Prashant Gupta

Very glad to see this! We have travelled down the path of Swadeshi and import substitution with disastrous results. Re-inventing wheel never makes sense. The main genius behind the telecom revolution was to adopt cheap and easily available technology to provide the service to masses, rather than develop our own that Sam Pitroda championed and wasted $10 billions on. The name of the game is to innovate and build on available technology. Encourage manufacturing in India to employ masses. Assert comparative advantage where we have it, as we have shown in IT services. We should have a huge comparative advantage in agricultural sector. Turn loose our entrepreneurs to take the world on in all emerging fields. They are already starting to prove their mettle in spacetech. The goal of Atmanirbhar should be limited to defense and armament industry. Everywhere else we ought to go for most economic way of providing goods and services for the masses.

129

48 Comments

I’ve been turning down all media requests for a post election analysis but talk of whether alliances will hold post elections reminded me of something I wrote 26 years ago - before a Lok Sabha Election result.   The basic premise: one who holds 30 seats may have the same power, or even more, as compared to someone who holds 245 seats.   A mathematical Power Index explains how   Quote Let’s get on with the “Power Indices” of the various political parties.   Think of it this way : suppose you require a 50% plus majority to form a government and there are 3 parties in the parliament with the following seat tally : 44%, 39% and 17%.   Now, any two of these can join together to form the government and therefore all three of them have exactly equal power, no matter that Party 3 has got less than half the number of seats that the first two have. This is a concept that is of use in any ‘majority wins’ decision rule from shareholder resolutions to jury decisions.   Suppose there are 4 parties in the fray this time around: A, B, C and D parties, having 35%, 34%, 17% and 14% of the seats resp. Again if a simple majority is needed to form a government, any two out of A, B & C can form a government whereas the Party D’s support is never really crucial to anyone.   If this party’s 14% is added onto the percentages of any of the first three parties, the sum does not exceed 50% and any larger coalition of parties doesn’t require its support anyway. Party D is therefore called a ‘dummy’ - an apt term for someone whose vote can never change a losing coalition into a winning one or vice versa.   The dummy has no power, while all the other three parties i.e. A, B and C have equal power.   This is inspite of the fact that Party C has far fewer seats than A and B and only a few more than the smallest one i.e. Party D   For those interested, there is a technical concept called the Banzhaf Power Index (BPI) of a group, party or person which is defined as the number of ways in which that group, party or person can change a losing coalition into a winning one or vice versa.   In the preceding example, the BPI of parties A, B and C are equal and that of Party D is zero.    In fact as an individual MP, you are better-off being a part of Party C than Party A or B because as part of the government you get a disproportionate share of the goodies. This is exactly what happened in U.P. where virtually every MLA of a marginal party who joined the BJP government was made a minister - something that was a remote dream for most BJP MLAs.   Unquote (First Global's weekly 'Markets, Majorities and Maths', January 1998)   Thus if a few smaller partners can hold whichever coalition government to ransom, it introduces uncertainty.   “The more things change, the more they stay the same” Hence, I can repeat a 1998 piece which has contemporary parallels   We may be in for some interesting times.   History also shows coalition governments have been pretty good for the economy and markets.

119

13 Comments

Sharp questions NISHA PODDAR and sensible answers from one of the most under-stated investors (with a stellar track record) Mukul Arora 👏 Elevation Capital have indeed set a high bar for private markets investing in India. No surprise that they are loved by founders, LP's and other stakeholders. At WaterBridge Ventures have had the privilege of working with #ElevationCapital on several company building journeys and it has been a lot of learning and fun. As Mukul said, fundamentally it's about backing high quality founders & companies, looking for the right levers (innovation vs. profitability depending on the stage), and re-tooling, evolving investment strategies as market structures and business models of success change in a fast evolving market like 🇮🇳. He makes it sound so simple. But it is - just the discipline of doing it repeatedly isn’t, that requires a different order of effort and skill. And that also separates the Midas touch investors from the common ones. Icing on the cake that #ElevationCapital folks are also as humble as they come 🎉

61

4 Comments

Was nice to share some thoughts with Akshata Gorde and Financial Express (India) on SEBIs new proposed fixed price mechanism as an alternative to reverse book building for voluntary delisting schemes. Read on to know more: https://lnkd.in/g25YCj_D #SEBI #delisting #law

22

Moneycontrol covered the latest report by Bain, The India Private Equity Report 2024: "The year 2023 was also significant for Indian exits with the exit value soaring 15 percent to $29 billion, alongside a rise in exit volumes from 210 to 340. This was driven primarily by public market sales (notably block trades) which comprised half of exits by value, benefitting from an increasingly deep Indian public market, which outperformed those of most major economies, with a significant increase in domestic investor participation."

