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  • Bit by Bit 12th Oct. ||Another cut in IMF's India GDP forecast||MS Dhoni Acquires Stake In A Plant Protein Startup & more

Bit by Bit 12th Oct. ||Another cut in IMF's India GDP forecast||MS Dhoni Acquires Stake In A Plant Protein Startup & more

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Good morning! Let this Thursday be filled with possibilities – be aware of the opportunities around you, don’t just go through the day; live the day with your eyes and mind open. 

So, here are:

"5 amazing stories in 5 minutes to make you future ready"

Happy reading!

WEEK AHEAD
  • BSE SENSEX : ₹57,147.32 (-1.49%)

  • NIFTY 50 : ₹16,983.55 (-1.49%)

  • NIFTY BANK : ₹38,712.45 (-0.97%)

  • USD/INR : ₹82.22 (-0.18%)

  • BRENTOIL : $94.77 (-1.49%)

  • MCXGOLD : ₹51,180 (+0.31%)

  • FII Net Cashflow : - ₹4613 crores

  • DII Net Cashflow : + ₹2403 crores

(Market Data as of 11:00 PM on 11/10/2022)

ECONOMY

The Story:

The International Monetary Fund has cut India’s FY23 GDP forecast to 6.8% from its earlier projection of 7.4%.

IMF's projected numbers are lower than Reserve Bank of India's forecast for the Indian economy. The RBI had on September 30 revised its forecasts down by 20 basis points to 7 percent. For FY24, India’s GDP growth is expected to slow further to 6.1%, the IMF said. As for global growth, the projected number is 3.2% for 2022 and 2.7% in 2023.

The readjusted forecast for India is based on "available information on the authorities’ fiscal plans, with adjustments for the IMF staff’s assumptions," the IMF's World Economic Outlook report said. The IMF attributed the latest paring of forecast to below-expected output in the second quarter and more subdued external demand.

"The outlook for India is for growth of 6.8 per cent in 2022––a 0.6 percentage point downgrade since the July forecast, reflecting a weaker-than-expected outturn in the second quarter and more subdued external demand––and 6.1 percent in 2023, with no change since July," it said.

This is the third downward revision for India. FY23 GDP forecast was downgraded to 7.4% in July from 8.2% estimated in April keeping in view negative changes in external conditions, besides rapid monetary policy tightening. Growth projection was cut in April to 8.2% from 9% owing to higher commodity prices.

AUTOMOTIVE

The Story:

Warren Buffet-backed Chinese electric carmaker BYD launched its first passenger car in India on Tuesday, an electric sport-utility vehicle (SUV), marking its entry into the mainstream market amid a broader global expansion. BYD launched the Atto 3 electric SUV, fitted with its renowned Blade battery technology, with a plan to corner 40% of the country's electric car market by 2030.

Over the next year, BYD intends to sell 15,000 units of the Atto 3 in India, where it has already invested over $200 million, and plans to set up a local manufacturing facility in due course, it said in a statement.

Forecaster LMC Automotive expects BYD's global sales to grow to 180,000 units by 2030 from an estimated 18,000 units in 2022, paling against the outlook for China sales that are projected to reach 2.6 million units by 2030 from an estimated 1.9 million units in 2022.

Electrification is gathering momentum in the world's fourth-largest car market, where domestic companies like Tata Motors, India's top-selling EV maker, and Mahindra & Mahindra are boosting their investments while global players like BYD and Kia Motor are bringing in premium models.

FMCG

The Story:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni has made an undisclosed investment in plant protein start-up Shaka Harry, according to to Liberate Foods Pvt. Ltd., which operates the company.

The investment follows Shaka Harry's $2 million seed funding round, which was headed by Better Bite Ventures, Blue Horizon, and Panthera Peak Ventures in July. A number of domestic family offices and angel investors joined Dexler Holdings, famous chef Manu Chandra, and others in the round.

Shaka Harry is a plant-based meat brand that sells a variety of meal and snack products. It was founded by Anand Nagarajan, Sandeep Devgan, Hemalatha Srinivasan, Ruth Renita, and Anoop Haridasan. According to the business, its products are selected based on Indian cuisine and taste.

"We already serve over 30,000 customers every month across 10 cities, and we project that this number will triple soon. By the end of this year, Shaka Harry will also be on shelves around the world, according to Anand Nagarajan, co-founder, and CEO of Liberate Foods.

According to a GFI study with Deloitte, which was cited in the announcement, with the correct investments in labor, R&D, manufacturing, and distribution, the Indian smart protein sector may reach a market size of almost Rs 19,000 crore by 2030, including a sizable export market.

TECH

The Story:

India now has at least 8 crore creators thanks to a surge in short-form video consumption and expansion in the country's creative economy, but only 1.5 lakh of them are able to effectively monetize their work, according to a recent study. The majority of the 1.5 lakh professional content creators make between $200 and $2,500 (more than Rs 16,000 to Rs 200,000) per month, depending on the reach and engagement they are able to generate on the various platforms.

Over 60% of the audience for the 50,000 professional creators on regional short-form video platforms in India lives outside of metro cities, with regional content driving consumption. In recent times short-form platforms such as Instagram reels, Josh has given an immense boost to the creators coming from small towns and people who are not able to afford expensive smartphones or cameras to record their stuff and these videos are also quite easy to edit so there is no need to learn editing tools to improve their video quality.

The 8 crore creators in India include bloggers, OTT platform creators, physical product creators, influencers, video streamers, content providers, and pretty much anyone creating a community around their niche.

Want More Bits?

The Story:

The greatest power outage in history occurred on Tuesday in Bangladesh. The Sun claims that 140 million individuals, or more than 80% of the country, were left helpless. According to the Power Development Board, the blackout happened just after 2:00 p.m. Although it is unknown what precipitated the grid collapse, the power provider found that it was what caused the outage.

The country's northwest contained some locations that were unaffected. Shamim Ahsan, the spokesperson, noted that "the remainder of the country is without power." Additionally, he claimed that a technological error was to blame for the power loss, adding that the matter is "still under investigation." By dusk, power had been restored to 50 percent of the residences that had lost it. The nation's capital city of Dhaka, home to more than 22 million people, would have electricity restored by 8 p.m., according to a Facebook post by Zunaid Palak, the technology minister.

Due to the global rise in energy prices, Bangladesh has recently been dealing with a severe power crisis. The nation has been enforcing cuts since July in an effort to save electricity, with disruptions lasting up to 13 hours each day. As a result, utilities have found it difficult to obtain enough gas and diesel to meet consumer demand, which has had a significant impact on the nation's energy grid.

Additionally, due to a lack of fossil fuel imports, Bangladesh was obliged to shut down some of its gas- and diesel-fired power plants.