TMS Ep157: Battery-swapping, Sumant Sinha, Fed's rate hike, in-flight WiFi

Another electric scooter erupted in flames last week -- adding fuel to the already raging debate around its safety. It also triggered a warning from Union Minister Nitin Gadkari who asked negligent companies to mend their ways or face action. A lot is at stake for the government too, which has now come out with a draft on battery-swapping policy offering a host of incentives, including GST cut. So will battery swapping address the safety concerns plaguing the electric two-wheelers? And will these incentives lure the EV makers towards the battery-swapping model from the existing fixed-battery model? 

Charging of EVs in smaller cities is also one of the concerns due to increasing power outages. Meanwhile, Sumant Sinha, CEO of ReNew Power and president of Assocham, says that private sector capex in sectors like power is picking up. It may change things for the better. In an interview with Business Standard’s Arup Roychoudhury, Sinha also tells why India is well placed for a good growth rate of 6-8% per annum if external risks don’t upset the cart. 
 

The United States too is feeling the inflation heat -- which is at a four-decade high of 8.5%. And after US Fed Chief Jerome Powell hinted at a 50-basis point (bps) rate hike in May, the Indian markets crashed last Friday. The Nifty 50 and S&P BSE Sensex snapped their two-day winning streak and slipped 1.27 per cent and 1.23 per cent respectively. Does this mean a bearish market for investors from here on? 

After the flight of capital from the stock markets, let us turn to literal flight. In today’s digitally-connected world, leaving the earth was the only way to leave the internet connectivity behind, literally. But that’s no more possible now. First the technology and then the government has allowed use of the internet on flight. But ever wondered how it works? Let us find out in this episode of the podcast.