Photo of Paridhi Adani

Partner in the General Corporate Practice at the Ahmedabad office of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, Paridhi routinely advises both domestic and international clients on legal aspects of their business strategy in India, including on various commercial arrangements, entry strategy, private equity, mergers, acquisitions, restructuring and foreign investment. Paridhi has assisted and advised large conglomerates, institutions, public sector entities, technology based start-ups, on evolving regulations and legal framework surrounding their business, activities in India.

She can be reached at paridhi.adani@cyrilshroff.com

INDIA SEMICONDUCTOR MOMENT

The Indian semiconductor market is expected to reach USD 55 billion by 2026, more than 60% of which is driven by three industries: smartphones & wearables, automotive components, and computing & data storage.[1] Currently, majority of the demand in the Indian semiconductor market is met by imports. In order to reduce the dependency on imports of semiconductors and to fill the semiconductor supply chain gap caused due to COVID-19 and the strained relations between United States and China, the Government of India has approved the Semicon India Programme with an initial financial outlay of INR 76,000 crore (USD 9.13 billion approx.) for the development of a sustainable semiconductor and display ecosystem in India.[2] While inaugurating the Semicon India 2023, a national-level conference focusing on the semiconductor industry, in Gandhinagar, Gujarat,  PM Modi said that India is becoming a grand conductor for investments in the semiconductor sector.[3]Continue Reading India’s Semiconductor Moment

The Sri Lankan Bankruptcy Battle

International Monetary Fund (“IMF”) was founded in the aftermath of World War-II at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944 to establish a post-war financial order that would facilitate economic cooperation.[1] The IMF has the mandate of providing financial support mechanisms such as bailouts to member countries that are experiencing actual or potential macroeconomic problems. A balance of payments crisis is a huge macroeconomic imbalance. It is also called currency crisis. It occurs when a nation is unable to pay for essential imports or service its external debt payments. Since 2010, world financial markets have expressed recurrent concerns about risks to debt sustainability. This was fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic wherein most stressed economies got pushed into a pandemic induced financial crisis, making IMF bailouts the go to short-term ‘solution’ for failing balance of payments.Continue Reading International Monetary Fund Bailouts: The Sri Lankan Bankruptcy Battle

IFSC Banking Units – offshore branches with onshore dispute resolution

The Gujarat International Financial Tec-City (“GIFT”) in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, is India’s first operational greenfield smart city, housing a domestic tariff zone and an International Financial Services Centre (“IFSC”) in a Multi-service Special Economic Zone (“SEZ”). As part of developing India’s very own and first IFSC, both Indian and foreign banks are permitted to establish and operate IFSC Banking Units (“IBU”) from GIFT IFSC, upon obtaining the requisite licenses and permissions. The IBUs have the advantage or the ability to transact in freely convertible foreign currencies in the offshore markets, while being situated within the territorial borders of India. From 2015 to early 2020, the Reserve bank of India issued notifications and regulations related to the IFSC framework. Thereafter, on April 27, 2020, the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2020, was notified, pursuant to which the International Financial Services Centres Authority (“IFSCA”) was established on October 1, 2020, as the unified regulator with wide powers to develop and regulate financial products, financial services, and financial institutions in IFSCs, including IBUs.Continue Reading IFSC Banking Units – offshore branches with onshore dispute resolution?

National Monetisation Pipeline – Fueling Economic Growth

INTRODUCTION

Monetisation of assets has  been  identified as one of the pillars for enhanced and sustainable infrastructure financing. The Finance Minister of India (“FM”) had, in December 2019, announced a National Infrastructure Pipeline (“NIP”) that envisages an investment of INR 111 lakh crore in the infrastructure sector in the period between 2019 and 2025 and brings in various opportunities for private sector to invest in infrastructure projects including the development and operation of the same. The FM in the annual budget 2021-2022 announced the launch of a new national monetisation pipeline[1] to bridge the gaps in infrastructure funding projects under the NIP and to unlock value from the current public investment in infrastructure through private sector efficiencies in operations and management of infrastructure. The NITI Aayog has now created the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP Volumes I & II) (“NMP”) in respect of the brownfield core infrastructure assets. The NMP is in furtherance of the Government of India’s (“Government”) strategic divestment policy, which aims to limit Government’s presence to only a select identified sectors with the rest to be handed to private players.Continue Reading National Monetisation Pipeline – Fueling Economic Growth

BIO-MEDICAL WASTE AND LIABILITY OF HOSPITALS IN WAKE OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Introduction:                 

The handling, disposal and management of bio-medical waste (“BM Waste”)in India is government by inter-alia, the Biomedical Waste Management & Handling Rules, 1998 (“1998 Rules”) were notified by the Central Government in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 6,8 & 25 of the Environmental Protection Act, 1986. These rules provide for the framework of the management and Handling of disposal and scientific management of BM Waste

In wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centre Pollution Control Board (“CPCB”) recently issued guidelines dated March 27, 2020 for handling, treatment and safe disposal of BM Waste generated during treatment, diagnosis and quarantine of patients confirmed or suspected to have COVID-19 (“Guidelines”). The Guidelines have been necessitated due to the super infectious nature of the Novel corona virus and provide for a mechanism for the segregation, packaging, transportation, storage and disposal of BM Waste in order to avoid further spread of the virus through BM Waste.
Continue Reading BIO-MEDICAL WASTE AND LIABILITY OF HOSPITALS IN WAKE OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Covid-19 – Navigating choppy waters for Port Projects

The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in an unprecedent crisis throughout the world and has caused widespread disruptions in normal operations across industries and life in general. In India, the National Disaster Management Authority determined that India was threatened by the spread of Covid-19 pandemic and took steps to prevent the spread of the pandemic in the country under the Disaster Management Act, 2005. On March 24, 2020, the Ministry of Home Affairs declared a 21-day lockdown under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 with effect from March 25, 2020. Such lockdown has been subsequently extended three times by the Ministry of Home Affairs and now remains in force till May 31, 2020.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has been issuing guidelines to determine the operation of essential and non-essential services during the period of lockdown and has attempted to restrict movement of persons throughout the country. The guidelines have caused States to close their borders and even movement within a State has been prohibited, unless it is in relation to an essential service. At the time of the first order of lockdown, the Ministry of Home Affairs excluded the ‘operation of seaports for cargo movement, relief and evacuation and their related operational organisations’ from the ambit of the lockdown. However, due to the disruptions in the supply chain, the inter-state and intra-state movement restrictions and the spread of Covid-19 pandemic, there has been an impact on operational as well as under construction port projects.
Continue Reading Covid-19 – Navigating Choppy Waters for Port Projects

Interplay of Data Analytics, AI and Infrastructure Investment

Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics

The global race to augment capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) is intensifying in both advanced and emerging economies. From optimising power generation and transmission, diagnosis and drug discovery, improving learning environment, enhancing design and functionality, to automation in logistics, AI will not only continue to evolve but possibly surpass human intelligence in the near future. Today’s digital age is overflowing with valuable data which if appropriately analyzed can predict results, making data analytics an indispensable tool for any corporate to sustain in the economy.
Continue Reading Tomorrow’s Technology in Today’s Infrastructure: Interplay of Data Analytics, AI and Infrastructure Investment