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Indian banks and bond houses will start dealing with a new Mibor

from next month that regulators believe would be less prone to bias

or manipulation, reports Sugata Ghosh from Mumbai.��11

New Mibor to Help Curb Bias

NEW DELHI | 28 PAGES | .̀ 3.00 OR .̀ 7.00 ALONG WITH THE TIMES OF INDIA THURSDAY, 18 JUNE 2015BENNETT, COLEMAN & CO. LTD.

THE ECONOMIC TIMESWWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM

Kajol, Anoop Jalota Likely to Join Prasar Bharati boardBollywood actor Kajol’s name figures among the

seven finalists for the four part-time slots in the

Prasar Bharati Board. The other three are Anoop

Jalota, Ashok Tandon and Minhaz Merchant.

Pure Politics ��4

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Poor Air Quality Forces Germanyto Curb Delhi Posting to 3 YearsThe German embassy in New Delhi has quietly

curtailed the posting of its administrative staff

from four to three years due to concerns over

the poor air quality in the national capital.

Pure Politics�� 4

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China Proposes High-speed RailLink between Kunming and KolkataIt could be a new Silk Route. China proposes to

build a high-speed railway line between Kunm-

ing in the southwest of the country and Kolkata.

Economy��13

Inside story

Raghav.Ohri@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Former IPL boss La-lit Modi cited statements alleged-ly made by NCP leaders and for-mer ministers, Sharad Pawar andPraful Patel, and RIL ChairmanMukesh Ambani in an effort toconvince a UK Court in 2011 that itwould be difficult for him to re-turn to India.

In written submissions to theFirst-tier Tribu-nal, Modi claimedhe was told by Am-bani that he (Mo-di) could return toIndia only if hepromises to stayout of Rajasthanpolitics. Modiclaimed before theTribunal that thiswas “the wordfrom the top” asconveyed to himby Ambani.

The statement to the Tribunal,dated August 25, 2011, also claimsthat Pawar and Patel told him hewould be arrested if he returnedto India. Modi had filed an appealto the Tribunal against an order ofthe UK Home Office denying himpermission to stay in that countrybeyond 180 days. “For example, Ihave had conversations with Pra-ful Patel and Sharad Pawar, both of

whom told me that if I returned toIndia I would immediately be ar-rested and detained upon my ar-rival,” as per the statement. Withregard to the purported conversa-tion with Ambani, Modi stated: “Ialso had a conversation in Londonin October 2010 with Mukesh Am-bani, the richest man in India, whotold me that the word from the topwas that if I promised to stay outof Rajasthan politics then I wouldbe able to return”.

However, Patel denied telling Mo-di that he would be arrested if hereturned to India. “On the con-trary, Pawar and me both told himto return to India whenever hespoke to us from abroad. Beyondthat I have nothing else to say onwhat he has said in his applica-

tion. We know him for so manyreasons. Pawar was the BCCI chiefwhen Lalit Modi was the IPL com-missioner and I knew himthrough Pawar. We (Pawar andhim) have no love or grudgeagainst him, we are neutral,” Pa-tel told ET. Confirming the state-ment made by Lalit Modi, his law-yer Mohammad Abdi told ET:“The detailed statement was madebefore the Tribunal after the UKHome Department had denied MrLalit Modi’s permission to stay inUK.” He said that the statementwas in the context of an appeal fil-ed against the Home Office order.

RIL had not responded to ques-tions at the time of going to press.

Raje Explained Linkages: Modi��2

LaMo Cited Pawar, Patel &Ambani to Extend UK stay

Modiclaimed hewas told byAmbani thathe (Modi)could returnto India only if hepromises tostay out ofRajasthanpolitics

Claims Pawar and Patel told him he would be arrested if he returned

Aditi.Shrivastava@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru: After Amazon,Flipkart too is preparing toenter the hyperlocal or ex-press delivery segment, in thecritical battle to reach custom-ers faster. It is firming upplans for its logistics unit,eKart, to take on competitionfrom on-demand startups thatpromise to deliver productswithin an hour, typically bytying up with local stores.

Hyperlocal Hypes��18

After Amazon, Flipkart toJoin Express Delivery RaceIts logistics unit eKart to compete with on-demand startups

Fast Forward

IT IS IN TALKS WITHDELHIVERY, ROADRUNNR FOR HYPERLOCAL SERVICES

Flipkart to reduce share of eKart deliveriesto 30% by Diwali

It will invest

`510-640 crthis year to strengthenits supplychain capabilities

eKart to hire at least

350experts inproduct and technology

On-demand

logistics book-

ing platform

Moovo has raised seed

funding from cricketer

Yuvraj Singh’s YouWe-

Can Ventures and other

angel investors, reports

Anand Murali.��7

Moovo RaisesMoney FromYuvi’s Fund

Divya.Rajagopal@timesgroup.com

Mumbai: Sun Pharma has asked18 top executives of Ranbaxy Labsto leave the firm in one of the big-gest culls of senior managementprofessionals in recent times. Theorder comes a year after the DilipShanghvi-led firm acquired Ran-baxy in an all-stock deal and a fewweeks after Q4 profits shrank 44%

due to costs in-curred in assimilat-ing the buyout andregulatory issues.

