YOUR $34 DOESN’T go as far as it used to in Mumbai. It might get you a modest platter at the famed Peshawari restaurant, or a small round of drinks at one of the top new bars such as Wink or Aer, but it certainly won’t cover a hotel car to the airport.
It will, however, buy you all six bookrunners on the largest IPO in Indian history.
Bookrunners on the Coal India deal – Citi, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, DSP Merrill Lynch, Kotak Mahindra, Enam Securities – received just 0.000001% of the $3.46 billion proceeds on this landmark deal – between them. And the extraordinary thing is, that’s not because it’s what the government offered; it is what the banks pitched. Or, to be precise, one did and the rest were obliged to match it.
"It has never...
