Strong growth

This refers to ‘Economy grows 7.6 per cent in Q2 on strong show by manufacturing’ (December). The steady growth, beyond the forecast of 6.5 per cent by the RBI indicates that economic and non-fiscal reforms are bearing fruit. Despite the geopolitical tensions and the continuous policy rate cuts by the central banks of many countries, India, because of its resilience, is recording healthy GDP growth. For sustaining the growth momentum, more supportive measures like a reduction in the cost of capital and of other inputs are needed.

The agriculture sector, which is the driver of demand and consumption, is suffering not only from deficient investment but also falling prey to erratic weather.

Holistic agri-reforms are needed for the sustained development of the sector.

VSK Pillai

Changanacherry, Kerala

Telangana elections

Apropos ‘Telangana sees brisk polling, but Hyderabad a laggard’ (December 1). It was expected that polling would touch 75-80 per cent on the whole, but surprisingly it barely touched 64 per cent. Another surprise was that voting was a mere 34 per cent in Hyderabad .T

he reasons are many and the Election Commission as well as the State authorities could have perhaps done better to get more people to vote.

Katuru Durga Prasad Rao

Hyderabad

Promoter exits

Though there are increased incidents of promoter dilution in Indian public companies, from some gradients the trends look truly positive. Business history is the best reference here. In 1892 Thomas Edison established the Edison General Electric Company. But he diluted his entire holding in 1893 when he realised that the inventors’ mind is very different from the merchants’ mind.

The same scene replays yet again exactly 86 years hence when Steve Jobs dilutes his entire holding in Apple, a company that he had founded nine years earlier. Both these companies did flourish decades after the exit of the promoters skin-in-the-game.

So in many ways promoter exits could be a good sign that the business is maturing. Indian Inc too could be going in that direction. We are likely to see more and more companies run by independent boards than by the founding promoters.Cases of related-party transactions and financial embellishments have become more concerning to retail investors holding stake in promoter-led entities.

Nandagopal B

Chennai

Sourcing critical minerals

Apropos ‘India close to securing lithium reserves overseas’ (December 1), it is appreciable that the government has started efforts, though a bit belated, to secure the supply chains of critical minerals through both mining exploration within the country and imports. Countries such as the US and China had realised the importance of the critical minerals much earlier and commenced exploration as well as securing of supply chains. India would be requiring large quantities of these critical minerals in its transition to clean energy and electrification of its huge transportation network.

Kosaraju Chandramouli

Hyderabad

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