,unveiling a two-seater sports coupe TaMoRaceMo at Geneva Motor Show. Tata Sons inte-rim chairman Ratan Tata and chairman-designa-te Natarajan Chandrasekaran were at the event.Companies: Pursuit of Profit��12

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Finance Minister-led Committee to Decide on Labour Codes TodayFinance minister Arun Jaitley-led inter-mini-sterial committee on labour is set to consider onWednesday two labour codes on wages andindustrial relations, a move aimed at improvingthe ease of doing business in the country.Economy: Macro, Micro & More ��15

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Energy Sector Reforms may IncludeSubsidy Cuts and Price Controls The government will soon outline comprehensi-ve energy sector reforms that could free upsectors such as coal, electricity and fertilisers ofsubsidies and price controls, helping producemore power and make generation projectscommercially viable for private companies.Economy: Macro, Micro & More��15

Inside story

Should banks be allowed to charge cashtransactions in the name of digital push?

www.economictimes.com

Are mid-level employees resistant to change?

TODAY’S QUESTION

24%YES

75%NO

1%CAN’T SAY

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Re/US $

Gold Std*

Silver (`/kg)

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*(`/10gm) Compiled by ETIG Database

Nifty

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LAST

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Market Tracker

Ratna.Bhushan@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Upstart Indian brandsbeating MNC marquee brands is notnew. But this one takes the cake – or thecandy. Pulse, a raw mango-flavouredtangy candy, was launched by DS

Group, the makers ofRajanigandha panmasala and Catchbottled water, inmid-2015.

Last month, the one-rupee candy clocked.̀ 300 crore in sales,beating such MNC bluechip munchie brands asOreo (.̀ 283 crore in sales,launched in 2011) andMars bars (.̀ 270 crore insales, launched in 2011).Pulse looks like a sweetsuccess compared to the

other MNC brands as well. Coca-Cola’smuch advertised Coke Zero, launchedin late 2014, has a sales figure of .̀120crore.

Pulse’s brisk sales growth is moreimpressive considering the stiff com-petition in India. The sweet candycategory is estimated at .̀ 6,600 crore(hard boiled candies, mints and jellies),and is growing at 12-14% year-on-year.

Existing hard boiled candy brandsthat Pulse competes with include

Parle’s Mango Bite and Italian makerPerfetti Van Melle’s Alpenliebe, besidesa slew of local brands. Parle and Al-penliebe have been established playersfor more than a decade. Pulse raced tothe third spot in just over two years in amarket where price competition isfierce and brand loyalties are fickle.

DS Group senior VP (new productdevelopment) Shashank Surana said:“Pulse is a highly scaleable brand andit has resonated exceptionally wellwith consumers. The brand has hugepotential.”

Market Disruption Riding on Taste��19

Tangy Desi Candy Tastes Sweet SuccessIn just two years, raw mango-flavoured .̀ 1Pulse clocks sales of .̀ 300 cr, beats MNC brands like Oreo & Mars bars

Gaurav.Laghate@timesgroup.com

Mumbai: Oppo’s .̀ 1,079-crore bet onthe Indian cricket team must havelooked a little iffy when the elevencollapsed to 274 all out against Aus-tralia on Tuesday. But that faith gotvindicated after Australia were skit-tled out for a paltry 112, handing In-dia a 75-run victory.

Winning the right to emblazon theOppo Mobiles logo on the jerseys ofIndia’s players for five years start-ing April involved a pitched battle

against another mobile handsetmaker from China, not a nationknown for its interest in cricket. Inthe event, Vivo’s bid of .̀ 768 crore fellshort. It should be noted, though,that both companies belong to Chi-na’s BBK Electronics Corp.

Oppo will pay .̀ 4.17 crore per bilat-eral match and .̀ 1.51 crore for Inter-national Cricket Council (ICC)matches that India is involved in,sharply up from the base price of.̀ 2.2 crore and .̀ 70 lakh, respectively.

Of the nine companies that pickedup the tender document for the spon-sorship rights, only Oppo and Vivoactually submitted bids.

“Despite being from the same par-ent company, both have completelyseparate teams and they competelike crazy,” said a top broadcastingindustry marketing executive.

Oppo Has Witnessed Rapid Growth��4

On a Victorious Day for Team India,BCCI Grabs .̀ 1,079-cr ‘Oppo’rtunity

Chinese mobile handsetco Oppo beats rival Vivoto win cricket team’ssponsorship rights

Rights for April 1, 2017 – March 31, 2022Oppo’s bid: `1,079 crVivo’s bid: `768 crOppo will pay `4.17 cr*

TENDER BUYERS Star India Paytm Oppo Vivo Hero Group DBS Bank DNA GroupM Encompass

*per bilateral match, `1.51 cr per ICC match

Game On!

