Arvind's Newsletter

1.L&T ramps up green hydrogen play, plans launch of electrolysers

Engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (L&T) is preparing the ground to begin the commercial sale of electrolysers in September, which would be 50 per cent cheaper than its European counterparts, a senior company executive has said. An electrolyser is a key equipment required for the generation of green hydrogen.  

Last quarter, L&T manufactured its first electrolyser as a prototype.  The company is initially expecting a majority of its sales to come from the domestic market.  “Come September, the company plans to commercially roll out 150-200 megawatt (MW) of this capacity.”  During the first phase, L&T looks to supply electrolysers to a mix of Indian procurers and foreign markets, with a 70:30 ratio.

2.A tiny government-run health centre in Kerala’s Kozhikode became the state’s, perhaps the country’s even, first “antibioticsmart hospital.”last year.

It’s a hospital where doctors think twice before prescribing antibiotics. Even when they are unavoidable, the first choice are drugs that are less likely to build resistance. It’s part of a state initiative focussed on reducing antibiotic abuse, including self-medication. Antimicrobial resistance is a threat to public health globally but India is particularly prone to it because of indiscriminate use of antibiotics. 

3.How India became the world’s most nimble energy buyer, opined Megha Mandavia in Wall Street Journal

Global energy markets have been on a roller coaster for the past few years. While major industrial economies have been thrown for a loop, India, facing record import needs on a tight budget, is almost enjoying the ride.

A deal signed this month is the latest indication that the world’s most populous country, still a distant third in energy consumption but growing quickly, is handling its entry into the big leagues with aplomb.

Government-owned Petronet renewed a contract to buy 7.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas annually from Qatar from 2028 for 20 years in one of the largest-ever deals for the super-chilled fuel. India is looking to sign more such long-term LNG supply contracts as demand grows.

While the pricing terms weren’t disclosed, the deal comes at an opportune time, when LNG prices have crashed from the highs seen after Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022. 

According to data shared by Argus Media, prices for LNG delivered to India averaged $13 per million British thermal units in 2023—sharply lower than an average of $30 in 2022. Currently, Asian natural-gas prices are lingering around $8.50, according to Refinitiv.

This megadeal is another example of India’s emergence as a large energy buyer in the global market as it gears up to meet the country’s ever-expanding energy needs. It has shown an ability to quickly clinch deals when prices drop in the face of geopolitical or economic disruption.

India’s aggressive purchases of cheap Russian oil have angered many in the West, but saved its refiners and consumers money. Before that, India was a major purchaser of crude from relatively nearby Iran, which also faced sanctions.

Raghav Mathur, an analyst at Wood Mackenzie, said that the move by India to renew the contract with Qatar during a time of softer prices is a smart one since it sets a base for future contracts. 

This agility is especially critical in light of the absence of sufficient oil and gas reserves at home, the growing air-pollution crisis and increasing pressure globally to diversify away from coal.

Meanwhile,Russia remained the top supplier of oil to India in December, accounting for nearly a third of the crude brought into the country, according to India’s Commerce ministry's data.

At $3.92 billion, the value of the crude oil supply from Russia increased by 25% year-on-year. Sequentially, crude imports from that country increased by 8% from $3.61 billion in November last year, the data showed.

Moscow was the biggest crude supplier to India in 2023, accounting for more than 30% of its imports, and will likely remain so through early 2024 despite the Red Sea crisis, as per a report by S&P Global Commodity Insights in January.

4.JPMorgan, State Street quit climate group, BlackRock steps back, reported the Financial Times

Two of the world’s biggest asset managers are quitting an investor group set up to prod companies over global warming and a third is scaling back its participation, in a major setback to the ambitions of Climate Action 100+.

JPMorgan Asset Management and State Street Global Advisors both confirmed they were leaving Climate Action 100+. BlackRock, the world’s largest money manager, is pulling out as a corporate member and transferring its participation to its smaller international arm.

The decisions together remove nearly $14 trillion of total assets from efforts to coordinate Wall Street action on tackling climate change.The departures weaken the climate group’s plan to use shareholder influence to step up pressure on polluting companies to decarbonise because they mean that none of the world’s five largest asset managers are fully behind the effort.

The moves also highlight a growing split between the largest US-based asset managers, which are under intense pressure from Republicans over climate issues, and those elsewhere. Smaller competitors and European firms have largely stuck with various climate coalitions.

5.Einstein’s 7 rules for a better life

The most celebrated genius in human history didn't just revolutionize physics, but taught many valuable lessons about living a better life.

He was also known for his unconventional behavior in a variety of ways that flouted social norms, including his unkempt hair, his witty humor, and his unrelenting hatred of socks. But less well-known is Einstein’s freely-given life advice to many of his friends, acquaintances, and contemporaries, which are perhaps even more relevant today, in the 21st century, than when he initially doled out his words of wisdom and compassion. Taken from the book The Einstein Effect, written by the official social media manager of the Einstein estate, Benyamin Cohen, these rules for a better life go far beyond physics and are relevant to us all. Here are, perhaps, the best and most universally applicable lessons from Einstein himself.

6.A bass guitar stolen from Paul McCartney in 1972 was returned to him after a global search. McCartney, famous as the lead singer of The Beatles bought the violin-shaped Höfner 500/1 in 1963 for £30 — equivalent to $1,000 now. It went missing while The Beatles were recording their album, Let It Be. 

McCartney said he loved it because it was vertically symmetrical, so that as a left-handed player “it looked less daft.” A search for the lost guitar was launched last year, and a student realized the guitar he had inherited was the lost bass. A Höfner executive said the instrument, which McCartney played in Liverpool’s Cavern Club, could now be valued “like a Van Gogh or a Picasso.”

7.Water -An Escalating Catastrophe:

Policymakers must stop worrying that a global water crisis is on the horizon — the world is already “decades into an escalating catastrophe,” according to a recent report. 

Demand for freshwater is fast increasing, and the world’s supply of it is dwindling, the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said. The implications are both humanitarian and geopolitical, with water crises of varying scale and type affecting countries including Libya, Pakistan, South Africa, Ukraine, and the United States. “The degradation of water resources — and the failings of governance that exacerbate it — have spurred political instability … global market challenges, and social unrest,” the CSIS report noted.