Business
CAIT urge government to take action against e-pharmacy companies, including Amazon, Flipkart, Reliance
Training its guns on e-pharmacy companies, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Monday strongly raised the issue of malpractices being conducted in online pharmacy trade.
CAIT alleged that primarily Pharmeasy, Medlife, 1Mg, Netmeds (now owned by Reliance Group), Amazon (foreign company owned by Amazon) Flipkart (owned by foreign company Walmart) are conducting business practices in contravention of provisions of The Drug & Cosmetics Act, 1940 and misusing the e-commerce landscape by operating on rock bottom prices with 30 per cent-40 per cent discount and free shipping.
It’s a case of capital dumping in these e-pharmacies by foreign behemoths which is proving extremely detrimental to the future of the lakhs of crores of small chemists across the country . The retail chemists are the last mile connectivity and emergency provisioning is ensured by brick-and-mortar retailers who in turn also provide livelihood to millions of retail pharmacies, their families and employees
The CAIT has once again reiterated while its demand for issuance of a fresh press note in lieu of Press Note 2 of the FDI policy to make Indian e-commerce trade free from all glitches and a competitive level playing field for all stakeholders and formation of a Regulatory Authority to monitor and regulate e commerce business in India.
CAIT National President B.C. Bhartia and Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said that mushrooming of e-pharmacy is causing huge hardships to the retail chemists and distributors in the wake of anti-competitive practices like capital dumping and deep discounting leading to predatory pricing. Brick and Mortar medicine retailers, including retail chemists and distributors are the first points of contact for needy patients across the country. E-pharmacies with their financial backing by large foreign players/funds have started disrupting brick and mortar retailers due to the unmatched and often unsustainable pricing.
They further said that It is important to note that sale of prescription drugs and medicines through online medium is illegal. The legal regime, under Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940, does not permit home delivery of prescription medicines for which a prescription “in original” is required.
Bhartia and Khandelwal said that the e-pharmacies like Pharmeasy and Medlife indulged in deep discounting on their platforms by giving a flat discount of 30 per cent. To capture the market even further, an additional cashback of 20 per cent is extended to customers with free shipping. Effectively, this translated to a whopping discount of around 40 per cent-45 per cent with free shipping.
Predatory Pricing is done with the sole intention of eliminating the market competition. E-pharmacies have indulged in predatory pricing immediately after the lockdown by offering a 25 per cent discount on medicines and an astronomical 75 per cent discount on wellness products, a market that had begun expanding after the recent Covid-19 pandemic. While even a 25 per cent discount on medicines is capable of distorting the market, a 75 per cent discount on a market that had just begun to swell up is daylight robbery since it not only erodes the customer base of traditional retailers but also creates an unhealthy competition, one that is unsustainable in the long run.
Bhartia and Khandelwal said that by using consumer data, which is otherwise not available to traditional players, e-pharmacies like Pharmeasy & Medlife (owned by Dharmil Seth and investment from Temasek, etc.) and 1Mg (Prashant Tandon, investment from Sequoia and now slated to merge in Tata Group) Netmed of Reliance, Amazon and Flipkart have offered a minimum discount of 30 per cent at the start of the month and approximately 40 per cent discount at the end of the month to cater to the analysis and resultant trend that spending reduces end of the month.
The CAIT has demanded that beside general e-commerce where rules and policies are being flouted at a high magnitude level, the e-pharmacy has become another trade which is being targeted by these heavily funded companies to capture and monopolised at the cost of uprooting of lakhs of chemists and medicine traders across the country. Therefore, immediate intervention of the government is required to stop this menace.
Business
India world’s 2nd-largest single country contributor to global construction growth

Mumbai, June 9: India has emerged as the second-largest single country contributor to global construction growth between 2020 and 2030, according to a new report released on Tuesday.
The report from Foundamental, a Berlin-based venture capital firm, said that India and China together account for nearly 40 per cent of global construction growth over the period.
Global capital expenditure is becoming increasingly concentrated in five countries: India, China, the United States, Germany and France, it said.
“India accounts for the second-largest share of global construction growth by volume between 2020 and 2030, at 14.1 per cent, behind only China at 26.1 per cent and ahead of the United States at 11.1 per cent,” said Shubhankar Bhattacharya, Co-Founder and General Partner at Foundamental.
Global construction spending reached $15.97 trillion in 2024 and is projected to grow to $19.86 trillion by 2028, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.6 per cent.
Within that total, infrastructure is the fastest-growing major construction segment globally, expanding at a CAGR of 5.1 per cent between 2020 and 2025.
In India, the pace is markedly higher: the country’s infrastructure market is forecast to grow at around 8 per cent annually through the end of the decade, well above the global rate.
The report also notes that global gross fixed capital formation has grown roughly 30-fold since 1960, with that investment becoming increasingly concentrated among a handful of major economies.
“Global construction spending has already surpassed previous forecasts and is creating new opportunities across infrastructure, industrial facilities, energy systems, transportation networks and digital infrastructure,” said Bhattacharya.
The report forecasts the global data centre construction market will double by 2030 compared with 2018 levels, driven by artificial intelligence and cloud computing, making data centre infrastructure one of the fastest-growing construction segments through 2030. “Data centre construction could add between 10 per cent and 15 per cent to the global construction market by 2030,” said Bhattacharya.
The report said India is positioned to benefit from multiple long-term growth trends at once, including infrastructure expansion, industrial development, the energy transition, digital transformation and urbanisation.
Business
Indian equity markets trade higher as Iran-Israel tensions ease

