Borrowing basics

The central government will borrow ₹6.55 trillion in the second half of the current financial year, sticking to its budgeted borrowing plans. The amount is 42.45% of its budgeted gross market borrowing of ₹15.43 trillion for the full year, which will be done through dated securities, including ₹20,000 crore through sovereign green bonds. The government will also issue 50-year securities for the first time, in response to a market demand for longer-duration securities.

Women's woes

The Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown forced workers to rely on agriculture or self-employment for survival. The share of self-employed workers among men increased from 50% in April-June 2019 to 58.2% in April-June 2020 but began falling after that, according to the latest State of Working India (SWI) report, released last week by the Centre for Sustainable Employment at Azim Premji University. However, for women, it remained elevated at 61% until April-June 2022, compared to 50% three years ago.

Hard gambling

₹1.5 trillion: That's the cumulative amount the Directorate General of GST Intelligence is expected to issue as tax demands to companies in the online gaming sector for alleged underpayment of taxes over several years, Mint reported. Recently, Mumbai-based Sporta Technologies, which runs the popular fantasy gaming platform Dream11, received a tax notice of ₹55,000 crore, which the company has challenged in court. Several other companies are likely to receive similar notices.

Fleeing FPIs

While domestic markets touched new highs earlier this month, buoyed by rich domestic interest, foreign portfolio investors have offloaded shares worth over ₹10,000 crore in September so far, a Mint analysis showed. After remaining net buyers of Indian equities for six months, FPIs began selling in September, which is in line with trends seen in other emerging market economies as well. Allocation towards high-yield bonds is likely to keep the foreign capital away and the selling spree is likely to continue for some more time.

Cautionary tale

Despite being one of the biggest and well-known investors, SoftBank Group is facing the ire of a section of investors as misadventures with past investments linger on. The Japanese major's several high-profile IPOs are currently yielding negative returns: Chinese ride-hailing company DiDi Global, valued at $63 billion, is down 77% from its offer price, and artificial intelligence software provider SenseTime is down 64%, an analysis by howindialives.com showed.

Byju's layoffs

4,000: That's the number of employees Byju's, India's largest edtech startup, is planning to fire in the latest round of layoffs, Mint reported. The move comes just a few days after the appointment of Arjun Mohan as the company's new chief executive officer for India. Senior executives are also likely to be among the ones to get fired, which will reduce the firm's cost and management-related expenses. The company is facing a tight liquidity situation and has vacated office spaces and is exploring sale of its subsidiaries.

RERA's results

Delays in completion of real estate projects had become a big issue before the introduction of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act or RERA in 2016. After six years, the act has ensured timely delivery of projects, particularly in states where it has been fully implemented. However, city-wise differences still exist. Chennai, Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru have over 80% completion rate, while Hyderabad, the National Capital Region and Kolkata are slightly behind with less than 75% completion rate.

Chart of the week: Frontline battle

India had an estimated 6.6 million frontline workers in 2022-23, down 17.5% from 2021-22 due to global macroeconomic challenges, mainly dragged down by decline in the e-commerce sector, according to a report released by BetterPlace, a workforce SaaS platform.