SAHARA INDIA

STAR INDIA

2009 - Jul ’12

Jan 1, ’14 - Mar 31, ’17

`1.91 cr (Test match) `2.09 cr (ODI)

`1.92 cr (per bilateral match), `61 lakh (ICC matches)

`3.34 cr per match (base price ̀ 2.5 cr)

Jul 1, ’12 - Dec 31, ’13

If the glucose biscuit youdunk in tea shrinks or thepacket gets lighter from

July, you can blame it on the upcominggoods and services tax (GST) regime,reports Deepshikha Sikarwar fromNew Delhi. Biscuit manufacturers fearthe low-end glucose biscuit could betaxed along with high-end cream oroat biscuits, forcing them to cut cor-ners to maintain packet prices.��15

GST may Make GlucoseBiscuit Packs Lighter

Logistics company Rivigo Services has raiseddebt financing of .̀100 cr from leading pri-vate sector banks to expand its fleet of

trucks, reports Biswarup Gooptu from New Delhi. ��6

Logistics Company RivigoRaises .̀100 cr to Expand Fleet

Homegrown smartphone maker Smartronhas secured undisclosed financing from theGlobalFoundries CEO Sanjay Jha, who joins

former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar as an investor. ��6

GlobalFoundries CEO Invests in Sachin-backed Smartron

Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), considered one of the stickiest foreign portfolioinvestors (FPIs), are reducing bets on Indian equities. The share of SWFs in thetotal FPI holding in India shrank to 6% in January compared with 10.4% in July2016, shows data from NSDL, report Ashutosh R Shyam & Ramanatha Pai K. The

assets of SWFs shrank mainly due to withdrawal. FULL REPORT ��PAGE 7

Sovereign Wealth Funds Trim India Bets SHARE IN FPI ASSETS SHRINKS TO 6%

RIGHTS FOR 5 YEARS FROM APRIL

Pulse raced tothe third spotin a marketwhere pricecompetitionis fierce and brandloyalties are fickle

ANIRBAN

MUMBAI | 22 + 4 PAGES EACH OF BRAND EQUITY AND ET PANACHE | * .̀ 4.00 OR .̀ 7.00 ALONG WITH THE TIMES OF INDIA

Market notTied to PollFate: Mobius

Indulal PM & Baiju Kalesh

Mumbai: Brookfield Asset Ma-nagement, the world’s second-biggest alternative assets mana-ger, is in talks with lenders ofdebt-laden Jaiprakash PowerVentures to acquire the firm’sthree power plants, two peoplewith direct knowledge of the de-velopment said.

The discussions are in initialstages and there is no certaintythat a transaction will take place.A deal, if it happens, could closeat an equity value of .̀ 4,500-5,000crore, one of the two people said.

The transaction will mark Bro-okfield’s first investment in Indi-

a’s power sector. The asset mana-ger has already committed about$4.6 billion in the country in tollroads and telecom towers.

Jaiprakash Power Ventures’major lenders such as ICICI

Bank, IDBI Bank and Punjab Na-tional Bank took control after thefirm failed to repay loans on time.

Brookfield did not comment onthe talks and Jaiprakash Associ-ates did not respond to an emai-

led questionnaire.Last month, Jaiprakash Power

Ventures allotted 305.8 crore sha-res to its 23 lenders as part of adebt restructuring scheme. Theallotment brought down Jaipra-kash Associates’ holding in thecompany to 29.74%.

The group has been trying to sellassets, including core ones, in thepast two years after intense pres-sure from lenders. In July last ye-ar, the group sold its cement busi-ness to Aditya Birla Group firmUltraTech for .̀ 19,500 crore.

JP’s power portfolio of 4,000 mwincludes one hydro power plantand two thermal units.

Betting Big on Indian Infra��4

Brookfield in Talks to Buy JP’s Power Assets Lenders looking to sell off three operational units in a deal likely to be valued at around .̀ 5,000 cr

Not a Snap Deal:Lifeline May CutValuation by HalfSoftBank in talks toinvest up to $300 min Jasper at valuationof less than $3 billion

mains an arduous task. Cab-hai-ling company Ola is raising ca-pital from SoftBank at a 40%drop in valuation, ET reportedin November, citing people awa-re of that transaction.

