The Future Of News

To achieve the gross domestic product of $5 trillion by 2024-25, India needs to spend about $1.4 trillion on infrastructure. That is the task before the country as it recovers strongly from the pandemic’s economic pain. In the third dispatch of the series ’Future of infrastructure investments’, we learn about a multi-pronged Infra-financing strategy, especially about InvITs, led by the private sector. This exciting model has proven to be path-breaking in the Indian Infrastructure financing field. In a recommendation-rich panel discussion moderated by Shrija Agrawal, Executive Editor, HT Ideas, HT Digital; Harsh Shah, CEO, IndiGrid; Prasad Gadkari, Executive Director & Chief Strategy Officer, NIIF and Kranti Mohan, Partner at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas have a focused dialogue on ways the Government could encourage States to undertake Asset Recycling and Asset Monetization, removal of Securities Transaction Tax (STT) and how private financing can bridge the gap to bring to life the Rs100-trillion National Infrastructure Pipeline announced by the government. Watch the video for more.

While the current public health crisis and increasing climate change events have intensified the focus on ESG, the benefits of ESG compliance go much deeper than managing reputational risk. ESG standards weaved into the corporate fabric help a company plan for long-term growth. Further, investors believe companies incorporating ESG risk management are better long-term custodians of investor capital, offer greater downside protection and can generate better long-term, risk-adjusted returns. One key for a business to work towards ESG compliance is by greening their buildings. Greening a firm’s workplace contributes to improved employee productivity and better bottom lines via a healthier atmosphere for employees and reducing a firm’s carbon footprint. Against this increasingly important backdrop and to understand how leading corporations are increasing ESG scores, as well as to comprehend how smaller firms can take on a greater leadership role by using existing tools, watch Chris Pyke, Senior Vice President, Product at ArcSkoru, GBCI; Jagvinder Pinny Mann, Senior Portfolio Manager, Microsoft; Rajat Malhotra, Executive Director, Head of Engineering Operations-APAC Corporate Solutions, Jones Lang LaSalle and Gautam Dey - Director, DLF Power and Services Ltd. in an insightful panel discussion moderated by Shrija Agrawal.

The suddenness of the global pandemic has made many across the world, including in India, to look at our planet more sensitively and assess how we (mis)use its resources and undermine its natural ecosystems. This has squarely focused the conversation around sustainable development, climate change and ESG. Against this urgent backdrop, Sumant Sinha, the Chairman and Managing Director of ReNew Power speaks to Shrija Agrawal, Executive Editor, HT Ideas, HT Digital in an insightful virtual fireside chat. In this incisive dialogue, he states that clean energy is at the heart of Renew Power’s efforts to reshape energy as we know it and describes his company’s role in addressing the literally burning issue of climate change. On the broader industry level, Sinha says that is easier said than done as the energy industry has to also scale infrastructure to meet the rising energy demands of India’s economy, set for a strong revival post the pandemic. Sinha states that Renew Power’s future plans essentially are aimed at making its existing businesses more efficient and looking at broader parts of the value chain to do so. In a frank and engaging conversation, he says only 8-9% of electricity is clean energy in India and, while this will go up to 30% at best in the next ten years, more needs to be done. For India to grow robustly and address its rising power demand--that will continue to propel higher growth--the power sector’s distribution needs to be urgently modernized and that, too, drastically, according to Sinha. Watch this interview to know more about the Future of Electricity in India, ReNew Power’s expansion plans, IPO roadmap and more

In the first dispatch of Livemint special series ’Future of Infrastructure Investments’, we deep dive into the world of InvITs- Infrastructure Investment Trusts- investment instruments that work like mutual funds and are regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India. In a thought leadership panel discussion with participation from Harsh Shah- CEO, IndiGrid, Sachin Gupta- Senior Director, CRISIL Ratings and Nilesh Shah- Group President & MD, Kotak Mahindra Asset Management, we unravel better structures and routes to invest in infrastructure. Could InvITs be the answer? Watch the full discussion to know more.

Roll-down strategy gives a certainty on returns and are tax-efficient because tax is levied only on exit (after indexation) besides there is no lock-in period, unlike FDs

In the latest dispatch of ’Future of Dealmaking’, in partnership with Khaitan & Co., we speak with Haigreve Khaitan, the name partner at Khaitan & Co., who opens up on the sentiment of India Inc., how he sees a strong and determined India Inc. emerging, where anti- trust laws are headed and where the future of legal industry is headed

In the latest dispatch of Mint Startup Diaries, we speak with Dev Khare, Partner, Lightspeed Venture Partners to decode the impact of Covid-19 on startups. According to Khare, it’s almost been akin to ’ a tale of two cities’ where some startups have thrived, even accelerated, while others now face secular declines, with structural transformations ahead. But overall, the net effect of Covid has been to accelerate the disruptive role of technology across industries. Watch the full video for details

There are two types of anti-fragility in the edtech space. One is anti-fragility in the organization, and another is anti-fragility in the system as a whole

As it spreads globally, the coronavirus is creating unique, if not unprecedented, pressures. In the latest dispatch of ’The Future of’, Marshall Goldsmith - an American leadership coach and the author of several management-related books, weighs in on how corporate executives can lead. Marshall Goldsmith is one of the world’s leading executive coaches and also inducted into the Thinkers50 Hall of Fame in 2018.