Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology-Chapter 820: Visiting MSE (2/2)
Lightening his expression, Vijay looked toward the end of the crowd.
"Alright, Mr. Green Shirt, ask your question."
Chandra took a big gulp and nervously asked the question he had prepared. "Your Majesty, the Kolkata Stock Exchange, which was established a few years after the Mangaluru Stock Exchange, has managed to catch up with the Mangaluru Stock Exchange in valuation. Do you have any opinion on it?"
Vijay nodded and answered the question, but Joseph Oppenheimer, the director of Mangaluru's Stock Exchange, felt his breathing quicken when this topic was brought up, because every time he thinks that Kolkata's Stock Exchange has managed to catch up with the Mangaluru Stock Exchange, a hint of anger unconsciously appears on his face.
Mangaluru Stock Exchange, being the first stock market opened in the empire, after many years, has nearly five billion worth of assets listed in it, bringing its valuation to a whopping 2 billion varaha. But the Kolkata Stock Exchange, which was established a few years later, has managed to catch up with the Mangaluru Stock Exchange, with its valuation reaching 1.9 billion varaha, the difference being only 100 million.
This Joseph considered his biggest failure, but he also felt helpless since the way the stock exchanges have been set up in the Bharatiya Empire makes him unable to resist, because a company can be listed in both the stock exchanges at the same time as long as it meets the requirements of both the stock exchanges, so most companies, in order to cast a wider net, list themselves on both stock exchanges so that people from both the North as well as the South can access them equally.
Not to mention, Kolkata's stock exchange increased the brokerage cut for the brokers by 0.5% and reduced its transaction charges by 0.01%. This might not seem like a large number, but in transactions where the volumes reach millions of times a year, the aggregate of the small percentages reaches tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions.
If it were any other time, he would have blown his top and gone berserk, but thankfully, he knew how to behave on the occasion, so he quickly suppressed his emotions and the smile returned to his face.
Vijay answered a few more questions and finally came to the Ma Lakshmi Idol in front of the stock exchange, and with the direction of the Pujari, he concluded the inauguration.
Breaking the coconut into 100 pieces, Vijay looked up at the MSE Building with pride. Each and every name listed on the building and each and every number next to it represented the growth as well as the prosperity of the Bharatiya Empire. In a way, the stock exchange had become the barometer of the empire's emotions as well as the empire's pulse.
Military enterprises like the three military conglomerates of the empire, driven by the war with the Ottoman Empire, had all risen several times in value. Two out of the three military conglomerates had already surpassed the billion mark, and the other was almost about to surpass it.
Mahabali Enterprises had reached a valuation of 1.12 billion varaha, where its stock price had reached 1120. Himalayan Group had reached a valuation of 1.255 billion varaha, with the stock price of 502. Dynasty Corporation had reached a valuation of 946 million varaha, with the price of the stock being 18,920.
The mining sector, being the most promising sector in the empire in recent years, has seen a dramatic rise in value. Kombay Minerals has reached a valuation of 562.5 million varaha. Jyothi Minerals, which used to be an underdog in the mining industry, has become one of the dominant players with its valuation reaching 416.7 million varaha. Driven by the mining industry, the iron and steel industry, as well as the manufacturing industry, have risen like a rocket ship.
Maybe it is fate. The largest iron and steel company in the empire that is listed on this stock exchange is Tata Iron Works, founded by a community of Parsi families from Mumbai, with a valuation of 499 million varaha, occupying 15% of all the industrial iron and steel consumed by the empire and exported to overseas territories.
Aakarsh has become the largest carriage company, with its footprints now seen in the railway tracks and carriage manufacturing sector, with a valuation of 525 million varaha.
In fact, with the development of the empire's economy, even some legacy industries of the empire began to be made public as new players in the industry started to challenge the legacy players' dominance.
For example, Hima Textiles and Joshi Textiles, two different large-scale textile companies—one focused on boutique, mass-produced clothes and the other focused on durable, mass-produced, cheap clothes—were merged and turned into Hima and Joshi Textiles and were made public in the Mangaluru Stock Exchange as well as the Kolkata Stock Exchange. Their stock price immediately rose to several hundred million, giving them the ability to challenge the dominance of the textile king Arjan Bakshi. Of course, Bakshi realised that his dominance was being challenged, so he too listed his flagship company, Bakshi Textile Group, in an IPO of 10%. Currently, Bakshi has regained dominance as the textile king of the Bharatiya Empire, with a valuation of over 695 million varaha.
This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.
Interestingly enough, even with the rise of Bakshi Textiles, the growth of Hima and Joshi Textiles did not stop. Instead, it continued to rise, with the valuation not dropping from 450 million varaha. However, it is the large-to-medium and medium-scale textile companies that are not listed on the stock exchange that continue to suffer. As Bakshi Textile Group and Hima and Joshi Textiles competed with each other in every aspect of clothing—like the battle between the sodas of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo—the consumer began to benefit, as the price of clothes continued to decrease, the variety of clothes continued to increase, the quality of clothes improved, the colors became more vibrant, and they became more durable. Overall, their market competitiveness began to increase, suppressing all the other textile manufacturers.
Of course, driven by this, a bloodbath had taken place in the textile industry, where dozens of medium-scale textile companies completely went bankrupt, closing their shops. But when life is threatened, even a rabbit fights back—much less corporations that have put blood, sweat, and tears into their companies. So, ruthless mergers and acquisitions are happening in the sector left, right, and centre, with investments from various investment banks pouring into the textile industry with red eyes, like a never-ending torrent.
One reason for this is that a sense of fashion has already started to take shape in the Bharatiya Empire, and people, at least the high class and elites, have started to view clothes as more than necessities, but also as a show of culture and a display of their value.
The smart investment bankers have noticed this change and have already predicted the industry to be a sunrise industry for a long time to come, comparable to the manufacturing industry, which is considered an evergreen industry.
Vijay finally ended his short visit to the Stock Exchange and returned home after spending a few days in Mangaluru by visiting the shipyard and taking a look at the new telescope that had been developed by Pillai.
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Puducherry
Indra and Manju stood outside a large office door with anticipation and excitement on their faces. When they founded Indra-Manju Human Resources, they never even in their wildest dreams thought they would one day get in touch with the royal family. But still, with the mindset of bettering themselves every passing moment, they kept expanding their scope of work, from the labour and mining industries eventually to the journalism industry, which gave them a window to other sectors. In such a way, Indra-Manju Human Resources became the premier human resources company in the empire, capable of poaching and providing the vast majority of talent to companies willing and able to pay the price.
But even after so much success, both Indra and Manju had humble attitudes and did not think too highly of themselves, as they had grown up as humble, lowly labourers and had risen to become the bosses behind one of the largest human resources companies in the empire. But when they received an invitation from His Highness, the eldest son of the emperor, who was very likely to become the next emperor, the realisation hit them both hard—they had made it. They had finally made it.
They did not know why His Highness invited them. They had recently heard gossip about His Highness starting a naval-related industry, so they did have a few ideas and hopes about His Highness wanting their services. But for both Indra and Manju, it no longer mattered whether His Highness needed their help in recruiting talent or not. Whether the deal went through or not was not a concern for them either. Just being invited alone gave them the boost of satisfaction they needed, as well as the fact that their company now had contact with the royal family. This could be their soft power, suppressing their competition without spending a single Varaha, as they looked around and saw their competition absent and uninvited.
To be Continued...
