Capital Ideas

Paytm’s 42-year old founder, billionaire Vijay Shekhar Sharma spoke to Forbes India recently about his plans to get to breakeven and make his company a one-stop-shop for every financial need of millions of consumers and merchants in India. He spoke about coping with the harsh reality of Covid, how his venture has changed over the last few years, the need for experienced people, the aspiration for a publicly listed global Indian company and how he stays motivated. Here are edited excerpts from the interview

Rajah Augustinraj, principal at BCG and lead author of the report, and Geeta Goel, country director at Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, discuss their report on gig economy workers in India on this episode of the Capital Ideas podcast. What are the dynamics, pain points and opportunities for action in the emerging sector—that has the potential to serve up to 90 million jobs, roughly 30 percent of India’s non-farm workforce; add up to 1.25 percent to India’s GDP in the long-run, and create millions of new jobs across all sectors of India’s economy

Rashesh Shah, chairman and CEO of Edelweiss Group believes that the government needs to increase its spending through direct investments in projects and putting cash in the hands of people in the form of tax cuts or by reducing GST on products. Shah says that it is important to create a bigger four-year disinvestment target rather than yearly ones and create more avenues for asset sales. With nominal GDP expected to grow by 15-16 percent during FY22, Shah expects that it will provide the government with the window to increase its expenditures

Nirmal Jain, chairman and co founder at IIFL Ltd, believes that these are times for the government to think big and take risks in terms of announcing policy measures. In this edition of Capital Ideas, Jain points out that the government must focus on revival through creation of jobs and expects fiscal deficit for the year to come around 7-7.5 percent for FY21. Jain also thinks it would not be a great idea to bring in tax on long term capital gains which could deter investors from investing in the markets while a tax cut for the common man could bring some cheers.

Started in 1962, Borosil now has two listed firms: Borosil Ltd, which sells kitchen appliances and cookware, lab-wares and pharma packaging and the solar glass manufacturing renewables business. A fortnight back Borosil Renewables raised Rs 200 crore to double its capacity, and the group recently underwent restructuring earlier this year to chart independent growth for both the businesses. The company's managing director Shreevar Kheruka talks about the impact of Covid-19 on business, the ways the group is seeking to cut bad costs, how work from home is here to stay and what they did to make their balance sheet stronger this year.

Vineet Rai, chairman, Aavishkaar Group with an AUM of $1.1 billion talks about his journey with impact investing, creating businesses where people live in a bid to reduce migration to big cities, create jobs for them, improve livelihood, access to education and healthcare. He shares his insights on how Covid-19 has impacted the microfinance sector, fund raising and its portfolio companies across SE Asia and Africa. Rai believes capital activity will be back in 2021 with focus on climate change and agri-tech deals in India.

The senior partner at Khaitan & Co, a dealmaker, and institution builder talks about how leaders of corporate India never had to step out of their homes to do big deals, his journey from Kolkata to building Khaitan & Co into one of the largest law firms in India, the changes that the Covid-19 pandemic brought about to corporate India, the art of deal making, and the future of the legal industry

Anand Kripalu, the managing director and CEO of Diageo India, the makers of Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff and McDowell’s, talks about how his middle-class values taught him to spend every penny carefully, never taking a loan in his life, why the Royal Challengers Bangalore team (RCB) is a fascinating part of Diageo’s business, and the negative perception around the alcohol industry.

"Tiger" Tyagarajan explains why staying curious helps one become more humble and inclusive, in addition to driving diversity, building big teams, and a great career. The CEO of Genpact also talks about his unusual nickname, hiring people who don’t know it all, cultivating leadership, building a culture of learning, the changing workplace and cognitive diversity

In this episode of Capital Ideas, Ronnie Screwvala, the chairman and co-founder of upGrad, and the former CEO and founder of UTV Group, talks about coming from a lower-middle-class family, failing in college, his unusual surname, and why an entrepreneur must never have a Plan B. Screwvala talks to Manu Balachandran about starting with low capital, his transition from a toothbrush business to building one of India's multimedia conglomerate, self-conviction, and breaking glass ceilings.