1

Moneycontrol covered the latest report by Bain, The India Private Equity Report 2024: "The year 2023 was also significant for Indian exits with the exit value soaring 15 percent to $29 billion, alongside a rise in exit volumes from 210 to 340. This was driven primarily by public market sales (notably block trades) which comprised half of exits by value, benefitting from an increasingly deep Indian public market, which outperformed those of most major economies, with a significant increase in domestic investor participation."

1

Moneycontrol covered the latest report by Bain, The India Private Equity Report 2024: "The year 2023 was also significant for Indian exits with the exit value soaring 15 percent to $29 billion, alongside a rise in exit volumes from 210 to 340. This was driven primarily by public market sales (notably block trades) which comprised half of exits by value, benefitting from an increasingly deep Indian public market, which outperformed those of most major economies, with a significant increase in domestic investor participation."

1

Moneycontrol covered the latest report by Bain, The India Private Equity Report 2024: "The year 2023 was also significant for Indian exits with the exit value soaring 15 percent to $29 billion, alongside a rise in exit volumes from 210 to 340. This was driven primarily by public market sales (notably block trades) which comprised half of exits by value, benefitting from an increasingly deep Indian public market, which outperformed those of most major economies, with a significant increase in domestic investor participation."

2

#India 🇮🇳 is playing an increasingly significant role in #AsiaPacific #PE-#VC activity, accounting for ~20% of all PE-VC #investments in 2023, up from ~15% in 2018. #Resilience amid #turmoil: Multiple bright spots emerged in India amidst a globally challenging year for the PE-VC ecosystem. India #PrivateEquity Report 2024 | Bain & Company

5

A significant milestone on the Sarvagram journey and we are very excited to continue our support to the stellar team. When we invested in 2022, we saw a distinctive company which was serving an unaddressed segment in a very large market i.e middle class households in rural India. The narrative around rural financing has primarily focused on farmers and low-income populations. However, there's a huge gap in addressing the needs of the aspirational rural middle class—the 80-100 million households with annual incomes ranging from ₹3-5L, spread across multiple income sources. This demographic is eager to improve both their income levels and quality of life, yet their financial needs have often gone unmet. Banks and microfinance institutions have targeted agriculture or low-income women but the rural middle class is a large whitespace. Though they may have access to product financing like two-wheeler or car loans, a significant portion of their aspirations remains unaddressed. SarvaGram is stepping into this gap with a holistic, customer-centric platform that offers a diverse range of financial services—from lending products and farm mechanization solutions to insurance offerings — as opposed to a mono-line strategy, which we believe works better in denser urban markets. In addition to our thesis on rural lending, we have found working with the stellar team, led by Utpal Isser and Sameer Mishra, a collaborative and insightful partnership. Their exceptional execution and understanding of the rural market have enabled SarvaGram to create lasting impact and drive sustainable growth. It has been equally enjoyable to learn from their experiences and we truly appreciate the openness of team. We have also appreciated working with our co-passengers from #Elevar, #Elevation and #Temasek and look forward to the #Peak XV team. With this fundraise, SarvaGram is on track to continue its impressive growth trajectory and we are excited to be part of this journey of SarvaGram driving meaningful change for rural middle-class households. Utpal Isser SarvaGram Sreeraman V TVS Capital Funds #FundingSuccess #RuralIndia

27

It is often said that Impact investing does not deliver financial returns. At C4D Partners, we are proving this wrong. Our Fund 1 has already achieved a 51% DPI on the India portfolio within 6 years of fund life, delivering a robust IRR. We’re not just about investing for impact, but also prioritizing strong, sustainable financial returns. We carefully select companies that are cash flow positive and demonstrate a clear path to profitability within a couple of years of our investment. This has enabled us to keep our mortality rate under 20%, lower than the industry average. Our approach - We invest in early-growth stage companies that are well-governed and on a clear path to positive cash flows, and be there for the long haul. Our approach comprises not just capital infusion, but active involvement in fostering a culture of transparency, operational excellence and sustainable value creation. We position our investments for sustainability and success in an ever-evolving market. If you’re a startup or investor interested in partnering with us, or just curious to learn more, let’s connect. Mirakle Couriers, Ecotasar, LabourNet, Saahas Zero Waste, Aarohan , 1BRIDGE, Ananya Finance, Freyr Energy Services Pvt Ltd #VentureCapital #Startups #SMEs #GrowthCapital #InvestmentStrategy #C4DPartners

