TMS Ep457: High airfares, tutoring industry, FDs over equities, NDRF

After hitting sky-high levels on busy routes, airfares have reportedly come down considerably in the last few days. Thanks to government intervention, which had on June 5 asked airlines to “self-monitor” the ticket prices. The prices had skyrocketed in May after the grounding of embattled GoFirst airline. But, is that the only reason airfares shot up in recent weeks? And, does that surge point to a regulatory failure? 

GoFirst too plans to take to the skies again by the end of this month. Hope that will further bring down the airfares. Moving on, India’s tutoring industry is already soaring high. It is no more a fledgling sector. Kota, Delhi, Prayagraj, Chennai, … the list of coaching hubs seems never ending. But where do we stand? How big is India’s tutoring industry? And how does it compare to the world? 

No wonder, India’s ed-tech sector has done so well in the last few years. Meanwhile, it seems, the country’s financial markets are not performing that well. Equity investment has delivered negligible returns over the past year. It was close to one per cent. And 2023 has so far proved to be a subdued year as investors track the trajectory of global monetary policy. But other asset classes like bank FDs are offering as much as over 9% interest in some cases. Against this backdrop, is it time to turn towards FDs over the near term? 

Weather on Dalal Street and beyond has suddenly turned pleasant. It is all due to cyclone Biparjoy -- which made landfall in Gujarat last week, leaving a trail of destruction at ground zero. But thanks to the personnel of the National Disaster Response Force or NDRF, the loss of lives was minimal. Thousands were evacuated on time. But what is NDRF? Listen to this episode of the podcast to know more.