TMS Ep384: Essar group, free trade agreement, metal stocks, generative AI

Once considered too big to fail, Ruia brothers owned Essar Group had to sell its flagship assets in India to stay afloat. It scraped through the crisis and finally became debt-free in November last year. One of the key assets that the Ruia brothers had to let go was their loss-making steel business. Now, three years after selling the Essar Steel, the group has been making a quiet foray into the steel business again. So can Essar regain the lost ground? 

Speaking of steel, here is an interesting fact that Union minister Piyush Goyal recently pointed out. He said Korea and Japan will buy steel from their domestic market even if it costs them a hundred dollars more for every ton due to their nationalist spirit. But they will not buy from an Indian  supplier. At the same time, due to the free trade agreement, two Korean car companies -- Kia Motors and Hyundai -- have been costing India billions of dollars in trade deficit as they continue to import indiscriminately. So have we benefitted from FTAs? 

China, on Sunday, set a 5% growth target for 2023, lowest in more than 25 years as it swiftly reopens its economy from Covid-19 restrictions. This could help the Indian metal industry. So should investors bet on the stocks? 

TCS, the country’s second largest company by market capitalisation, recently tried to allay fears of job loss around generative artificial intelligence. The company which employs over 600,000 people said that the platforms like ChatGPT will create an “AI co-worker” and not replace jobs. But what exactly is generative artificial intelligence everyone is talking about? Listen to this episode of the podcast to know more.