TMS Ep348: PAN ID, space parks, IT stocks, basic structure doctrine

India’s rank in ease of doing business has improved from 142 in 2014 to 63 in 2022. A slew of schemes and steps taken by the government led to this improvement, but clearly there is a long stretch to cover. The government is now planning to integrate all the different identities of businesses into one single identity: Permanent Account Number, or PAN. The motivation behind this is to optimise operations and allow better data sharing. So exactly how will it help businesses? And are there any challenges?   

There is another sector which is aiming for stars now due to a government push. The Centre had opened the sky for private players about two years ago. Now the Kerala government has decided to move ahead with the plan of building a space park in Trivandrum. One other such space park project on the making in the country is in Bangalore. These parks will give private companies and start-ups the platform to make launch-vehicles, satellites and other components for the sector. But are these space parks ready to take off? And how will they help private players in their ambition to capture the global market? 

Moving on to markets, as against expectations, IT firms withstood the global uncertainty and delivered firm results in the December quarter supported by strong deal wins and improved margins. So how will the Q3 earnings impact the beaten-down IT shares amid persisting global risks? 

After the markets, let us shift the focus to the ongoing tussle between the judiciary and legislature. Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankar questioned the landmark Kesavananda Bharati case verdict last week, saying it set a wrong precedent. In the 1973 case, the Supreme Court had laid down “the basic structure of the Constitution” doctrine. Let's find out more about this doctrine in this episode of the podcast.