Tweet Buster: Why virus hits old cos & how to tackle the Dragon

NEW DELHI: India's stock market took the latest standoff between India and China at Galwan Valley, Ladakh, on its stride as a liquidity-driven rally took the benchmark indices past key resistance levels to scale higher territories. And even as a #BoycottChineseProduct campaign and its spinoffs started trending on Twitter, Dalal Street mavens said it's a feat that is hard to achieve.

Twenty-five years back, Indian businessmen talked about an 'even playing field' with Chinese businesses. "We don't hear the term anymore, as we concede defeat and left the field altogether amid disproportionate rules," said Aveek Mitra, Founder and CEO of Avekast Financial Advisory.


Mitra goes on to cite the example of how over the past 25 years India allowed the Chinese to do business and take over the market when the treatment from across the border remained unfriendly.

PMS fund manager Basant Maheshwari said the Chinese have big investments in Indian startups like Zomato, Paytm, Swiggy and Ola. "While we can ban the Chinese, we need to nurture domestic investors for growth capital since entrepreneurship cannot grow in a vacuum," says he.

Maheshwari said the only way to beat China is to become economically stronger as countries that have progressed globally have stayed away from war. But how does a $2.7 trillion economy take on a $14 trillion global bully? Here are a few answers:

Independent market expert Sandip Sabharwal believes if India has to progress on the path of self-reliance and wants to bring in global supply chains, then the government should not focus on their revenues for five years and give income-tax, GST sop and incentive against every job created.

In a separate tweet, Sabharwal said the government fuel price hike spree will create a Rs 2,50,000 crore plus (annualised) hole in consumers' pocket. "Be ready for a prolonged slow growth if the government keeps on fiscal contraction," he said.

Lastly, here's an interesting analysis by valuation guru Aswath Damodaran. He says younger, growth companies are being hurt far less than the older, more mature ones during the ongoing disruption, mirroring the health effects of the virus.