BACK PAGE, P24 COMPANIES, P4 INTERNATIONAL, P7 DISCARDING FEAR, EMBRACING RISK BASE EFFECT, DEALER DESTOCKING LEAKING STATE SECRETS Uneasy pitch: Time for Dravid’s India to seek inspiration from Bazball ITC’s cigarette biz loses spark in December quarter Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan gets 10 years in prison CHENNAI/KOCHI, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2024 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XLIV 226, 30 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: 71,139.88 ▼ 801.69 NIFTY: 21,522.10 ▼ 215.50 NIKKEI 225: 36,065.86 ▲ 38.92 HANG SENG: 15,703.45 ▼ 373.79 `/$: 83.11 ▲ 0.03 `/€: 90 < > BRENT: $81.53 ▼ $0.87 GOLD: `62,541 ▲ `166 — LARSEN & TOUBRO (L&T) posted a 15.5% rise in consolidated net profit at `2,948 crore in Q3 on strong orderbook inflows and execution momentum, reports Rajesh Kurup. ■ PAGE 4 FE S P E C I A L S ‘Emami will focus on food & paper in 2024’ The group’s promoter directors discuss ambitions and plans for the year ■ BRANDWAGON, P9 Why OBC tag for Marathas is not a lasting solution The move to bring Marathas under the OBC umbrella could affect the political equilibrium in the state ■ EXPLAINER, P9 H T CL 37.8 L&T Q3 PROFIT RISES 15.5% TO `2,948 CRORE JUST TWO DAYS before the interim Budget, India had some good news from the InternationalMonetaryFund(IMF).Initslatest‘World Economic Outlook’report,the IMF has raised India’s GDP growth projection for FY24 by 40 basis points (bps) to 6.7%,and for FY25 by 20 bpsto6.5%.Therevisioncited“resilientdomestic demand”forits latest estimate. At 6.7%, India would remain the fastest growingmajoreconomyintheworld.However, the forecast for FY24 is still 60 bps lower than the National Statistical Office’s (NSO) projection. Earlier this month, the NSO projected India’seconomytogrowat7.3%inthecurrent fiscal, based on data extrapolated for the first seven to eight months.The IMF’s estimate is also 30 bps lower than the Reserve Bank of India’s estimate of 7.0%forFY24. On the Fund’s projection,the finance ministry said the IMF has revised India’s growth forecast for FY24 to 6.7% from 6.3% on account of the robust Q2 GDPoutturn. In Q2FY24,India’s GDP growth came in at 7.6%, much higher than the market expectations. “The IMF has revised upward medium-term(potential)GDPgrowthto6.5% (from 6.3%), reflecting strong public investment,positive labour market outcomes in the latest PLFS report, and adjustments to our model,” the finance ministrysaid. For the next fiscal, the IMF’s estimate is about50bpslowerthanthefinanceministry’s estimate. Chief economic adviser V Anantha Maruti Suzuki ON THE eve of Parliament’s Budget Session, the government on Tuesday said it has asked the presiding officers of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha to revoke the suspension of 14 Opposition MPs. ■ PAGE 3 PRIYANSH VERMA New Delhi, January 30 3 BUDGET SESSION: SUSPENSION OF MPs TO BE REVOKED Projected growth at 6.7% in FY24, 6.5% in FY25 PC NT 7.9 BENCHMARK INDICES fell on Tuesday, with both Sensex and Nifty giving up most of Monday’s gains, reports Siddhant Mishra. Selling in Monday's main gainer and index heavyweight Reliance Industries saw the 30-share Sensex slump 801.67 points or 1.11% to close at 71,139.90. The broader Nifty declined 215.50 points or 0.99% to close at 21,522.10. RIL, ITC, and Bajaj Finance were the biggest losers among the Sensex pack. ■ PAGE 6 Eight new Indian com- Newcomers# Top 5 panies have entered 455 474 RIL the ‘Global 500’ list 46 447 235.8 un S Axis 489 based on market n Pharma Bank a capitalisation over the O TCS Tit o. 347 40.4 39.4 38NGC past year, report C .3 73 .2 167.4 Siddhant Mishra & 497 41 Kishor Kadam.With HDFC Bank* this, the total number 100 132.9 of Indian companies on the list has gone up to 286 ICICI Bank 500 21 from 14 (one less 177 owing to HDFC-HDFC 85.8 Bank merger). RILhas Infosys jumped 10 spots to Mcap (in $ billion) Global rank 182 46,with a 20% jump in *merged entity; #were not there in Global 500 m-cap rankings a year ago; 82.7 m-cap to $236 billion. as on January 29, 2024; Source: Bloomberg 51 ech .4 SENSEX, NIFTY SLUMP DAY AFTER RALLY IMF turns bullish ahead of Budget 8 new India entrants in Global 500 L&T NEWS GROWTH FORECAST FOR INDIA RAISED 61.3 IN THE GROWTH CHART FY24 forecast (in %) 6.7 IMF 7.0 RBI 7.3 NSO* World Bank 6.3 S&P Global 6.4 Fitch 6.5 *first advance estimate Nageswaran said in a report that India’s real GDP growth will likely be close to 7% in FY25 forthe fourthyearin a row. He said India’s economy will touch the $5trillion mark by 2027-28, and subsequently becomethethird-largesteconomyintheworld. Global firms keen to set up mega campuses in India: Vaishnaw RISHI RAJ & JATIN GROVER New Delhi, January 30 AFTER SETTING UP their manufacturing operations in the country, big global electronicscompaniesarenowgearinguptoset upmegacampusesinIndia,whichwillhave