Mumbai, June 9: Indian equities traded higher on Tuesday in the morning trade, supported by improving sentiment after signs of a pause in hostilities between Iran and Israel.
Sensex rose as much as 0.7 per cent or over 500 points to hit an intraday high of 74,035.41 in early trade, while Nifty gained 0.6 per cent or more than 100 points to touch 23,259.45.
On the sectoral front, Nifty MidSmall Financial Services emerged as the top gainer, rising over 1 per cent, followed by Nifty Realty, which also advanced more than 1 per cent. Nifty Auto climbed 0.9 per cent. Banking stocks traded higher as well, with the PSU Bank and Private Bank indices gaining up to 0.8 per cent.
Category-wise, microcap, midcap and smallcap indices outperformed the benchmarks. Nifty Microcap 250 rose more than 1 per cent, while Nifty Midcap 50, Midcap 100 and Midcap 150 gained up to nearly 1 per cent.
Market volatility eased, with India VIX declining more than 4 per cent to around 16.
According to market experts, the decline in Brent crude prices to below $94 per barrel is positive for Indian equities. They, however, cautioned that there is no certainty that the fragile peace between Iran and Israel will hold.
A US federal judge striking down President Donald Trump’s H-1B visa fee hike is also a mild positive for Indian IT stocks, experts said.
“The bulls are too weak to stage a strong comeback, while the bears remain strong enough to press selling on rallies. The sustained selling by FIIs shows no sign of fatigue. Large-cap valuations are fair and, in segments like banking, attractive, largely due to FII selling,” analysts said.
However, elevated volatility and lingering global uncertainty are expected to keep traders cautious in the near term, they added.
Meanwhile, Iran and Israel said they had paused military strikes against each other following an appeal by U.S. President Donald Trump for an immediate de-escalation. However, Tehran warned that it would resume attacks if Israel continued targeting Hezbollah positions in Lebanon.
Crude oil prices traded lower, with international benchmark Brent crude declining about 1 per cent to $93 per barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell around 1 per cent to $90 per barrel.
Asian markets traded largely in positive territory, with Japan’s Nikkei rising more than 1 per cent and South Korea’s KOSPI surging nearly 5 per cent. Other major regional indices were also trading higher.
In the US, Wall Street ended in green overnight, with the S&P 500 closing 0.3 per cent higher and the Nasdaq settling nearly 1 per cent higher.
Business
Sensex, Nifty trade muted in early deals amid mixed global cues

Mumbai, May 27: Domestic equity markets traded on a muted note in early deals on Wednesday amid mixed global cues and a decline in crude oil prices.
Sensex was trading at 76,050, up 40 points or 0.05 per cent in the morning session, while Nifty rose 20 points or 0.08 per cent to 23,932. Earlier, the benchmark indices opened at 75,939.86 and 23,880.35, respectively.
Among sectoral indices, Nifty Metal emerged as the top gainer, climbing 1.59 per cent, followed by Nifty Cement, which advanced 0.83 per cent. Nifty Media, Realty and Consumer Durables also traded higher, rising up to 0.67 per cent.
On the other hand, Nifty Oil & Gas was the top loser, falling 0.66 per cent. While private banks, financial services and IT indices also traded in the red, declining up to 0.33 per cent.
Among Nifty stocks, selling pressure was visible in select heavyweight counters, with Coal India dropping over 4 per cent and ONGC slipping nearly 3 per cent. HDFC Bank, Infosys and Wipro also remained under pressure.
Meanwhile, the volatility index India VIX gained 0.68 per cent to trade around 16.
According to analysts, the near-term market tone remains cautious but stable, as recent profit booking at higher levels indicates some consolidation after the sharp recovery phase.
“Despite intermittent weakness, controlled volatility and balanced market breadth suggest that broader sentiment has not deteriorated significantly,” they added.
Meanwhile, Iran on Tuesday accused the United States of violating the ceasefire by carrying out strikes near the disputed Strait of Hormuz, while Washington maintained that the attacks were defensive in nature.
In the commodity market, crude oil prices declined, with international benchmark Brent crude falling 1.73 per cent to $97.85 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped over 2 per cent to $91.87 per barrel.
In Asia, markets traded mixed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined nearly 1 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei and South Korea’s KOSPI rose up to almost 5 per cent.
Overnight in the US, Wall Street ended higher, with the S&P 500 gaining 0.61 per cent and the Nasdaq closing 1.19 per cent higher.
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