Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Wednesday, March 6, 2024. My name is Nelson John. Let's get started:

Breaking a four day winning streak, Indian markets closed in the red on Tuesday. Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty both suffered some losses during the day but closed slightly above their intraday lows. Sensex was down 0.26 per cent at the end of Tuesday’s trading. Nifty, at the closing bell, was down 0.22 per cent. 

Make hay while the sun shines? Sure! But 2023 seems like a poor year for India's solar projects. We only installed 7.5 gigawatts of solar capacity last year. Compare this to 13.4 gigawatts in 2022, and 10 gigawatts in 21. Why is our capacity addition going down? High taxes to forbid the entry of Chinese solar panels is one reason for this drop. Mint's national editor Sumant Banerji explains this anomaly in India's solar story — and what the outlook is for the next few years. 

While we are on the topic of solar power, have you ever heard of agrivoltaics ? Let’s dive in. Agrivoltaics is a unique way of melding solar power generation with agriculture. The use of solar panels on agricultural land is what makes the method unique. The integrated system aims at maximising land productivity, by harnessing solar power while simultaneously growing crops under photovoltaic solar panels. The concept, conceived in the 1980s, solves multiple problems at the same time. It’s not only a step toward renewable energy, but also tackles the problem of land scarcity. But why isn’t it more prevalent in India? And what are the challenges this system faces? P Anima, who writes on climate change, environment and agriculture, tries to get beneath these questions in today’s Long Story. Some of the challenges include the lack of a uniform model for the method in India, and an unequal power dynamic between the main stakeholders, which includes farmers and solar developers.

This next story is for those following India’s debt securities market. India is set to receive inflows of 3 to 4 billion dollars from next year. The reason? Financial data provider Bloomberg announced its decision to include Indian government bonds to its emerging markets index. India’s domestic debt securities, which are accessible through the Fully Accessible Route or FAR , will now feature in Bloomberg’s  Emerging Market Local Currency Government Index. The FAR is a framework introduced by the Reserve Bank of India in 2020, aimed at encouraging foreign investment in the Indian securities market by removing some of the regulatory barriers. Under the framework, non resident Indians can invest in government securities without facing any investment ceilings or restrictions that typically apply to foreign ownership. Mint’s banking correspondent Shayan Ghosh reports that global investors with passive investment strategies are likely to be candidates to put their money into Indian government bonds. t These inflows could prove crucial for the Indian bonds and debt market. As of January 31, there are 34 Indian FAR bonds, totaling 448 billion dollars, eligible to be listed on the Bloomberg index. 

At the end of HBO’s flagship show Game of Thrones, a long winter sets over the fictional continent of Westeros. The advent of winter in the show is a catastrophic event that supposedly lasts for decades. A similar, almost catastrophic winter fell upon the Indian funding landscape and startup ecosystem. But, latest data suggests that the funding winter may be starting to thaw.. Take MoveInSync for example. The office commute platform received a term sheet for a 15 million dollar raise within a week of announcing the deal. That is a really quick turnaround time for investors to get interested in today’s market. During the last financial year, funding for very early-stage deals continued, but growth-stage financing had slowed to a trickle. However, funding in the new economy across life stages of a business  is now experiencing a revival, with deals beginning to conclude successfully. Deals worth 443 million dollars were struck in January, which nearly doubled to 835 million in February. Mint’s Sneha Shah reports on the visible greenshoots from the frozen funding landscape. 

On Tuesday, shares of Tata Motors surged over 3 per cent following an announcement that could redefine the automotive landscape in India. The company disclosed its ambitious plan to separate its commercial-vehicles and passenger-vehicles businesses into two distinct entities. For existing shareholders, this means a direct stake in both firms, with one share each being allocated for both the newly formed companies. By separating its entities, Tata Motors is not only sharpening its focus on each segment but is also aligning itself more closely with investor interests. Up until now, investors keen on the more stable passenger vehicles  business had no choice but to also invest in the commercial segment due to their combined operation under a single corporate umbrella. With financials for both divisions already being reported separately, this move allows for a more apples-to-apples comparison with industry rivals. How this could potentially lead to a re-rating of the passenger vehicles business. Mint’s Manish Joshi examines this and other implications of the Tata Motor’s decision today’s Mark to Market. 

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