Gurgaon-based Jasper waslast valued at $6.5 billion when itraised $200 million in fundingled by Canada’s Ontario Tea-chers’ Pension Plan in Februa-ry 2016. It was valued below $3billion in late 2014 to early 2015during stake sales by sharehol-ders to other investors.

‘Sign of Bullishness’��4

Biswarup.Gooptu@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Snapdeal owner Ja-sper Infotech is inching closerto securing a lifeline from Ja-pan’s SoftBank Corp, its largestshareholder, but the transac-tion could drag its valuation tounder $3 billion.

SoftBank is negotiating to in-vest $100-150 million in Jasper intranches, according to three pe-ople familiar with develop-ments. A fourth person said ove-rall investment could be as highas $300 million in Jasper, whichis grappling with slowing salesand has been forced to cut jobs.

Jasper and SoftBank have beengoing back and forth the last twomonths on crucial terms of thedeal, including on the invest-ment size and the valuation, the-se people said, declining to beidentified. Jasper’s board hasheld talks with SoftBank for rai-sing funds at a valuation of $1.5-2.5 billion, they said.

If the transaction goes thro-ugh, it would be the latest in-stance of a top-tier Indian Inter-net company’s valuation takinga hit, as raising fresh capital re-

JAPANESE CO MAY RAISE STAKE TO ABOUT 40%

Some Relief

The money is expected to come in tranches, with the fi rst expected to be remitted in the fi rst few months of the upcoming fi scal

If successful, SoftBank to exercise greater control over Jasper’s fi nances going forward

Snapdeal valuation is likely to be 3-4 times its gross merchandisesales, and is notnecessarily a badoutcome for the co

Fund-raising for, or a potential saleof, FreeCharge continues to bein limbo

Sale Season4000 MW:JaiprakashPower’s portfolio

`12,000 CRORENet debt(`67,500 cr: JP Asso-ciates’ total debt)

Who Owns What in JP Power51%: Consortium of lendersincluding ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank and PNB

29.74%: JP Group’s stake

19.26%: Public shareholders and institutions

Lenders looking to sell power assets

Leap Green Energy, acompany promoted byIndia’s first Formula One

driver Narain Karthikeyan, hasbought all windfarms owned byInox Renewables for an undisclosedamount, report Mohit Bhalla.��11

Karthikeyan Co BuysInox’s Windfarms

Says scrapping banking transaction charges subsidises the wealthy

Saloni Shukla & MC Govardhana Rangan

Mumbai: Banks are not Shylocksbent on sucking out money fromcustomers, but those seeking hig-her levels of service must be opento paying for the convenience, saidAditya Puri, MD of HDFC Bank.

India’s longest serving bank chiefalso said strong third-quarter GDPgrowth has proved demonising ofdemonetisation was wrong.

Scrapping all banking chargesends up subsidising the wealthycarrying out high-end transactionsand reduces banks’ ability to offerservices to the poor, Puri said.

“You don’t go to Oberoi Hotel andask for Mahesh Lunch Home ra-tes,” Aditya Puri told ET in an in-terview. “We are not here to chargeusury costs, let us be very clear. Asyou go higher up on the type of pro-duct, it is perfectly reasonable tocharge. There is a segment of thepopulation which should not be

Customers Need to Payfor Better Service: Puri

Unless BJP suffers asignificant upset in theongoing state elec-tions, any adverseoutcome will not leadto any big fall in themarket, said MarkMobius, executivechairman of TempletonEmerging MarketsGroup. In an interviewwith Sanam Mirchan-dani, Mobius said Indiais his most preferredemerging market afterChina.��PAGE 8

Admit that the impact (ofdemonetisation) has notbeen drastic. To start say-ing impact on parts of theinformal economy was notreflected… we are talkingabout this for 20 years

ADITYA PURI MD, HDFC Bank

FULL INTERVIEW��18

charged, which we agree with.”Recent charges levied by banks

for ATM transactions and cash de-posits beyond a limit have drawncriticism, especially in case of SBI,which restored the minimum ba-lance amount after scrapping it in2012. Opposition to charges on useof debit and credit cards at mer-chants is also strong, especially af-ter demonetisation, which has ledto a surge in digital payments.

‘Impact of DeMo not Drastic’��19ARINDAM

WEDNESDAY, 8 MARCH 2017BENNETT, COLEMAN & CO. LTD. WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM

CCI NG 3.7 Product: ETMumbaiBS PubDate: 08-03-2017 Zone: MumbaiCity Edition: 2 Page: ETMCFP User: ajay.mane Time: 03-08-2017 00:26 Color: CMYK