TMS Ep74: Kitex Garments, Samir Arora, Ola, four new labour codes

A Christmas night bash at the labour quarters of KITEX Garments in Kerala’s Kochi took a violent turn, leaving five policemen injured. In the subsequent crackdown, the state police arrested at least 150 workers of the world’s second largest infant garment maker, triggering sharp reaction from its owner who alleged that it was a ploy to shut down the factory. Our next report tries to offer a peek into the current slugfest between the state and the Kerala’s biggest private sector employer as it acquires political overtone.

After Kerala, let us see what lies ahead on the equity front. As the markets prepare to usher in 2022, a sense of caution has crept in, given the central bank policy action and a rise in Omicron variant of coronavirus. So, what does 2022 have in store for the markets and what is the mood among foreign investors as regards India? Puneet Wadhwa caught up with Samir Arora, founder and fund manager at Helios Capital, on how he sees equity markets play out in 2022 and the factors that will impact sentiment.

The year 2021 saw several companies outwit pandemic and chart a good growth. Ola was one of them. Co-founded in 2010 by Bhavish Aggarwal, it became India’s leading cab aggregator beating Uber in the next few years. The company is rapidly expanding into other businesses and has made a potentially game-changing pivot to make electric vehicles. It received one million bookings for its electric scooter within days of unveiling. Its factory was ready within months of the announcement. Find out how 2021 has turned out to be a year of reckoning for Ola.

Looking back, it seems like change was the flavour of 2020. If Ola’s electric scooters promised to change the way we travelled on roads -- without any noise or a trail of pollution -- the Parliament passed the much talked about labour codes to reform the labour laws, which have been unchanged since Independence. Find out more about these four codes, what all they promise to change and more in this episode of the podcast.