In this week’s wrapup, we talk about a "Make in India" sparked ATM shortage, why GST may not make fuel cheaper, this year's muted telecom spectrum auctions, SEBI's notice to Rashmi Saluja and participatory notes.

Here’s a recap.

Why is there an ATM crunch in the country?

ATMs have been rising at a fast clip in India. But it almost always seems like we are running short of them. Sure, digital payments are helping us sail through this shortage of sorts. But in reality, ATMs are actually struggling to scale up because of a big supply bottleneck. The reason?

"Make in India"!

If that makes you curious, head over to our Monday's newsletter where we explained how "Make in India" has sparked a deadlock between banks and the RBI when it comes to improving ATM access across the country.

Why GST may not make fuel cheaper

If we asked you whether fuel should be brought under the GST (Goods and Services Tax) regime, what would you say? Well, you'll most likely say 'yes' because a LocalCircles survey from 2021 suggests that 77% consumers want petrol and diesel under the GST structure. They feel that it could make fuel cheaper and ease the burden of rising household prices. And of late, dealers who operate fuel stations have been demanding for this too.

But here's the thing. GST on fuels may actually not make so much of a difference. To find out why, read our Tuesday's newsletter where we reason it out.

Why is this year's spectrum auction a dud?

The Indian government recently wrapped up this year’s telecom spectrum auction. And it managed to rake in a whopping ₹11,300 crores! But guess what? That's a measly 12% of the value of all the airwaves that were up for grabs. And it's a stark contrast to the ₹1.5 lakh crores that the government earned in 2022.

So, what’s going on?

Find out in our Wednesday's newsletter here.

P. S.: The newsletter won't have the figures you just read because we'd written the story when the auction was still ongoing.

Why is SEBI after Religare's Rashmi Saluja?

Religare Enterprises’ chairperson, Rashmi Saluja is in a tight spot right now.

And it's because the SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) has been badgering her company’s Board to get approvals from a bunch of regulators. It wants Religare to give in to a hostile takeover bid by the Burman family or the folks who own Dabur.

But why is SEBI doing that?

We wrote about it in our Thursday's newsletter. You can read it here.

Does the market need to worry about P-Notes?

The value of Participatory Notes (P-Notes), a kind of foreign investment instrument, has been rising of late. It has now reached a staggering ₹1.49 lakh crores! And the last time Indian markets saw P-Note investments like that, was way back in 2017.

For context, they're the same foreign investments that helped Ketan Parekh, a smart Chartered Accountant, to swindle a whopping ₹40,000 crores from Indian markets and global banks in the late 1990s.

Could that mean that these rising P-Note investments are risky for Indian markets? Find out in Friday's newsletter here.

Finshots Weekly Quiz 🧩

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That's it from us this week. Have a great weekend!

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