a cluster of factories producing a range of products,communicationsandITminister AshwiniVaishnawtold FE onTuesday. “Electronics manufacturing has gathered pace in the country.Going ahead,we will see many global players setting up mega manufacturing campuses in the country.These will be over 100-acre campuses which will house several units,” Vaishnaw said. Saying that Prime Minister Narendra ASHWINI VAISHNAW, COMMUNICATIONS & IT MINISTER THESE (CAMPUSES) WILL BE OVER 100-ACRE ONES WHICH WILL HOUSE SEVERAL UNITS Modi’s‘Make in India’ objective has gathered pace,the minister added that during his recentvisittoDavos,representativesofseveralglobalfirmsmethimandevincedinterest in setting up mega campuses in India. The minister’s comments come a day after South Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung announced that it will manufacture laptops in India. In October last year, Google had announced that itwill manufacture its Pixel phones in the country. Samsung already manufactures its feature phones, smartphones, wearables and tablets in India,and with laptops, it will be completing its entire range of products. Continued on Page 10 Continued on Page 10 NTPC plans `80,000-cr green projects in Maha ARUNIMA BHARADWAJ New Delhi, January 30 NTPC GREEN ENERGY (NGEL) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra government for a clutch of green energyprojects,with aggregate investments to the tune of `80,000 crore. The plan, which includes projects for developmentofgreenhydrogenanditsderivatives, is in sync with the government’s plan to make India a hub for the benign fuel. NGEL, a wholly owned armofstate-ownedNTPC, INSIDE will also build solar,wind NTPC to and energy storage prolist green jectsinthestate,including arm in Mumbai as part of the ■ PAGE 10 MoU,thecompanysaidon Tuesday. NGEL’s move follows 14 companies,includingRelianceIndustries,AcmeCleantech,Avaada GreenH2,BPCL,CESC,JSW Energy and Torrent Power,biddingforincentivesundertheNational Green Hydrogen Mission.As many as 20 firms, includingRIL,AdaniGroupandLarsen&Toubro arevyingforelectrolysermanufacturingsops. Under the mission unveiled in February last year, incentives worth `19,744 crore are being offered to the investors with an aim to attract investments to the tune of `8 trillion MEGA PLANS ■ NTPC Green's plans include projects for development of green hydrogen and its derivatives 14 firms, including RIL, BPCL and JSW Energy have bid for sops under Green Hydrogen Mission ■ Will also build solar,wind and energy storage projects in Maharashtra ■ Projects to be part ofMaharashtra govt’s green investment plan for next 5 years to create green H2 capacity of at least 5 million tonne per annum and 125 gigawatt of renewable energy. NEGL’s projects are going to be part of the Maharashtragovernment’sgreeninvestment planforthenextfiveyearsandincludesdevelopment of green hydrogen and derivatives like green ammonia and green methanol. Continued on Page 10 NEURALINK AIMS TO HELP PARALYSIS PATIENTS Musk firm puts brain chip in first human REUTERS January 30 THE FIRST HUMAN patient has received an implant from brain chip startup Neuralink on Sunday and is recovering well, the company’s billionaire founder Elon Musk said. “Initial results showpromising neuron spike detection,” Musk said in a post on the social media platform X on Monday. Spikes are activity by neurons, which the National Institute of Health describes as cells that use electrical and chemical signals to send information around the brain and to the body. The US Food and DrugAdministration had given the company clearance last year to conduct its first trial to test its implant on humans, a critical milestone in the startup’s ambitions to help patients overcome paralysis and a host of neurological conditions. In September, Neuralink said it received approval for recruitment for MILESTONE ■ Neuralink's plan to conduct its first trial to test its implant on humans got USFDA nod last year ■ Study uses a robot to surgically place a brain-computer interface implant in a region that controls the intention to move the human trial. The study uses a robot to surgically place a brain-computer interface (BCI) implant in a region of the brain that controls the intention to move, Neuralink said previously,adding that its initial goal is to enable people to control a computer cursor or keyboard using their thoughts ■ The implants’ 'ultra-fine' threads help transmit signals in participants’ brains ■ Initial goal is to enable people to control computer cursor or keyboard using thoughts ELON MUSK, FOUNDER, NEURALINK INITIAL RESULTS SHOW PROMISING NEURON SPIKE DETECTION alone. The implants’“ultra-fine” threads help transmit signals in participants’ brains, Neuralink has said. The first product from Neuralink would be called Telepathy,Musk said in a separate post on X. Continued on Page 10 CHENNAI/KOCHI