Those who havebeen asked to leaveare Indrajit Baner-jee, President andCFO; Yugal Sikri,country head (In-dia) Ranbaxy; Ma-

ninder Singh, V-P marketing; Go-vind Jaju, global head, sourcing;Ratul Bahaduri, director-finance;among others, people close to thedevelopment said.

The executives have been given aseverance package and the free-dom to exercise their stock optionsbefore leaving. A Sun Pharma spo-kesperson said that the objective ofthe Sun-Ranbaxy merger was tocreate a larger and better organisa-tion for all its stakeholders. “In or-der to make this happen, the com-pany has made and will continue to

make all efforts to utilise the totalavailable talent in the most appro-priate manner. If there are a fewemployees who could not be posi-tioned appropriately, the organisa-tion will make all attempts to han-dle the same in a fair, transparentand sensitive manner. We reiteratethat our focus continues to be oncreating an environment of mea-ningful professional opportunities

for our employees to lead, succeedand grow,” the spokesperson said.

Ranbaxy’s merger with Sun wasalways supposed to be an intenselycomplex exercise due to the sheersize of the two firms. The sales-force of the combined organisationis itself close to 30,000 in India andoverseas.

Warning Bells Last Month��18

18 Ranbaxy Top Execs Get Marching Orders

NO ROLE IN NEW ENTITY A year after acquiring Ranbaxy, Dilip Shanghvi-ledSun Pharma asks execs to leave as part of the larger integration plan

Beginning of a New OrderThe executives getfour-month notice to look for a new job

They have been given a severance package and freedom to exercise their stock options before leaving

Most execs who have been asked to leave were brought in after Daiichi bought Ranbaxy in 2008

The problem for the executives became acute after Sun filled

crucial slots in merged organisation with its

own people

In the annual press conference last month, Sun CEO and MD Dilip Shanghvi warned that

some leaders may have no role in the

merged entity

…the company will continue to make efforts to utilise total available talent in the most appropriate manner.

If there are a few employees who could not be positioned appropriately, the organisation will make all attempts to handle the same in a fair and transparent mannerSUN PHARMA SPOKESPERSON

Shilpy.Sinha@timesgroup.com

Mumbai: Life Insurance Corp. ofIndia, the nation’s biggest institu-tional investor, plans to keep stockpurchases at last year’s level whileraising investments in bonds byabout a fifth this fiscal. The state-runinsurer bets that low levels of infla-tion will be sustained, making high-yielding debt that much more valua-ble in coming years.

LIC, which is mandated to investhalf its premium income in govern-ment securities, may put as much as.̀ 1.7 lakh crore in fixed-income pa-per, up 16% from .̀ 1.55 lakh crore lastyear, said a top LIC executive who didnot want to be identified.

Insurer Feels Bond Yields will Slide��18

LIC’s Stock Purchases to Stay FlatInsurer to put 16% more in bonds and .̀ 55,000 cr in equities, same as last year

Keeping Faith In SecuritiesNO. OF POLICIES (In Cr)

FY12 FY13 FY14

3.37

3.58 3.46

TOTAL INVESTMENTS AS ON MARCH 31, 2014 ( ̀Cr)

MoneyMktTools

Loans

Securities 15,01,914 (88%)

1,00,449.59(6%)

82,326(5%)

`10,000 crStock purchases by LIC in less than two months of FY16, a 10-fold surge from last year

`22,000 crLIC’s profi t by selling equities last year

40 Airbus Planesmay be Orderedby Yet-to-FlyChennai Airline

Nestle India has

asked employees

and all their fam-

ilies and friends to become

“valued brand ambassa-

dors” for the company, re-

ports Ratna Bhushan.��5

Staff as NestleAmbassadors

Sreeradha D Basu & Madhav Chanchani

Mumbai: The entrepreneurial bugseems to spare no one these days. Inthe last 12 months, over a dozen star-tups have been launched by formerinvestors — from vice-presidents inventure capital firms to managingdirectors at private equity firms —in areas such as e-commerce, educa-tion technology, health technologyand payments.

Anshoo Sharma, principal at Delhi-based Lightspeed Venture Partners,and Brij Bhushan, vice-president atMumbai-based venture capital firmNexus, according to sources, are

launching Samast Technologies, astartup in the hyper local shoppingspace. Sharma and Bhushan, both intheir mid-30s, previously worked to-

gether at consultingfirm Bain & Co.

“I am still at Light-speed and do not haveany comment onthis,” wrote Sharmain an email responseto ET. However, sourc-es said that the duohas started the hiringprocess and their star-

tup is likely to close a round of ven-ture capital funding soon.

