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Good morning. It’s Wednesday, so it’s only right we wish you a Happy Hump Day.

- Ruchrngd Sharma & Shatakshi Sharma

📊 Markets

🇮🇳 India

• Indian indices Sensex and Nifty closed higher, influenced by global markets, with Sensex rising 0.45% and Nifty 0.51%. Gains were led by metal, auto, PSU bank, and oil & gas sectors, while FMCG, pharma, and healthcare sectors declined.

🌍️ International

• Despite April's high producer price inflation, Tuesday saw stocks rise with S&P 500 up by 0.5% and Nasdaq by 0.7%. Small-cap stocks, particularly the Russell 2000, performed well with over 1% gain due to a decrease in bond yields. Technology and communication sectors led the gains. Investors dismissed the inflation data, anticipating an easing of future price pressures.

🤖 Public goods portal

The Indian government is developing a centralised platform to house all its Digital Public Goods (DPGs) to streamline access and enhance citizen experience. 

Their goal? To simplify the way citizens interact with various digital services and applications.

Why now? 

• Problem: Currently, multiple government departments and agencies have created their own DPGs, such as Aadhaar, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), and Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), among others. However, accessing these services requires navigating different platforms, making the process cumbersome for users.

• Solution: The proposed unified portal will serve as a central repository, listing all the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) created by various ministries and departments. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is expected to spearhead the project, coordinating with several stakeholders to collate the necessary details.

How will it work? 

• Government entities will be required to upload information about their DPGs, including the services offered, underlying technology, user base, and any specific requirements for accessing the services. 

• This consolidated information will then be made available through the unified portal.

Overall: The global market size for DPGs is estimated to reach ₹8.3 lakh Cr ($100B) in the next five to six years. According to EY estimates, the cost per person for developing a DPG in countries with over 50 million people is as low as ₹62 ($0.74), highlighting the potential for cost-effective digital solutions.

By creating a single access point for all digital public goods, the Indian government aims to enhance transparency, accessibility, and overall efficiency in delivering digital services to its citizens.

Read more: Economic Times

💰️ Amazon’s big bet on India

Amazon is eying a big opportunity in India.

After investing over ₹1,000Cr in its Indian entities earlier this year, Amazon has pumped an additional ₹1,660Cr ($199M) into the company running its marketplace operations in India. 

Their goal: The fresh capital injection by Amazon's US parent entities aims to fuel the growth of its Indian e-commerce business. 

Financing method: In exchange for the funds, Amazon allocated 1.66 billion equity shares of ₹10 each to these entities.

Why now?

• Amazon's biggest rivals in India—Flipkart and Meesho—are bolstering their war chests.

  • Walmart-backed Flipkart received around ₹924Cr from its Singapore entities in January, while social commerce platform Meesho recently closed a ₹2269 Cr ($275M) funding round.

• Plus, when it comes to e-commerce in India, Amazon is leaving no stone unturned. The company recently launched Amazon Bazaar, a new vertical selling unbranded fashion and lifestyle products at low prices, to take on Meesho and Flipkart's Shopsy.

Overall: While Amazon continues to invest in its core e-commerce business, it is also doubling down on its cloud computing arm, Amazon Web Services (AWS), in India. 

The company plans to invest ₹1.3 lakh Cr ($15B) more into the country by 2030, taking its total investments to over ₹2.2 lakh Cr ($26B).

Read more: Economic Times

🗞️ Bite-sized summaries

🔍️ Google strikes back - Google held its annual I/O developer conference yesterday, where it announced a range of new AI products and features. This included updates to its Gemini AI model like handling more data and a new cost-effective Gemini Flash model, as well as new AI-powered tools for generating video, images, and audio overviews. Google also unveiled AI features coming to its core search engine such as AI-generated overviews for complex queries and the ability to ask visual questions by uploading videos or images. Additionally, Google previewed Project Astra, an advanced conversational AI assistant developed by DeepMind, and announced new AI hardware like its sixth-generation TPU chips for cloud customers. The event highlighted Google's AI advancements aimed at competing with rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic.

💸 Is Haldiram’s for sale? - A consortium comprising Blackstone, Singapore's GIC sovereign wealth fund, and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) is in early-stage talks to acquire a majority 75% stake in the popular snacks business of Indian food company Haldiram's. The deal could value Haldiram's snacks unit at up to ₹70,983 lakh ($8.5 billion), though the final valuation and stake percentage are still being negotiated. Blackstone has submitted a non-binding bid, with GIC and ADIA participating as investors in Blackstone's funds. The talks come after previous discussions between Haldiram's and India's Tata Group for the entire snacks and restaurants business fell through last year.

🌳 Money grows on trees (for investment in AI) - An Intel-IDC report projects that spending on AI in India will triple from $1.7 billion in 2023 to $5 billion (₹14,196 lakh to ₹41,755 lakh) by 2027, representing a compound annual growth rate of 31.5% during this period. Major spending in 2023 was driven by AI infrastructure provisioning and related software, followed by augmented customer service agents, digital assistance, augmented threat intelligence, and recommendation systems. Infrastructure provisioning is expected to remain the biggest contributor to overall AI spending. With India producing around 20% of global data and having abundant technical skills, the country is deemed ready for widespread AI adoption.

🧑‍🍳 What else is cookin’?

What’s happening in India (and around the world 🌍️)

• Hero MotoCorp joins ONDC network to sell two-wheeler parts and accessories.

• Rapyder partners with AWS to accelerate Generative AI-led innovation.

• Tata Play partners with Amazon Prime for expanded TV and OTT access.

• Indian wheat stocks at 16-year low after record state sale

• NASA appoints first chief artificial intelligence officer.

• Indeed to layoff 1,000 employees, cutting about 8% of its US workforce.

🍿 Entertainment, Entertainment, Entertainment

• DC wins by 19 runs against LSG and moves up to number 5 on the scorecard. Latest IPL leaderboard here.

• A live-action Tomb Raider series is officially moving forward to Prime Video - Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge to write and produce.

• Man City beats Tottenham 2-0, inching closer to their 4th consecutive Premier League title.

• Italian Open:

  • Iga Swiatek, current world number 1, beats Madison Keys and qualifies for the Italian Open semis.

  • Defending champion Daniil Medvedev battles past qualifier Hamad Medjedovic and moves to final 16 for the Italian Open.