India Investment Summit & Awards

Introduction

The global economic outlook is bleak, but India has been beating market expectations with a 7% growth rate, having emerged from the covid era on a stronger footing.

Indian infrastructure is seeing an upgrade because of massive government investment. Manufacturing and services sectors have shown robust growth, and there is hope that consumption demand will pick up pace. GST and Income Tax earnings have been soaring. The bank credit cycle is on an upcycle and corporate earnings have been stellar. This is expected to lead to a resurgence in private sector capex.

Despite tumult, crude prices have remained steady, and inflation has been moderate. All of this has resulted in buoyant capital markets. The Nifty has been on a swansong, hitting record milestones on the promise of future growth. As investors have noted before, the Indian spring is here, and this is India’s decade to shine.

But are there key risks that India needs to watch out for in 2024? With multiple ongoing conflicts, the world is unlikely to be less volatile in 2024. The Fed has signalled that 2024 is likely to see interest rate cuts. Could this exacerbate inflation?

Weakness in rural consumption and growing income inequality could widen chinks in the Indian growth story. There are structural bottlenecks within India that need to be resolved. Will the Indian march continue, if the rest of the world slips into recession? We are also no longer immune to geopolitical tensions -- could it impede growth? With elections on the anvil, policy makers may have limited options in 2024. In such a scenario, what can India Inc, investors, economists, policy makers and society do to shepherd the Indian growth story?

The Mint India Investment Summit 2024 will delve into some of these issues such as the road blocks to 10% GDP growth, the rise of private capital, areas that India Inc is thinking of investing in to stay competitive, the rise of manufacturing, regulatory and policy makers insights into 2024 trends and much more.

@VCCEvents#TechLive

2:00 PM onwards

2:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Registration & Networking Lunch

2:55 PM – 3:00 PM

Welcome Address

By Ravi Krishnan, Editor-in-Chief, Mint

3:00 PM – 3:30 PM

Fireside chat: Building in India

It is said to be India’s decade to shine. What are the opportunities and challenges of building in India. Are businesses getting built in India for the world or for Bharat?

Speaker:
Kunal Shah, Founder, CRED

Moderator: Ravi Krishnan, Editor-in-Chief, Mint

3:30 PM – 4:20 PM

Rise of the Indian Spring

The Indian growth story has so far resisted all sorts of challenges. The year 2024, however, is a new beast. What does India need to do to deepen its growth and tap into a wider pool of capital? Are we aiming too low? What are the road blocks to a 10% GDP growth rate? What do investors think about investing here?

Speakers:
Devina Mehra, Chairperson and Managing Director, First Global
Saurabh Mukherjea, Founder & CIO, Marcellus Investment Managers
Rajiv Dhar, Executive Director, NIIF
Abhishek Poddar, India Country Head, Macquarie Group & MD, Macquarie Asset Management Real Assets
Mehul Pandya, MD & Group CEO, CareEdge

Moderator: Alokesh Bhattacharyya, Deputy Managing Editor, Mint

4:20 PM – 4:50 PM

Fireside chat: Investing in India

For most global investors, India has moved from being a good to have market to a must have market in their portfolio. With the domestic investor pool also deepening, how does India fare as an investment destination? Where is money to be made?

Speaker:
Nivruti Rai, MD & CEO, Invest India

Moderator: Ranjani Raghavan, Senior Editor, Mint

4:50 PM – 5:00 PM

Moving past the headwinds: Creating growth oriented deals

Speaker:
Chirag Agrawal, Partner and Leader - Corporate Finance Advisory, Financial Advisory, Deloitte India

5:00 PM – 5:30 PM

Tea Break

5:30 PM – 6:15PM

Focus on Middle India

With rising income spends, investors are scouting for opportunities across tier 2 and tier 3 cities. How are consumption patterns changing in this segment? What kind of products work best for a Middle India? What are the key segments which is interesting for investors and what is the investment potential.

