Category: Investments

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Green Finance: Mind your Ps and Qs

The Financial Express “Green finance” is not naturally low-cost finance; with their fiduciary duty, investors expect appropriate returns. Focus should be on enhancing sources of finance and structuring What is now undisputed is that the amounts of monies required for green transition runs into trillions of dollars over the next few decades – and this is just for India. Green transition is expensive – … Read More Green Finance: Mind your Ps and Qs

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Winner’s Curse

Strategies to understand and mitigate it Last month, at a leadership development program, I went back to my alma mater, IIM Ahmedabad. It is always fantastic to go back to the classroom and that too at IIMA! A topic that we detailed deeply there was Winner’s Curse. For an investor, entering into auctions can be fraught with the risk of overbidding such that while … Read More Winner’s Curse

India’s Union Budget FY2023 – Impetus for investments and capex

Financial Express Indian government presented an investment-oriented budget with a focus on getting future ready. Increasing public investments and capital expenditure are expected to take the combined (Centre plus States) public capex to more than 4% of GDP in FY2023 from ~3% over the last few years. Advance growth estimates for FY2022 of 9.2% make India the fastest growing large economy: the increased capex … Read More India’s Union Budget FY2023 – Impetus for investments and capex

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Financing the Green Transition

Financial Express New sources of capital and new instruments are required to power the green transition Green Transition is a reality: it is here and now. The recent spate of high-impact climate-related disasters across the world (floods, wildfires, heatwaves, etc.) have underscored the magnitude of challenges facing humanity cutting across country borders. This has prompted societies and leaders across the world into thinking and … Read More Financing the Green Transition

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Urban development and green finance: Blending two mega trends

Financial Express Writing on LinkedIn recently, Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi said, “The 15th Finance Commission and several academics have emphasised the crucial importance of sound property taxation. The third reform required states to notify floor rates of property tax and of water & sewerage charges, in consonance with stamp duty guideline values for property transactions and current costs respectively, in urban areas. … Read More Urban development and green finance: Blending two mega trends

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Attracting Large Pools of Capital for a Green Transition

Financial Express India is a signatory and strong advocate for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the only large country on track for emissions reduction as agreed under the Paris convention. These transitions are expected to be net positive for the economy from cleaning up the emissions, creating new jobs, and fostering economic growth. International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that … Read More Attracting Large Pools of Capital for a Green Transition

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Financial planning for a family after a sudden shock

The sudden shock Over the last month many of us have had horrible, heart-wrenching stories of losses to share. In my immediate circle, I have had a relative, a batchmate, and a close business acquaintance pass away. In the wider circle, only bread-winning member, or even more sadly, both parents of young children passing away have led to many a sad moment. Some have … Read More Financial planning for a family after a sudden shock

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Infra investment plans: India and the USA

Financial Express Two of the largest democracies have embarked on a massive capital investment planover the next few years US President Biden recently announced a two-part plan to invest in the USA: first part of the plan details a USD 2.2 trillion investment in “hard” infrastructure and second part, the families plan, puts in USD 1.8 trillion in “soft” infrastructure. The combined plan, at … Read More Infra investment plans: India and the USA

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Capital and Innovation: This Time is Different

Unlike capital chasing technological innovations in the 2010s, now technological innovations are being driven by the availability of capital.

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Net-zero will require a serious effort – now!

Book review of Bill Gates’: “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster” Financial Express This book should be a required reading for anyone interested in:• the “big picture” of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (where do the 51 billion tons of GHG come from),• what are sub-components of the key areas (energy, transport, materials, and agriculture) that contribute to the change,• what innovations are taking place … Read More Net-zero will require a serious effort – now!

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Financing urban infrastructure

Empowering Urban Local Bodies to leverage the markets. India’s rapid urbanization is a well-documented story. Depending on how one counts urbanization, India has between a-third and a-half of its population already live in high-density areas. The trend towards urbanization will continue as the economy moves to being more connected with global ecosystems in manufacturing and services. According to various estimates, urban India contributes to … Read More Financing urban infrastructure

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Hedging INR for the long-term

Foreign investors with long-term commitments to Indian infrastructure need the ability to hedge their currency exposure in India. The exposure can typically last for multiple decades, especially in the context of infrastructure. The recently concluded Virtual Global Investor Conference saw large global investors recommitting to their interest in investing in India for the long-term. For investors, the return they seek is dependent on the … Read More Hedging INR for the long-term