122

7 Comments

When a handful are celebrating angel tax reduction, LTCG and STCG increment have a far reaching and a far serious impact on India's attractiveness as an investment destination. Finally, someone has rightly called this out. #Budget #LTCG #STCG https://lnkd.in/gPzvJJAE

5

Impact Investors Council (IIC), recently released its report on 'India Impact Investment Trends 2023' at our India Room event in Singapore. In this short video, Divya Pinge, Head of Research and Varun Reddy, Asst Manager - Research & Programs, at Impact Investors Council (IIC), take you through a synopsis of the report. For your soft copy of the report, please write to us at : [email protected]

18

1 Comment

*News Headlines from Business News Agencies:* *Business Standard* 📝 Oil buyers, producers dialogue needed for market stability: Hardeep Puri 📝 India's semiconductor design sector booms despite Q2 hiring dip: Report 📝 Taj Gvk Hotels Q3 PAT jumps 39% YoY to Rs 17 crore 📝 SAT Televenture to acquire Tikona Infinet for Rs 669 cr in cash, stock deal 📝 Sebi allows MFs to invest in foreign funds with Indian securities exposure 📝 Kotak Alternate Asset Managers to raise Rs 1,600 cr via healthcare PE fund 📝 Coal Minister urges CIL to boost production and reduce import reliance 📝 TechEagle launches eight drone hubs with healthcare partners across India 📝 Fitch affirms IIFL Finance's rating after RBI lifts ban on gold-loan biz 📝 October weather did not favour Ukraine's winter crops: Scientists 📝 Exide Industries Q2 result: PAT falls 13.66% to Rs 233.4 cr on higher costs 📝 UAE opens its annual oil-and-gas summit, pledges to increase output *Economic Times* 📝 CIL should prioritise augmenting coal production, supplies to reduce import: Minister 📝 Aptus has appointed Atul Jain as Managing Director and Chief Executive 📝 China's Haier Group plans JV with JSW Group envisaging Rs 1K cr investment 📝 BFSI office leasing continues to surge as digital growth points to new record in 2024 📝 India to emerge as a Global South leader in AI global governance: Abhishek Singh 📝 India re-elected as President of International Solar Alliance till 2026 📝 Bajaj auto domestic 2-wheelers sales dropped 8 pc in Oct (YoY), exports surge 22 pc 📝 Ashok Leyland total sales fell 9% to 15,310 units in Oct 📝 Bangladesh fast tracks payment to Adani Power after supply cut 📝 Welspun Corp gets Rs 1,300 cr pipe supply order in US 📝 India to revamp power demand forecasting for better planning 📝 Crystal Crop acquires I&B Seeds to expand vegetable, flower seed business *Mint* 📝 RBI likely selling dollars to support rupee amid equity outflows: Report 📝 IRFC Q2 Results: Net profit rises 4% YoY to ₹1,613 crore, revenue up 2% 📝 Indian rupee touches all-time low due to equity outflows from domestic market 📝 Lulu Retail Holdings expects to raise $1.43 billion from its Abu Dhabi IPO 📝 DLF’s New ‘Ultra-Luxury’ Project to Have the Costliest Apartments in India 📝 Reliance Jio IPO may hit Indian market in 2025: Report 📝 NBFCs brace for slower growth as asset stress, fund costs pinch 📝 Skillmatics likely to go for India listing in 3 years: CEO Dhvanil Sheth 📝 SBI Mutual Fund average AUM surges to record ₹11 lakh crore in Q2 📝 Bosch to cut over 7,000 jobs as it lowers growth forecast for 2024 📝 InCred plans insurance, mutual fund arms as it seeks to diversify offerings

2

What are the emerging spaces in Indian Consumer-Commerce? How to look at new Spaces & Success Models in Consumer-Commerce? - Interesting segments in Upstream / Downstream for a consumer brand - Tailwinds - Successful outcomes, Q-Comm, Consumer Behaviour - Who is currently solving for various sub-segments ? _______________________________ Culmination of learnings & Insights in the Consumer Space : 1. Working with multiple Consumer startups 2. Understanding & observing consumer behaviour patterns 3. Studying V 1.0, V 2.0, V 3.0 in consumer-commerce in India Put down my thesis / insights for emerging (early-stage) segments in Consumer Tech in India. Full #thesis: Link in comments #Startups #Consumer #VC

