ECONOMY, P3 COMPANIES, P4 BACK PAGE, P20 BOOST TO FLAGSHIP SCHEME MASS MARKET MODEL OFF TO A ROUGH START Centre may provide `12-14K cr more for MGNREGS this fiscal India to be Kia’s manufacturing hub for new EV Apple’s 2024 slump puts most-valuable stock title at risk CHENNAI/KOCHI, SATURDAY, JANUARY 6, 2024 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XLIV 206, 20 PAGES, `12.00 P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E SENSEX: 72,026.13 ▲ 178.56 NIFTY: 21,710.80 ▲ 52.20 NIKKEI 225: 33,377.42 ▲ 89.13 HANG SENG: 16,535.33 ▼ 110.65 `/$: 83.16 ▲ 0.07 `/€: 90.76 ▲ 0.54 BRENT: $78.42 ▲ $0.83 GOLD: `62,313 ▼ `235 The cost of term return of premium plans is almost twice that of pure term plans ■ PERSONAL FINANCE, P6 FY24# 6.1 8.7 * To meet the first advance estimates IN A MEGA merger and acquisition (M&A) deal in the telecom tower space, Brookfield Asset Management on Friday said it will acquire 100% stake in American Tower Corporation’s (ATC) India business for $2.5 billion (`21,000 crore). This includes $2 billion (`16,500 crore) enterprise value along with a‘ticking fee’ accruing from October 1, 2023. Earlier, Miami-based infrastructure investment group I Squared Capital was in talks to acquire ATC’s tower assets in India at an enterprise value of around $1.5 billion-$1.75 billion. The acquisition, which Brookfield is doing via its affiliate Data Infrastructure Trust (DIT), will make it the largest telecom tower operator in India, surpassing Indus Towers. The deal, expected to close in the second half of 2024 subject to regulatory approvals, comes at a time when ATC India has been facing difficulties in running the tower business owing to dependency largely on just two telecom operators.Its largest clientVodafone Idea was defaulting on payments owing to its weak financial condition. ATC took a $322-million (about `2,700 crore) goodwill impairment charge for its India unit in the July-September quarter owing to the challenging business environment in the country. ■ Deal is expected to close in the second halfof 2024 ■ Stock exchanges to frame necessary uniform deterrent provisions The framework was earlier given in a Master Circular for Stock Exchanges and Clearing Corporations,issuedonOctober16lastyear.It has been updatedwith additional provisions. Not many were impressed with the new framework. Sandeep Parekh, founder, Finsec Law Advisors, said rather than tightening the normsforshort-selling,theregulatorshouldbe lookingtoliberalisetherules.“Itisanimportant aspect of the market and we should be looking tomakeitmoreefficient. InIndia,short-selling is not popular but the market can be manipulatedevenonthelongside,”Parekhpointedout. Continued on Page 9 Wheat area may surpass last year's record RABI SOWING PICKS UP ADITYA KALRA New Delhi, January 5 Brookfield,in its affiliate DIT,already owns two tower companies — Summit Digitel and Crest Digitel. ATC, which is Brookfield’s third acquisition in the Indian telecom tower space, will also be included in DIT. THE COMPETITION COMMISSION (CCI)is investigatingdomesticunitsofglobaldeliverycompanies,suchasGermany’sDHL,USbased United Parcel Service and FedEx, for alleged collusion on discounts and tariffs, documents seen byReuters showed. It is the latest such scrutiny for the logisticsindustry,somedatingbackto2015,when France levied fines amounting to $735 million on 20 companies,including FedEx and DHL,forsecretlycolludingtoraiseprices. In recent weeks,CCI has begun reviewing hundreds of thousands of emails as it investigates the fees companies charged for airport services, according to government documents and three sources. Its inquiry began in October 2022 after the Federation of Indian Publishers complained that DHL, FedEx, UPS and Dubai’s Aramex, along with some domestic firms, were deciding charges together and controllingcustomerdiscounts.Suchactions,if proved,violate the domestic antitrust laws. The publisher said company executives exchangedcommerciallysensitiveinformation regarding volumes, charges and discounts on courier and storage services offered at airports,before deciding on rates, the documentsstated. Continued on Page 11 With sowing almost complete, the area under wheat crop came in at 33.17 million hectare on Friday, on a par with last year's record level, allaying fears of a lower output of the key winter crop, reports Sandip Das.Ahigher area is likely to yield a record 114 million tonne wheat in the current crop year.Area under all winter-sown crops — wheat, oilseeds, pulses and coarse cereals — was 