Strong VC Connections Help ��18

Entrepreneurial Bug Turns Funders into Founders

Theseinvestorshave marketknow-howand haveseen howbusinessesgo wrong

Over a dozen startups have been launched by former VC & PE investors in the past 12 months

Embarking on a New Journey

VINOD DHAM

VIVEKMEHRA

AMITBANKA

SAMPATH-KUMARPUDHUKOTTAI

Cofounded tech-nology educationstartup Acadgild

Food-tech startup Culinary Cart

Co-founded Cones & Curries andBusiness Doctors

Co-founded education technology startup called Imagin8ors

Founder, Kalaari Capital/Indo-US Venture Partners

MD, Aloe Private Equity

MD of Unilazer Ventures

Principal,Kalaari Capital

Where They Were Venture Set Up These investors have huge understanding of the startup ecosystem and strong network

$1.1 b

ANEESH PASSICo-founder, Basil Advisors

VC FUNDINGACROSS 90 DEALS IN Q1 OF 2015

Special Feature

Is India Inc PromotingGenY Fast Enough?GenY has talent, takes risks and is not

afraid of failure. But from India Inc's

perspective, how many are consid-

ered good enough to lead organisa-

tions, and how many are being

groomed to get there? Over 200

executives gathered in Mumbai

recently to thrash this out as part of

ET's '40 Under Forty' awards in

association with SpencerStuart.��16

Salesforce of thecombinedorganisationis close to30,000 inIndia andoverseas

High-FlyerPremier Airways negotiating to buy 40 Airbus A320 neo planes at a listed value of

$4.3 billion

This is set to become the second-biggest order in terms of value by a newcomer after IndiGo’s 100 plane purchase in 2005

If order fructifies, the first delivery of the plane is expected by 2019-20, in view of the long waiting list.

The airline is promoted by Uma Pinaghapani, an Indian businessman based in the US

Modi’s Blast from the Past

MAKES THREAT TOhis life and political vendetta by the UPA government as grounds to extend his stay in UK

CITES PRIVATE TALKS WITHsenior politicians — Praful Patel and Sharad Pawar — and RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani to make a case for not returning to India

COMMENTS ON POLITICALdevelopments including appointment of Manmo-han Singh as PM and Sonia Gandhi’s “animosity” towards Sharad Pawar to strengthen his case of political vendetta

DECLINED BY THEUK Home offi ce to further stay in UK, Lalit Modi appeals to the First Tier Tribunal in August 2011

STRONG EVIDENCE NEEDED TO APPEAL HC ORDER � NO-SWARAJ TYPE BACKING��2

Maulik.Vyas@timesgroup.com

Mumbai: The Bombay High Courthas ruled that Madhu Kapur, thewidow of YES Bank’s co-founderAshok Kapur and the legal heir, hasthe right to jointly nominate direc-

tors to the board ofthe bank that herlate husband found-ed along with RanaKapoor.

In an order postedon the court’s web-site late on Wednes-day, the court saidlast year’s appoint-ment of three whole-time directors — Ra-

jat Monga, Sanjay Palve and PralayMondal — is invalid and observedthat the bank had also not compliedwith the procedures in the appoint-ment of Diwan Arun Nanda andAjay Vohra to the board last year.

Kapur Moved HC in 2013��18

Rana Kapoor LosesBattle to Sis-in-LawMadhu Kapur has right to nominate directors: Court

The food regulator

plans to soon put the

onus on retailers to

check for product approvals

and could hold them respon-

sible if they are found selling

items that have not been ap-

proved by it, reports Shamb-

havi Anand. It is working on an

advisory that will fix respon-

sibilities of retailers.��5

Retailers Haveto Check FoodApprovals

What HC SaysLAST YEAR’S appointment of three whole time directors—Rajat Monga, Sanjay Palve and Pralay Mondal—is invalid

BANK HAD not complied with the procedures in the appointment of Diwan Arun Nanda and Ajay Vohra to the board last year

REJECTION OF Shagun Gogia’s candidature “may be described as churlish or even vindictive”

MADHU KAPUR can fi le a freshaffi davit to seek the cancellation of the appointment of Nanda and reappointment of MR Srinivasan as directors

YES BANK AND RANA KAPOOR CAN APPEAL THE DECISION WITHIN FIVE WEEKS

What’s Next

RANA KAPOOR CEO & MD

YES Bank’sMD and CEORana Kapoorand AshokKapur’sfamily havebeen atloggerheadsfor years

Premier Airways, a Chennai-

based low-fare airline, is in

advanced talks with Airbus

to buy 40 A320 neo planes at

a listed value of $4.3 billion,

said four people aware of the

possible transaction, reports

Anirban Chowdhury from

Paris. If consummated, this

will be the second-biggest

order in terms of value by a

newcomer after IndiGo’s 100

plane purchase in 2005 .

FULL REPORT�� PAGE 7