TMS Ep549: Mobile manufacturing, telecom tax, Andrew Holland, space station

Government’s ‘Make in India’ plan got yet another shot in the arm last week when Google announced to manufacture Pixel smartphones in the country. It comes just days after India- made iPhone 15 started rolling out from a factory here. So is Google’s move a big step in making India a major smartphone manufacturer? 

India is now the world's second largest smartphone market after China. No wonder, tech giants like Apple and Google are trying hard to tap it. While phone makers are minting money, most companies in India’s telecom sector are staring at losses. And a recent Supreme Court ruling is likely to bring additional tax liabilities of about $1 billion on the telecom sector this fiscal year. So what is the new judgement all about? And what are its likely implications? 

Financial markets, meanwhile, have been on a roller coaster ride in the past few months as they navigated multiple headwinds in the form of US central bank policy, rising bond yields and soaring crude oil prices. Puneet Wadhwa caught up with Andrew Holland, CEO, Avendus Capital Public Markets Alternate Strategies on his interpretation of the developments and his investing strategies in this backdrop.

Echoing Andrew Holland’s sentiments, India’s finance ministry too, in its monthly economic review for September, claimed that the outlook for the Indian economy for the current financial year 2023-24 remains “bright”. And in another development which kind of reflects the country’s growing might, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently announced a manned mission to the Moon by 2040, and a space station by 2035. Space stations have long captured the imagination of people around the world, from science fiction enthusiasts to those interested in the frontiers of human exploration. Listen to this episode of the podcast to know what is a space station and what purpose it serves.