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Also in this letter:
K’taka labour office summons Infy over non-compete clause
Insight Partners eyes deeper India presence, says MD
Meta cuts hiring plans, warns of fierce economic headwinds
India to release battery-swapping policy this month: report
India plans to release final details of a nationwide battery-swapping policy for electric two- and three-wheelers later this month, according to a person familiar with the matter and a document seen by Bloomberg News.
Key to the programme, first mooted in the union budget in February, is the government’s desire to standardise the size of batteries to make them compatible with all vehicles using swap stations, the 40-page document shows.
To leave room for innovation in battery technology, India won’t enforce the use of the same type of cells just yet, according to the document, which canvassed around 100 stakeholders.
Yes, but: India won’t immediately introduce standardised batteries for swap stations – as this would need “close coordination” among swapping-point operators – but that will be the long-term goal, the document states.
Significance: Replacing expended batteries with fresh ones in a matter of minutes has the potential to expedite India’s push toward electrifying the world’s biggest two-wheeler market, where lack of charging stations is a key hurdle to EV adoption.
Switching to cleaner transport is also crucial for India to achieve its goal of cutting one billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions by the end of this decade and turning net carbon zero by 2070.
Two-wheelers dominate: In India, battery swapping is mainly used by electric scooters and rickshaws that make up ecommerce delivery fleets.
By 2030, about 30% of all vehicles sold in India will be electric but they’ll mostly be two- and three-wheelers; electric passenger cars will make up only about 5% of total EV sales, consultancy Arthur D. Little estimates.
Safety issues: We reported on Wednesday that electric two-wheelers involved in recent fire incidents did not even have ‘basic safety systems’, according to an expert panel formed to investigate the accidents.
The panel is said to have pointed out that several of the electric two-wheelers came with only ‘minimum functionality’ and that ‘shortcuts’ were taken instead of prioritising vehicle safety.
K’taka labour office summons Infosys over non-compete clause on July 4
The tussle between Infosys and Pune-based labour union Nascent IT Employees Senate over the non-compete clause in Infosys contracts will now be fought in the Karnataka Labour Department.
The Infosys non-compete clause restricts ex-employees from working for the same client at a rival company for at least six months after they leave Infosys.
Driving the news: The office of the assistant labour commissioner of Karnataka has sent a notice to the managing director and CEO of India’s second-largest software exporter for a joint discussion at 3 pm on July 4 “to examine and verify the contents of the complaint filed by the employee of your organisation”.
Backstory: The notice comes after the central labour ministry’s attempts to call for joint discussions since April hit an impasse as Infosys abstained from the meeting.
In a letter to the deputy chief labour commissioner in New Delhi in May, Infosys had said the non-compete clause in its offer letters was to ensure business confidentiality and was a common practice among IT companies in India.
Union’s statement: Harpreet Saluja, president of the union, said, “We believe the company won’t be able to escape the provisions of the Indian Contract Act on jurisdiction grounds and exploitation of the employees will be stopped now.”
Saluja is also named as the petitioner in this complaint.
In May, we reported exclusively that the Pune-based labour union may now pursue its complaint with the state’s labour departments.
ETtech Deals Digest
The slowdown in big-ticket funding is starting to become palpable as no startup raised a huge round this week. A few managed to land moderate amounts, with consumer electronics startup Arzooo leading the pack.
Here is a list of all deals of the week.
Insight Partners eyes deeper Indian presence, says MD Nikhil Sachdev
Nikhil Sachdev, managing director, Insight Partners
Global venture capital giant Insight Partners is set to increase its pace of investments in India as it eyes a stronger foothold in the country, managing director Nikhil Sachdev told us.
Insight started investing in India in 2018 and has deployed over a billion dollars in companies such as Cred, CredAvenue and M2P Fintech, with 78% of its investments coming in the past 18 months alone.
Bullish: “Insight doesn’t allocate specific funds for any domain or geography, so we can’t predict how much we will invest in India. However, we continue to be bullish on the Indian startup ecosystem. India has already emerged as a global fintech leader and is well-positioned to be one in SaaS,” said Sachdev.
Among the giants: Insight Partners is one of the most prominent and active software and technology investors globally, with over $90 billion in assets under management. Earlier this year, it closed a $20 billion fund to scale its investments and compete with rivals Sequoia, Accel and Matrix Partners, which have also mopped up significant amounts recently.
Tweet of the day
Meta cuts hiring plans, warns of fierce economic headwinds
Meta has joined the growing list of tech companies reducing hiring amidst an uncertain macroeconomic environment.
Driving the news: The company’s founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg told workers in a weekly Q&A session that it would cut plans to hire engineers by at least 30% this year — bringing its hiring target to around 6,000-7000 engineers, down from an initial 10,000.
Not a people person: “Realistically, there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn’t be here,” Zuckerberg said.
Meta has been under immense pressure since it reported that its flagship app Facebook saw a decline in daily active users for the first time earlier this year. Meanwhile, Zuckerberg’s attempt to build the metaverse is inflating company costs.
Google settles with app devs: According to a court filing, Google has agreed to pay $90 million to settle a dispute with app developers over the money they earned for creating Android apps and for luring users to make in-app purchases. The developers had accused Google of unscrupulous practices in controlling the Play Store.
Today’s ETtech Top 5 newsletter was curated by Zaheer Merchant in Mumbai and Ruchir Vyas in New Delhi. Graphics and illustrations by Rahul Awasthi.
