BACK PAGE, P18 COMPANIES, P4 ECONOMY, P2 THE BIG PICTURE ‘CONSENSUS OPTIMISM’ FOR FY25 AT ODDS WITH RBI VIEW Hyundai's no 2 spot gets a Tata challenge Deal pipeline remains strong but mega deals will be lumpy: TCS CFO Sub-4% core inflation betrays weak demand conditions: Economists BENGALURU, MONDAY, JANUARY 15, 2024 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XXXVI 230, 18 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 ARMY DAY 2024 A RED initiative appears in today’s edition of Financial Express. These pages are an initiative of the marketing solutions team of The Indian Express Group and contain content paid for by advertisers. These pages should be read as advertisement. IN THE NEWS TOP 10 TRENDS OF 2024 INVESTOR AND AUTHOR Ruchir Sharma (left) speaks to economist and psephologist Prannoy Roy on the likely big trends of the new year. ■ PAGE 9 EXPLAINER Why rice prices have been unrelentingly high for months now ■ PAGE 6 PRODUCTS TO REACH MARKET FASTER Parallel testing for electronics items Samsung,Apple to benefit WELCOME MOVE as govt eases testing norms ■ Over the last JATIN GROVER New Delhi, January 14 PRODUCTS OF ELECTRONICS and mobile manufacturers like Samsung, Apple, Xiaomi, Lenovo, Dell, boAt, among others, can now reach the market faster as the government has allowed parallel testing of 64 electronic devices, which includes mobile phones, wireless earphones, headphones, laptops, notebooks, and tablets etc. As perthe CompulsoryRegistration Scheme (CRS), electronic products, whether imported or manufactured locally,require to be mandatorily tested and need security approvals from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), before being deployed in the final product and sold to consumers.Over the last one year,the government was running a pilot project for parallel testing of components,moving away from the system of sequential testing. In parallel testing different components are simultaneously tested unlike sequential testing where the tests are done one after another. As a result, components can be deployed and products can reach market faster in parallel testing compared to sequential testing. According to industryexecutives,the entire compliance process can now be completed one year, the govt was running a pilot for parallel testing, moving away from sequential testing ■ In sequential testing, the tests are done one after another ■ In parallel testing, different components are simultaneously tested ■ Electronics Industry association MAIT, which represents the IT, mobile, datacom, consumer electronics companies, has called the move progressive within 4 to 13 weeks against 16-21 weeks in the case of sequential testing. Continued on Page 2 Losses hound beauty startups AYANTI BERA Bengaluru, January 14 PROFITS CONTINUE TO elude startups in India’s fast-growing beauty and personal care (BPC) space. To be sure, they’re capturing top line in a market that’s projected to grow to $30 billion by 2027 from $19 billion in 2022. But it’s a highly competitive environment in which deep-pocketed players are making inroads and demand isn’t too robust. As such, the costs for startups that are spending on one count orotherhave been killing. In some instances, revenues have even doubled but that has not been enough to take care of the bills and leave a surplus. Both mCaffeine and Sugar Cosmetics for instance, are investing heavily to expand their offline footprint across India in a bid to increase visibility. The fact that funding in such businesses fell to just $84 million in 2023 from $679 million in the previous year and a good $1 billion in 2021, as per Tracxn, suggests investors are treading cautiously. Companies such as Sugar Cosmetics, Purplle,mCaffeineandSkinScienehaveall reported losses of anywhere between `50 crore and `230 crore in FY23, data from RoC filings sourced from Private Circle Research shows.That’s despite the growth in revenues having been fairlystrong. For Purplle, an online beauty retailer that competes with Nykaa, losses rose to `230 crore in FY23,from `203.6 crore in the previous year, while its revenue more than doubled to `508.6 crore. New IT regime set for tweaks HOWTHEY STACK UP Higher threshold of 10 lakh 20 lakh 30 lakh 40 lakh `20 lakh possible A1: No for 30% slab: Experts Benefit change 46,800 52,000 52,000 SAIKAT NEOGI & PRIYANSH VERMA New Delhi, January 14 ANY FURTHER SHIFTamong the taxpayers to the concessional personal income tax (PIT) regime from 60% reported so far will require further tweaks to make it more attractive,government sources said on condition of anonymity. A few options in this regard are under consideration, they RUN-UP TO THE said, but INTERIM hinted that these steps might get 2024-25 deferred beyond the interim Budget on February 1. Tax experts saythe government might have to increase the threshold for the highest PITrate of 30% –which nowkicks in at `15,00,000 – to at least `20,00,000. Alternatively,the marginal rate itself may BUDGET Gross total annual income (`) 50 lakh 52,000 A2: Benefit No change 46,800 1,04,000 1,04,000 1,04,000 A3: Benefit No change 23,400 75,400 1,27,400 1,79,400 A1: If tax rate of 30% kicks in at `20 lakh A2: If tax rate of 30% kicks in at `25 lakh A3: If tax rate of 30% is lowered to 25% Source: Nangia Andersen be reduced to 25%. These changes would result in significant tax savings underthe exemption-less regime, which was modified in the FY24 Budget to encourage taxpayers to discard the old regime, which allows sundry exemptions anddeductions.However,any marginal increase in rebates – tax liability under the concessional regime is nil for annual income up to `7.5 lakh, thanks to rebates and the standard deduction of `50,000 – won't make any big difference, the experts reckon. Ahigherthreshold forthe marginal tax rate would be suitable for a progressive income tax system, than reducing the highest tax rate,because the formerbenefits the low-income taxpayers more in relative terms (see chart). Robust PITcollections thisyear– postrefunds receipts so far are up 27.26% on year against just 7% growth required to meet the Budget estimate forFY24 – have also boosted thegovernment's confidence in the new regime's ability to churn out revenue.Moreconcessionsare expectedto improve compliance, and keep the buoyancy in collections. Continued on Page 5 PMAY-G 2.0 may see 85% hike PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, January 14 THE GOVERNMENT MAY unveil a new version of the flagship Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana- Gramin (PMAY-G) for the next five years, with financial assistance 85% higher than under the current scheme for each beneficiary,to build pucca houses in rural areas. Currently, under PMAY-G, the FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE UNDER PMAY-G (` lakh) Under current scheme 1.2-1.3 Likely in new scheme 2.39 beneficiaries are provided financial assistance of `1.2 lakh in plains and `1.3 lakh in hilly states – Northeastern states and UTs of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh – as well as difficult areas and Integrated Action Plan (IAP) districts. Under the revamped scheme, the cash support will likely be enhanced to an average of `2.39 lakh/housing unit, according to sources. Continued on Page 2 Continued on Page 5 India lounges dominate promenade at Davos DAVOS 2024 BARUN JHA Davos, January 14 ABOUT A DOZEN Indian lounges have dominated the main Promenade street of Davos as the snowcapped resort town readies for the five-day World Economic Forum Annual Meeting beginning Monday. Adorning the event are WeLead Lounge - set up to showcase women leadership, India Engagement Centre, pavilions by Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Karnataka, and IT majors like Wipro, Infosys, TCS and HCLTech showcasing power of AI and technology. And this time, in addition to Indian tea, coffee,'samosas' and'kachoris', there will also be Indian liquor flying off the shelves during 'Spirit of India Hour'on two evenings at a few bars, restaurants and lounges. In all, 60-70 lounges and pavilions have been set up by governments and corporates from across the world,of which about a dozen are Indian ones. Indian participation is also significant with three union ministers, as many chief ministers and a large number of officials and CEOs expected to speak over the next five days. Apex industry chamber CII has also planned a big campaign this time. -- PTI BENGALURU