All posts by Shalinkumar Soni, CMA

About Shalinkumar Soni, CMA

The author was the Co-fund Manager & Research at UpperCrust Wealth Pvt. Ltd. He is having more than 15 years of experience working in the FP&A domain on various industry verticals.

How China factor paves the way for India’s economy to rebound

How China factor paves the way for India’s economy to rebound

18 December 2021 2 min read

The Chinese economy is said to be the second-largest economy trailing the US economy in terms of export and certain macro numbers. However, it transits to certain critics where the govt. of China recommends incorporating supply-side structural reforms that enable economic growth. Being the largest emerging economy, India can certainly take the gung ho position amidst China’s weak performance at present. Accordingly AP, China grew by 4.9% compared to 7.9% on the back of construction slow down. The Chinese economy is expected to grow at the rate of 1.30% as per the analyst’s estimate. The entire trend for the GDP seems to go southward. Certain areas have contributed to lessening the growth in China, namely retail investment, factory production, and construction activities. Besides this, the recent worst scenario impacted in China is that Evergrande Group, a second-largest real estate group in China, is defaulting to repay its debt to the tune of billions of dollars to its bondholders. Amid this, the private sector in China has reduced its expectations regarding its growth.

The industrial output that rose below expectation is one of the major factors that caused declining growth in China. Now the concern is how India can take the benefit from the China factor because China faces risks and challenges altogether while entering the third quarter. Needless to say that China is the foremost country in the entire world economy that started reviving its erstwhile growth – a pre-pandemic situation that has already been reflected in the quarterly numbers at the beginning of the year. However, by looking at the current scenario, businesses are not inclined to incur major CAPEX. As per the Govt. of China, India’s bilateral trade with China increased by almost 50% in the first nine months of FY21. And not only that, China reins to be India’s top trading partner in the second quarter ahead of the USA, UAE.

The slowing Chinese economy affects the entire world including India, especially when we focus on certain macro data like, China’s export to India has risen to almost $68.5 billion by now which is said to be increased by 52% relative to 2020. India actively imports certain items like automobile components, smartphones, and telecom equipment among others items. With China’s continued effort to grow its economy, India can take the benefit from the size of its domestic market because the bulk of India’s investments is domestic-based.

The way India can accumulate its benefit from the slowing Chinese economy is by exploring more resources within the country, and with this, creating a competitive tax and duty structure that by far hampering India’s conglomerates including start-ups. The governance system and policy framework in India must ensure the transparency that paves the way for India’s long-term success story. India should by and large not be vulnerable to any external anomalies including being affected by the China factor, however, it must find ways that fuel its economic growth!!

How Electric Vehicles will transform the Automobile Industry

How Electric Vehicles will transform the Automobile Industry

17 December 2021 2 min read

There has been an evaluation in the automobile industry with relatively standardized concepts emerging like hybrid vehicles that work on both electricity and gas. The major players have already entered into this niche segment globally, like Nissan Leaf, Tesla Model S, Ford Focus Electric, and Chevrolet Volt. When we analyze the scenario in the Indian market, the automobile industry is absorbent to plunge into the EV segment. At present the Indian automobile market has actively applied this niche idea. On the competition front, each automobile player fights out to reign over the others by offering competitive pricing structures and a variety of benefits. The major benefit that the EV segment offers range from its conveniences to no emissions, cost-effectiveness due to competitiveness in the niche market, low maintenance, easy driving, etc. However, there are certain challenges to entering into the Electric Vehicle domain like tech spending, pricing pressure, recharge points, electricity charge, etc. With this, automobile players may get over certain complexities prevailing in the industry like longer range time, and short driving range with speed to compete with each other to make the segment more competitive.

The past revenue is bifurcated into various categories like diesel, petrol, hybrids, EV, etc. which clearly states how automobile players in India see this niche market as the core of their offerings. The EV segment is not only apt and alternative to the options specified above, however, but it also postulates on the fuel consumption front, where per distance travelled is estimated to be Liter/100 km per vehicle. Globally, the Electric Vehicle manufacturing major Tesla recorded good results in the recent quarter which is beyond the expectation of investors while EPS stands at $1.86 comparatively $1.59 last quarter whereas the top-line stands at $13.76 billion increased by 0.95% which clearly shows how companies worldwide have started deep-diving exercise to offer the valuable benefits to people around the world. The Electric Vehicle segment is moving into the spotlight where it registered the combined annual sale of – battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles increased by over two million vehicles for the first time in 2019 according to Deloitte. Of course, the anticipated milestone might have sprawled over the economic uncertainty. And not only that, the EV concept has changed the consumers’ priorities and perceptions of the automobile segment. From the analytics perspective, the global electric vehicle market was valued to the tune of $162.34 billion in 2019 alone which is projected to be around $802.81 billion by 2027 with a 22.6% CAGR. North America alone is estimated to reach in the range of $194.20 billion by 2027 registering a 27.5% CAGR. On the contrary, Asia-Pacific and Europe when combined accounted for 74.8% in 2019 wherein Asia-Pacific significantly registered 52.3% share. There are existing players in Indian markets that come with EV options namely, Hyundai, TATA, and Mahindra among others offering into the niche segment.

The upcoming scenario in India looks attractive as the Electric Vehicle market is on the rise with new models are expected to be on the Indian road soon. From a global perspective, the niche segment will transform the automobile industry. However, the relatively new concept of EV offers a thematic approach amongst the investor community worldwide to invest in this niche segment.