65.4 MHa, down 1.2%. Continued on Page 9 ■ With ATC’s 78,000 ■ Brookfield is doing the acquisition via its affiliate Data Infrastructure Trust (DIT) towers, Brookfield to have total 253,000 towers in India ■ Brookfield currently owns two tower firms, Summit Digitel and Crest Digitel under DIT; ATC to also be included in DIT Area under wheat crop Overall rabi crops sowing (in million hectare) (y-o-y) change (%) 31.36 31.13 30.47 33.18 33.17 2020-21 2022-23 2023-24# 2019-20 2021-22 as on January 5, 2024, reports to be final by end of January # Overall -1.23 BIG BUY ■ All F&O stocks are also eligible for short-selling ■ Sebi may review the list of such stocks from time to time 1.4 JATIN GROVER New Delhi, January 5 Logistic firms DHL, FedEx, UPS under CCI scanner will not be permitted Coarse cereals Brookfield to buyATC India biz for $2.5 bn ■ Naked short sales 0.46 Continued on Page 11 ■ Retail investors can disclose short-sale trades by the end of trading hours on the transaction day Oilseeds 9 Finance, real estate FRESH FRAMEWORK Pulses -5.1 6.6 Trade THE SECURITIES AND Exchange Board of India(Sebi)onFridaysaidthatinvestorsacross all categories will be allowed to do short-selling, but with proper disclosures. In a new framework released on Friday, the regulator saidwhile institutional investors are required todiscloseupfrontatthetimeofplacementof order whether the transaction is a short-sale, retailinvestorscandosobytheendofthetrading hours on the transaction day. Under a new framework released on Friday,it’s now mandatory for all brokers to collect the details on scrip-wise short-sell positions and upload it to the stock exchanges before thestartoftradeonthefollowingtrading day. The frequency of such disclosures may be reviewed from time to time with the approval of Sebi. All stocks that trade in the futures and options segment are also eligible for shortselling and Sebi may review the list of stocks that are eligible for such transactions from time to time,the circular said. However, naked short-selling will not be permitted and all investorswould be required to “mandatorily honour their obligation of delivering the securities at the time of settlement”,the regulator said. Short-selling means selling a stock that the seller does not own at the time of trade, while naked short-selling is when a trader sells shares in some asset without first borrowing them or ensuring they could be borrowed. The aim is to profit from a decline in the asset’s price bylaterbuying the shares at a lower cost to cover the short position. Wheat -0.03 FY23 FY22 FY21 FY20 FY19 FY23 FY22 FY21 FY20 FY19 FY24# FY18 10.9 Source: Agriculture ministry, total sown area 65.4 million hectare (MHa) as on January 5, 2024, against normal sown area of 64.83 MHa TOTAL ACCOUNTS NUDGE 140 MILLION Winter of content: New demat accounts scale new highs in Dec (Demat accounts in million) Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul 2023 Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Source: CDSL, NSDL had seen a monthly addition of 2.1 million accounts. The previous highest monthly addition was recorded almost two years ago in January 2022, when 3.4 million accountswere added in a single month. According to market players, the record rally in the markets, especially the strong momentum in small-caps and mid-caps, triggered the growth. “This is a momentum-driven rally rather than a value-driven ■ This was a 3.1% 34.58 139.30 NSDL 104.72 CDSL 34.15 135.13 WITH THE BENCHMARK indices scaling fresh peaks,demat account openings touched a record high of 4.18 million in December. The demat account additions were at 2.78 million in November. According to data from the National Securities Depository (NSDL) and the Central Depository Services (CDSL), the total number of demat accounts stood at 139.3 million as of December end. Of the total, 104.72 million accounts were with CDSL and the remaining 34.58 million with NSDL. This was a 3.1% increase from Novemberand a 28.7% jump from December 2022. In comparison,December2022 HIGH STAKES 33.80 132.35 SIDDHANT MISHRA Mumbai, January 5 100.97 Get cover & also your premiums back 3.9 10.5 Construction 98.54 ■ MOTOBAHN, P7 1.4 9.3 Manufacturing 33.46 129.66 On January 16, Hyundai will launch the new Creta. It has an interesting history. Growth required in H2FY24* 2.4 96.20 Hyundai Creta: An SUV that drove the Indian car market H1FY24 Agriculture 33.12 126.60 FE S P E C I A L S At constant prices, % chg, y-o-y 93.48 GUJARAT INTERNATIONAL Finance -Tec--City, or GIFT City, has