105

4 Comments

The virtual CFO model is experiencing significant growth in India, driven by the evolving needs of the nation’s burgeoning startup ecosystem and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). By the end of 2023, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) had recognised 1,17,254 startups in India. Despite this growth, a Forbes report indicates that 90% of early-stage startups fail due to cash flow mismanagement, underscoring the critical need for expert financial leadership. Hiring a full-time CFO, with costs ranging from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore annually, is beyond the reach of most startups and SMEs. Virtual CFOs offer a practical solution, delivering strategic financial leadership at 40% to 60% lower costs. These professionals provide essential support in areas such as fundraising, accounting, financial planning and analysis, and investment management. More than three-quarters of startups working with virtual CFOs have successfully secured external funding at more favourable valuations. The advantages of virtual CFOs extend beyond cost savings. They excel in cash flow management, fundraising support, financial planning and analysis, risk management, investor relations, compliance, and governance. Their external perspective introduces fresh ideas and objectivity, enhancing the strategic decision-making process. India's dynamic startup and SME landscape is ideally suited to becoming a global hub for virtual CFO services. The increasing number of tech startups and small businesses necessitates strategic financial leadership, which virtual CFOs are well-positioned to provide. The country boasts a substantial talent pool of qualified chartered accountants and MBAs, ensuring a robust supply of capable virtual CFOs. Industry experience and cultural fit are pivotal selection criteria for these roles, and service providers employ stringent protocols and specialised tools to ensure secure data sharing and collaboration. Looking ahead, India is poised to have over 250 unicorn startups out of a total of 200,000 by 2025, employing 3.25 million people. Virtual CFOs will be instrumental strategic partners in this entrepreneurial surge. Their tailored services and deep understanding of the digital landscape will enable organisations to achieve unprecedented growth and success. #CFO #ChiefFinancialOfficer #finance #CorpwisAdvisorsPrivateLimited

14

1 Comment

As someone who is privileged to be closely involved in the journey of several startups including Mygate, the ability to write such a blog, let alone publish it to the public shows an extraordinary longterm thinking and maturity for founders. First of all, kudos to the team on stellar execution and is the input to this blog. Secondly kudos on the courage to publish such information, for a second time now. Last but not least, I encourage all founders to write such a blog and a similar plan for the year ahead. Publishing this can be at your own discretion - private, management team, board, investors, public. Use your best judgement but write you must! It’s a great discipline to have - ideally once a quarter! Yes the first two times will be difficult, but it will soon become a “liberating” habit.

18

1 Comment

A deep dive into the technical highlights of our landmark project at JNPA SEZ reinforces the scale and strategic importance of this facility. Each specification—from the 4.45 million sq. ft. built-up area to the seamless multimodal connectivity—has been meticulously planned to address the growing EXIM demand and elevate India’s logistics infrastructure. What stands out is not just the sheer size but the thought behind optimizing cargo flow, enabling cost efficiencies, and leveraging the proximity to critical transport networks. As we move forward, it’s clear this project is more than just a logistics hub—it’s a step toward redefining integrated supply chain solutions in India. #Logistics #Infrastructure #JNPA #SupplyChainExcellence #WelspunOne

12

🌟 India’s Real Estate Boom: A Game-Changer for Allied Sectors! 🌟 Congratulations to Aditya Joshi and the team at Brookfield Asset Management for the successful sale of IndoStar Home Finance Private Limited to EQT Group 🚀 This achievement underscores a broader reality. India’s real estate and housing finance sectors are booming, with every allied sector from housing finance to construction—minting money 💰 and driving India's economic engine. 📈 Take, for example, the recent Bajaj Housing Finance Limited IPO as beautifully posted by Manish Kejriwal, a testament to the unprecedented investor interest in the sector. But it’s not just about housing finance. As housing demand hits new highs, especially in fast-growing hubs like Gurugram, we’re witnessing significant growth across the entire ecosystem—real estate investors, cement, steel, construction companies, and more. 🔹 $1 trillion of annual investments in the housing sector 🏘️ is expected by 2030, with cities like Gurugram leading the charge.   🔹 The cement industry alone is seeing a surge, with consumption crossing 300 million tons, fueled by new housing and infrastructure.   🔹 Companies like ours, ProperT, have thrived by aligning with this momentum, with upcoming marquee real estate projects valued at over Rs 2000 crores and ongoing construction worth 1000 crores. At SSVG and Millennium Engineers, we’ve fast-tracked the acquisition of construction projects  🏗️ valued at over 1000 crores from marquee clients. This growth, alongside the demand for housing finance, is creating a robust cycle where every segment is flourishing. As Keki Mistry, Vice Chairman of HDFC Limited, has rightly said: _"India's housing sector is on the brink of a massive transformation."_   Indeed, we’re witnessing not just a boom in housing but a multiplier effect across industries supporting this growth.  #RealEstate #HousingBoom #Gurugram #Finance #Construction #ProperT #SSVG #MillenniumEngineers #EconomicGrowth

1