EQ Saturday Sapience #72

Equity Intelligence 22nd June 2024

India's infrastructure building continues at a scale which would have multiplier impact on economy and jobs over time, How Mercedes Benz's strategic patience made it India's largest luxury carmaker, India’s electronic industry is surging and The exponential growth of solar power will change the world. 

• Upon completion, the Rs 76,220 crore Vadhavan port will be one of the top 10 ports in the world. The project, aligned with the objectives of PM Gati Shakti programme, will add to further economic activity and also have the potential for direct and indirect employment opportunities for around 10 lakh individuals, thereby contributing to the local economy… Read more
• Even as its competitors were folding up operations in India, the German automaker persisted. Three decades after it first came to India, the gamble has paid off and Mercedes is now moving from chasing volumes in the growing luxury segment to focusing on the top end of the pyramid… Read more
• To witness India’s growing role as a manufacturing hub, dodge Bangalore’s notorious traffic and head north. Around 45km outside the city, amid the dust and debris of construction, Foxconn, a Taiwanese contract manufacturer, is turning 120 hectares of farmland into a factory that will produce around 20m iPhones a year. Foxconn’s plant will be the third facility near Bangalore dedicated to churning out phones for Apple, an American tech giant. The other two are run by Tata, India’s largest conglomerate… Read more
• An energy-rich future is within reach. Solar cells will in all likelihood be the single biggest source of electrical power on the planet by the mid 2030s. By the 2040s they may be the largest source not just of electricity but of all energy. On current trends, the all-in cost of the electricity they produce promises to be less than half as expensive as the cheapest available today. This will not stop climate change, but could slow it a lot faster. Much of the world—including Africa, where 600m people still cannot light their homes—will begin to feel energy-rich. That feeling will be a new and transformational one for humankind… Read more
• In the long run, there’s no reasonable alternative to believing that good decisions will lead to investment profits. In the short run, however, we must be stoic when they don’t.” —Howard Marks