Speakers:
Nruthya Madappa, Partner, 3one4 Capital
Lal Chand Bisu, Co-Founder & CEO, Kuku FM
Kanika Agarrwal, Partner, IndiaQuotient
Chirag Agrawal, Partner and Leader - Corporate Finance Advisory, Financial Advisory, Deloitte India

Moderator: Sneha Shah, Sr. Assistant Editor, Mint

6:15 PM – 7:00 PM

Changing narratives: Can AI boost topline?

Over the past year, artificial intelligence (AI) has become inevitable. In the Indian context, it has come up in the context of job losses. We know AI can help with bottomlines, but can AI help India Inc unlock growth opportunities, build scale and revenue? How are VC firms looking at this space?

Speakers:
Harshjit Sethi, MD, Peak XV
Aakrit Vaish, CEO and Co-Founder, Haptik
Chaitanya Chinchlikar, VP-CTO, Whistling Woods
Sudarshan Seshadri, SVP & Global Head of AI, Coforge

Moderator: Shouvik Das, Special Correspondent, Mint

7:00 PM – 7:30 PM

Fireside chat: Scaling startups through brand ambassadors

Several Indian actors and cricketers have set up their own family offices and invested in scores of startups. How do bollywood actors and cricketers think about investments? How do they help with the scaling up of these investments?

Speaker:
Shilpa Shetty, Entrepreneur & Actor

Moderator: Sneha Shah, Sr. Assistant Editor, Mint

7:30 PM – onwards

Dinner and cocktails

DAY 2

9:30 AM onwards

9:30 AM – onwards

Registration & Breakfast

10:00 AM – 10:30 AM

The remarkable rise of Mumbai real estate

The housing market has seen new highs since the pandemic. Mumbai Metropolitan Region has grabbed the largest share of sales among all cities. It has seen highest momentum in project sales and launches, far ahead of NCR and Bengaluru. Luxury and premium home sales have led a large part of this growth. So, what's driving India's most valuable real estate market?

Speakers:
Vyomesh Shah, MD & Co-Founder, Hubtown Limited
Prashant Thakur, Regional Director & Head – Research, ANAROCK Group
Pankaj Kapoor, MD & Founder, Liases Foras

Moderator: Alokesh Bhattacharyya, Deputy Managing Editor, Mint

10:30 AM – 11:00 AM

Fireside chat: How large businesses think about diversification

Diversified businesses are looking at newer pockets of opportunities to unlock future growth. How are they thinking about new technologies, competition and a new generation of upstarts within the Indian startup ecosystem. How can private capex cycle revive?

Speaker:
Mohit Burman, Chairman, Dabur

Moderator: Ranjani Raghavan, Senior Editor, Mint

11:00 AM – 11:45 AM

Markets on a roll

Indian markets are at an all time on the back of rising domestic inflows. This has provided a depth to the Indian capital markets never seen before. Is India Inc. fundraising plans for capex secure? What does it mean for retail investors?

Speakers:
Vishal Kapoor, CEO, Bandhan AMC Ltd.
Subhrajit Roy, Managing Director, Head Global Capital Markets- India, Bank of America
Bhavesh Shah, MD, Equirus Capital
Samarth Jagnani, Head, Global Capital Markets, Morgan Stanley India & South- East Asia
Nilesh Shah, Managing Director, Kotak Mahindra Asset Management

Moderator: Neil Borate, Deputy Editor, Mint

11:45 AM – 12:30 PM

Rise of Private Capital in India

Companies have scaled to an extent where large funds are pumping in $1 billion and above into India. On the other end, PEs are also seeing large exits with the public markets absorbing large block deals easily. What are the ways in which investors can add value and scale further? What are the checks and balances? Are there white spaces left?

