Moneycontrol Pro Panorama | Government is shifting gears on growth

File image of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman (Image: Twitter/@FinMinIndia)

Dear Reader,

The Panorama newsletter is sent to Moneycontrol Pro subscribers on market days. It offers easy access to stories published on Moneycontrol Pro and gives a little extra by setting out a context or an event or trend that investors should keep track of.

Just before we could gather our breath after the spate of government announcements yesterday – production-linked incentive schemes for autos and drones; a telecom sector bailout, the two financial bids for Air India and stake sale of Hindustan Copper – we have been hit with more today.

Early in the day, SEBI chief Ajay Tyagi warned retail investors over the froth in the primary market. He said the price discovery in the IPO market was not as transparent and efficient as secondary market price discovery.

Retail investors should focus more on secondary market since disclosures for already listed companies are much more, added Tyagi in a morning where he defended the T+1 settlement proposal which has caused some disquiet among exchanges and brokers.

Later today, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to hold a press briefing at 5 pm. The buzz is that she will likely announce a formal government guarantee on the securities receipts that the planned ‘bad bank’ will issue to banks as it takes on non-performing assets from their books.

And tomorrow, there is the first in-person meeting of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council. It has a bunch of issues to discuss – bringing petrol and diesel under the GST net, what compensation formula to use beyond FY22 and whether to do away with the National Anti-Profiteering Authority.

As for the last, we have a piece arguing to end this blunt tool if the government is serious about the ease of doing business. Do read here.

And finally, we wonder aloud whether the GST Council is not going to tinker with the sin tax? That’s because the market’s favourite meme stock ITC Ltd is trading 7 percent up. But jokes apart, here’s a clear eyed look at its business, which we had published some days ago. Read it ICYMI or again.

Investing insights from our research team:

Telecom relief package: What does it mean for Vodafone-Idea?

Nazara Technologies: Acquisition spree continues

Grauer and Weil: Strong pick-up in business to support earnings growth

What else are we reading today?

Rising demand, low capacity additions improve outlook for thermal sector

Investor activism cannot fix Unilever’s trust deficit (Republished from the FT)

Do not reduce the ‘S’ in ESG to another tick box item

Seven challenges before the Indian economy fully recovers

Should Biden reappoint Jerome Powell? It depends on his theory of change.

Picks from our technical analysts: SAIL, Divi’s Lab and Tata Chemicals (These are published every trading day before markets open and can be read on the app)

Ravi Krishnan

Moneycontrol Pro