Moneycontrol Pro Panorama | The engine revs up for Air India's divestment

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.

Air India’s turbulent divestment process is finally taking wing. Media reports indicate that the reserve price for the beleaguered airline is likely to be fixed at Rs 15,000-20,000 crore. The government may sell it even if the bid price is lower than the reserve price. Ironically, in spite of Air India’s hefty accumulated losses, the failure of several big names and pain inflicted by the pandemic on airlines, the country’s aviation sector holds a fatal allure for many businessmen.

Whoever finally flies the iconic Maharaja airline will have access to 4,486 domestic and 2,738 international slots across Indian and major international airports. Then, there is optimism that the worst is behind the aviation sector. Tailwinds from the domestic economy returning to normalcy and pent-up travel demand driving sales could help the winning bidder take off in calmer skies.

The overall economic mood too has turned brighter in India. The festive season is under way. Offices are reopening, the service sector is gaining traction and the business resumption index is north bound. Even equity markets are on a roll with strong retail buying. There have been jittery moments with markets shedding gains in some trading sessions. But every correction, although sharp, is being bought into, as investors are shrugging off global headwinds such as rising bond yields in developed markets, a looming energy crisis in the world, soaring infection in the US and China’s biggest real estate related debt crisis.

In fact, China’s problems look graver with the electricity shortages. Although it may seem a region-specific issue, the spillover effects on the world cannot be wished away. After all, China is a very large producer, exporter and importer of several commodities. Any change in the country's demand-supply dynamics could affect many economies -- developed and emerging. Do read Moneycontrol Pro’s research team’s piece on sectoral implications of power outages in China.

More investing insights from our research team:

Indiamart Intermesh: Huge growth canvas, with large markets, higher online push

Tata Power: Betting on business transformation for future growth

What else are we reading today?

Why the world cannot wean away from coal quickly

The road ahead for Godrej Consumer’s Indonesia business

IT market leaders help disrupt industries, but highly resilient themselves

Mohamed El-Erian writes: Bond sell-off is a warning to the Fed (republished from the FT)

Sebi’s proposals will usher in far-reaching changes

Technical Picks: HEG, Siemens, Grasim and Vedanta (These are published every trading day before markets open and can be read on the app)

Vatsala Kamat
Moneycontrol Pro