Speakers:
Ashish Kotecha, Partner, Bain Capital
Vishesh Shrivastav, MD, Temasek Holdings, India
Deepak Dara, Senior MD and Head of India, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan
Nithya Easwaran, Managing Director, Multiples Alternate Asset Management
Nishant Sharma, Managing Partner, Kedaara Capital

Moderator: Ranjani Raghavan, Senior Editor, Mint

12:30 PM – 1:30 PM

Networking Lunch

1:30 PM – 1:50 PM

Fireside chat: Second time founders

Having gone through a cycle of birthing a company, growing and exiting successfully, second time founders are coming back to the market with better, sharper ideas that are invest worthy. With a better understanding of PMF and TAM, these founders have easy access to capital too. What are these serial entrepreneurs thinking and how has the game changed?

Speaker:
Yogesh Mahansaria, MD, Mahansaria Tyres

Moderator: Sneha Shah, Sr. Assistant Editor, Mint

1:50 PM – 2:30 PM

Rise of domestic MNC brands

Indian companies are building brands for a global audience. After gaining scale in domestic markets, several emerging as well as established Indian companies have expanded overseas and built brand recognition by crossing borders, and enlarging footprint. Is this a derisking strategy to reduce concentration risks? What is the next step in their growth strategy? What are the new geographies and categories on their radar? Are there lessons that they can incorporate for the Indian market or vice versa?

Speakers:
Rajesh Jejurikar, ED & CEO (Auto and Farm Sector), Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd
Bharat Puri, MD, Pidilite Industries
Saugata Gupta, MD & CEO, Marico

Moderator: Sneha Shah, Sr. Assistant Editor, Mint

2:30 PM – 3:00 PM

India and the final frontier

India’s space program has launched ambitious programs to the Mars and the Sun. This is also seeing a spurt in ancillary space startups and giving rise to a growing engineering talent within the country. How can India Inc participate in the Indian space story?

Speakers:
Arjun Rao, Partner, Speciale Invest
Suyash Singh, Co-Founder & CEO, GalaxEye
Chaitanya Giri, Asso. Prof., Space Studies, FLAME University

Moderator: Shouvik Das, Special Correspondent, Mint

3:00 PM – 3:30 PM

Rise of Indian defense manufacturing

Last year saw a sudden spurt in Indian defence manufacturing companies on the back of the government’s indigenization program of Indian weapons systems. Is this trend sustainable? What are the gaps that need to be looked at?

Speakers:
Ankit Mehta, CEO, IdeaForge
Jayant Patil, Member of ECOM & Advisor (Defence & Smart Technology) to CMD - L&T
Arjun Rajagopalan, Partner- Financial Advisory, Deloitte India

Moderator: Alokesh Bhattacharyya, Deputy Managing Editor, Mint

3:30 PM – 3:40 PM

How to build a Social Media Rocket-Ship to simplify adoption in Fintech Sector

Speaker:
Ajay Lakhotia, Founder & CEO, StockGro

3:40 PM – 4:00 PM

Tea break

4:00 PM – 4:30 PM

Special Address: Regulatory Insights into 2024

For customers and companies, it is crucial to understand what frameworks they can expect from India’s banking regulator. What the regulator is thinking about the anomalies that exist in the banking system today and the corrective actions being undertaken. Is there over regulation or just adequate to keep us ahead of the curve?

Speaker:
Rajeshwar Rao, Deputy Governor, RBI

4:30 PM – 5:00 PM

Fireside chat: Can foreign policy boost Indian growth?

Can rising geopolitical tensions jeopardise Indian ambitions globally? In the previous decade, this was limited to investments along the Indo-China border. How should India Inc think about the threat of a new cold war, the decline of Europe, the rise of China and a weakening US? What are the challenges and opportunities?

Speaker:
Vijay Gokhale, Former Foreign Secretary of India

Moderator: Neil Borate, Deputy Editor, Mint

5:00 PM – 5:45 PM

Keynote Address & Fireside chat: How does the Indian government plan to shock proof the Indian economy?

Speaker:
Nirmala Sitharaman, Hon’ble Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, GOI

Moderator: Ravi Krishnan, Editor-in-Chief, Mint