Daily Pulse India: An Official Sneak Peek Into The Budget, Uber’s Digital Wallet, Zica Is Now Tiago

It’s official. In a departure from tradition, the finance ministry has offered journalists a sneak peek into the union budget, a week before it’s due. Government analysts are still confused between which approach the finance ministry will take – tighten the belt and improve the government’s balance sheet, or spend and push growth. A top finance ministry official cleared the air, in a way, by saying the government will focus on investments and growth this budget. It will use the various new initiatives – StartUp India, Digital India, Make in India and others to create jobs. Even more interesting, however, is this departure from its usual tight-lipped stance in the weeks before the budget (For years, finance ministry officials would go into hibernation for weeks to avoid running into reporters in the building). This year, top officials are actually engaging with the media to lay the ground for coverage even before the budget is out. DD News, the government’s official news channel, has been uploading videos of interviews and other nuggets from the ministry to give us an idea of what to expect. Browse through those videos here and here.

*** 

The $4 smartphone continues to intrigue officials and media alike. The income tax department quizzed Ashok Chaddha and Mohit Goel, the two founders of Ringing Bells, on the viability of their business model. Apparently, the company will import and assemble 5 million phones, after which they will begin manufacturing in India. The duo also met with the IT minister, who had asked his team to investigate their claims, after a mobile handset maker lobby wrote to him. They reportedly told the minister that they would make a profit of 31 rupees on each phone sold. The numbers still don’t add up, but we’ll wait for further clarity from the company.

 ***

Another first for Uber. The company is planning to set up its own digital wallet for its Indian customers. That Uber was even willing to use PayTM and Airtel’s mobile wallets was in itself a departure from its global strategy, but that was because Indian regulations don’t allow for credit card payments without two levels for authentication. It briefly experimented with cash payments, but it seems that it is settling for mobile wallets after all. Ola, its Indian rival, has its own wallet and also allows cash payments. Is Uber headed the same way?

 ***

PayTM, which rose to prominence as Uber’s payment partner, is making no secret of its ambitions of becoming an e-commerce player. No surprise, as Alibaba is its biggest backer. Besides the usual e-commerce merchandise, PayTM also plans to enter the luxury segment, creating a mobile platform purely for that. While PayTM officially denies this, the company did hire Amazon’s former fashion head in a leadership role.

 ***

The crash in the stock market last month has turned into a boon for some, most notably founders of big companies. According to this analysis, promoters of 125 Indian companies, notably Airtel, Adani Power and Dr Reddy’s Labs, have used the market crash to increase their holding in the companies. Analysts say this is also a positive sign as it shows their own confidence in their business.

 ***

There’s bad news on the investment front. Despite the Modi’s huge push for Make in India, actual investment proposals with the government fell to a 11-year low in 2015 -- 3.1 trillion rupees versus 4 trillion the year before. Last week’s Make in India week brought in 15 trillion rupees worth of investment commitments, so dare we hope 2016 will be better?

 ***

The Zika virus did have an effect on Tata Motors’ new car. Zica, its much touted hatchback, has now been renamed Tiago and will launch next month.

*** 

Cover Image: The Indian army has been deployed in Haryana where caste based reservation protests have killed 16 people and triggered a water crisis for 10 million residents in the capital.

Top Must Reads

India

• Your Start-Up's Journey to Profitability - Learnings from "Pool" & "Surge" Concepts of Uber
• How Ringing Bells could still climb down the cliff’s edge and live on
• A Bad Bank Can Wait, Let’s Recast ARCs Fast
• India’s looming water crisis
   

International

Global Daily Pulse:  Apple Isn't Winning Hearts & Minds, Oil Patch Investment Tanks, Airbus Wants to Sell Seating, not Seats

• Joe Nocera is not on good terms with the NCAA: Is it exploiting young athletes? 
• As MWC starts, TED ends: Here's what Bill Gross learned in Vancouver.
• A response to "An Open Letter To Yelp CEO": Takeaways For Millennials & Companies. 

Every morning, we'll share the top news from India that professionals need to know. Head over to the comments below if you have thoughts or ideas to share. 

Click on the follow button above to not miss one. Follow the India in Business channel here and the Global Daily Pulse channel here. For the best reads, specially picked for you, there's the Editor's Picks channel.

 For more news, download the Pulse app. And for even more, follow us on Twitter and Facebook.