given approval to Azim Premji's wealth fund to set up a family investment fund in the financial hub, two sources told Reuters. With the approval, the fund will be able to invest overseas. ■ PAGE 4 First advance estimates # GROWTH DYNAMICS Sebi asks institutional investors to disclose such trades upfront FE BUREAU Mumbai, January 5 -1.4 4 32.76 123.50 PREMJI FUND GETS GIFT CITY NOD TO INVEST OVERSEAS 8.9 6.8 6.5 -5.8 90.73 CONSUMER GOODS companies Marico and Godrej Consumer (GCPL) expect low to mid-single digit underlying volume growth in their domestic businesses in the December quarter, as the sector continues to see a slow rural revival, reports Viveat Susan Pinto. ■ PAGE 4 16.1 32.34 120.51 MARICO, GCPL SEE SINGLE-DIGIT Q3 VOLUME GROWTH Nominal GDP 88.17 FINTECH MAJOR MobiKwik has filed the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with Sebi to raise `700 crore through an IPO, reports Piyush Shukla. This is the fintech’s second attempt to go public after 2021, when it cancelled the IPO plan citing weak market conditions. ■ PAGE 6 INDIA’S GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP) may expand at a higher-thanexpected rate of 7.3% in real terms in the current fiscal, compared with 7.2% last year, according to the first advance estimates released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Friday. The estimate,made on the basis of the national income data computed for the first half of the year and several high-frequencyindicatorsfortheOctober/November period, is significantly higher than forecast by most agencies, including the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which in December raised the growth forecast sharply from 6.5% to 7%. Expectations that growth deceleration in the second half may be marginal (with implied growth of 7%), robust goods and servicestax(GST) collections,andlessersubsidyoutgo,boosted the headline number. Lack of adequate allocations for discrepancies between expenditure and production estimates of the GDPalso boosted the headline figure,as the sharp rise in tax collections are yet to be reconciled with key expenditure components. 18.4 7.2 7.3 31.99 118.16 MOBIKWIK REFILES IPO PAPERS; ISSUE SIZE CUTTO `700 CR 4 PRIYANSH VERMA New Delhi, January 5 9.1 Real GDP 86.16 REVERSING THE declining trend in expansion, India’s services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global, rose to a threemonth high of 59.0 in December owing to strong demand conditions, reports Priyansh Verma. ■ PAGE 2 6.8 6.5 % chg, y-o-y 84.37 31.69 116.05 SERVICES PMI RISES TO 3-MONTH HIGH IN DECEMBER KEY NUMBERS Advance estimates peg nominal growth at just 8.9%; yet no big fiscal concerns 83.00 31.46 114.46 A CARGO vessel hijacked off the waters near the Somali coast has been rescued by the Indian Navy, the shipping company that owns it said, reports Bloomberg. The Indian destroyer, INS Chennai, “successfully rescued” the Liberiaflagged Lila Norfolk. ■ PAGE 3 FY18 NAVY RESCUES HIJACKED SHIP NEAR SOMALIA COAST Short-selling allowed NSO’s New Year surprise: for all investors with 7.3% GDP growth for FY24 new disclosure norms 81.37 31.17 112.54 NEWS 35% INVESTMENT RATE, SUBDUED CONSUMPTION SEEN 79.68 30.78 110.46 IN THE increase from November and a 28.7% jump from December 2022 ■ Previous ■ Oftotal 139.3 million accounts, 104.72 millionwerewith CDSL& remaining 34.58 million with NSDL one. The valuations are no doubt high, but investors seem to keep raising their bets. This is a retaildriven market,” market analyst Ambareesh Baliga had recently told FE. Key benchmarks Sensex and highest monthly addition recorded around two years ago in January 2022 Nifty gained close to 20% each in 2023,while the BSE’s broaderMidCap and SmallCap indices also surged over 45% each.While some analysts have called the rally ‘euphoric’with no justification and anticipate a correction, others say this momentum is likely to continue in the near term. Besides the rally in the broader indices, factors such as encouraging economic indicators, strong response to IPOs and good listing daygains,aswell as the recent state Assembly election results, have given a fillip to the sentiment,with investors seeking to cash in on the momentum. Analysts say the state election results indicate a favourable mandate for the Centre in 2024,which will ensure continuity in policymaking and the capex and manufacturing push. Bankers have also said the liquidity in the markets is adding to the interest in initial public offerings (IPOs), especially the midsized ones. CHENNAI/KOCHI