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Changing Markets, New Opportunities, Bigger Questions
The Weekend Playlist
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Good morning.
This week, Sanjeev Prasad examines the gap between stock valuations and business fundamentals, while Nirav Sheth explores emerging sources of earnings growth. Amit Agarwal discusses generating returns from existing infrastructure.
Elsewhere, Masaharu Morita explores AI-powered preventive healthcare, while Ritu Verma examines risks in cross-border payments. Prachi Mishra explains why private investment, productive jobs and effective governance matter for India's future growth.
The common thread: turning India's growth opportunities into lasting value requires stronger fundamentals and effective execution.
WEEKEND EDITION
The Price Versus Value Question In Indian Markets
Are investors paying for what companies are worth, or what they expect someone else to pay?
In this Weekend Edition, Govindraj Ethiraj speaks with Sanjeev Prasad of Kotak Institutional Equities about changing investor behaviour and the valuation gap between large-cap and smaller stocks.
Prasad explains how retail inflows and short-term trading have shifted attention from business fundamentals to share-price movements.
Yet, while several established large-cap companies trade at relatively attractive valuations, smaller businesses command premiums on expectations of faster growth. Meanwhile, a significant share of IPO fundraising supports shareholder exits and balance-sheet needs rather than new productive investment.
Key Insight
Rising stock prices do not always reflect stronger fundamentals. Sustained returns depend on whether earnings justify investor expectations and valuations.
SPECIAL EDITIONS
The Search For India's Next Growth Engines
What will attract global investors to Indian equities as higher bond yields raise expectations for earnings growth?
In this Special Edition, Govindraj Ethiraj speaks with Nirav Sheth of Emkay Global about how rising global bond yields are changing the investment outlook for Indian equities.
Sheth identifies digital platforms, electronics manufacturing services and power infrastructure as growth opportunities, supported by network effects, manufacturing localisation and AI-driven data centre demand.
Yet, strong domestic mutual fund inflows do not necessarily attract foreign investors. With higher returns available elsewhere, Indian companies must deliver sustained earnings growth to justify their valuations, while traditional consumer businesses may struggle to maintain their historical premiums.
Key Insight
Emerging sectors could drive India's earnings growth as traditional market leaders face valuation pressures.
How Fujifilm Is Reinventing Its Business Through Healthcare
Can technology make preventive healthcare more accessible in a system focused on treating illness?
In this Special Edition, Govindraj Ethiraj speaks with Masaharu Morita of NURA – AI Health Screening Centre about Fujifilm's transformation from photography to medical technology.
Through NURA, Fujifilm combines AI and low-dose CT imaging to detect early signs of cancer, cardiovascular conditions and lifestyle-related risks, adapting Japan's preventive healthcare approach to India's disease patterns.
Yet, technology alone cannot make preventive healthcare mainstream. With comprehensive screenings costing around ₹20,000, affordability remains a major barrier to reaching a wider population.
Key Insight
AI-enabled screening could help identify health risks earlier, complementing hospitals' role in diagnosis and treatment.
The Business Of Turning Infrastructure Into Income
Can India's growing private wealth find steady income beyond traditional investments?
In this Special Edition, Govindraj Ethiraj speaks with Amit Agarwal of EAAA India Alternatives about how wealthy investors are diversifying their portfolios to preserve wealth and generate income.
EAAA invests in completed roads, solar power plants and commercial properties, where better management can improve yields and generate long-term cash flows.
Rather than investing in early-stage ventures, Agarwal focuses on established assets with existing revenue streams. Returns depend on operational efficiency and asset performance rather than rising valuations alone.
Key Insight
As India's infrastructure matures, improving existing assets could become an increasingly important source of investment returns.
BUREAU BYTES
When Payment Fraud Meets Money Laundering
What happens when financial fraud and money laundering become harder to distinguish?
Ritu Verma of Aeka Advisors, discusses emerging risks and regulatory challenges in cross-border payments.
Verma highlights how mule accounts, including business accounts, are increasingly used to route suspicious transactions. As fraud and money laundering overlap, compliance teams must coordinate across different regulatory requirements.
Yet managing financial risks is only part of the challenge. Fintech companies must also simplify trade documentation and regulatory compliance to make cross-border payments more accessible to smaller businesses.
Key Insight
As financial fraud and money laundering increasingly overlap, payment providers need stronger monitoring and coordination across compliance functions.
THE CORE QUIZ
After Jio’s IPO on October 28th, which business group did Reliance overtake to become India’s most valuable conglomerate? |
HOW INDIA’S ECONOMY WORKS
India's Growth Potential Meets The Implementation Test
India has repeatedly exceeded growth expectations. But can it sustain that momentum over the next two decades?
In this episode of How India's Economy Works, Puja Mehra speaks with Prachi Mishra, Economist and former member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, about India's path to becoming a high-income economy amid shifting global trade, technology and investment trends.
Yet strong GDP growth has not translated into sustained expansion in manufacturing or private investment. Mishra explains how reliance on capital-intensive industries could limit job creation despite India's large working-age population, highlighting the need for labour-intensive manufacturing, more productive employment in agriculture and services, and effective local governance.
Why This Matters
India's economic resilience supports long-term growth, but higher incomes and better living standards will require stronger private investment, productive jobs and effective local governance.
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