POLITICS, P19 BACK PAGE, P24 INTERNATIONAL, P7 OPPOSITION WALKS OUT WHARTON TOPS GLOBAL RANKING SPLIT VERDICT Nitish Kumar-led NDA government wins trust vote in Bihar Six Indian B-schools in FT rankings; ISB best in the country 'Old guard' parties in Pakistan near deal to thwart Imran Khan CHENNAI/KOCHI, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2024 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XLIV 237, 38 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: 71,072.49 ▼ 523.00 NIFTY: 21,616.05 ▼ 166.45 NIKKEI 225: 36,897.42 ▲ 34.14 HANG SENG: 15,746.58 ▼ 131.49 `/$: 83.00 ▲ 0.03 `/€: 89.38 ▲ 0.03 BRENT: $81.32 ▼ $0.87 GOLD: `62,043 ▼ `336 IN THE NEWS BURMANS’ OPEN OFFER FOR RELIGARE REJECTED BY RBI THE RESERVE BANK of India has rejected the Burman family’s open offer proposal for Religare Enterprises, stating the application should be submitted by the non-banking financial company, reports Rajesh Kurup. ■ PAGE 6 PSUs, FINANCIALS DRAG INDICES; VIX RISES ABOVE 16 AVOLATILE SESSION saw the benchmark indices trade lower on Monday, dragged by a slide in the broader markets, reports Siddhant Mishra. The India VIX was up close to 4% and finished above 16 for the first time in eight sessions. ■ PAGE 6 ECONOMISTS SAY RBI'S FY25 GROWTH ESTIMATE OPTIMISTIC AMIDSTWEAK PRIVATE consumption and uncertainty of a pick up in private investments, economists say RBI’s projection of a 7% GDP growth in FY25 seems "optimistic", reports Priyansh Verma. ■ PAGE 2 QATAR FREES EIGHT FORMER INDIAN NAVY MEN MORE THAN THREE months after they were sentenced to death, eight former Indian Navy personnel have been released from custody in Qatar and seven have returned to India, reports Shubhajit Roy. ■ PAGE 19 FE S P E C I A L Lakhpati Didi: Empowering women This initiative can help rural women acquire skills that help them become economically independent ■ EXPLAINER, P9 ‘MOVE IN BEST INTEREST OF CUSTOMERS’ Das: No review of action on Paytm The cooling of vegetable prices, primarily onions, aided softening of the headline CPI inflation to a threemonth low of 5.1% in January from 5.69% in December – the highest in four months. Core inflation further fell to a 50-month low of 3.6% in January from 3.9% in December, reflecting the pass-through of the central bank’s monetary policy actions. Meanwhile, factory output, as measured by the IIP, rose to 3.8% in December from 2.4% in November. RBI supportive of fintech sector but users, financial stability above it, he says PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, February 12 RESERVEBANKOFIndiagovernorShaktikanta DasonMondaysaidtherewillbenoreviewofthe restrictions imposed on Paytm Payments Bank (PPB)forregulatoryviolations,asthemovewasin the best interestof customers. “We take decisions after a lot of consideration and analysis, which is often for months and years. If you are expecting a review of the decision (against PPB), let me very clearly say (that) there is no review of the decision,” Das said. "There is nothing on the table on the reviewof the decision (on PPB).Whenwe make a decision, we examine all pros and cons,” he emphasised. Thegovernorsaidthatthefrequentlyasked questions(FAQs)onPPBwillbeissuedlaterduring the week to deal with customer issues related to FASTags,wallet and depositors. OnJanuary31,theRBIimposedrestrictions on PPB citing“persistent non-compliance and continuedmaterialsupervisoryconcerns”.The RBI had ordered PPB to wind down most of its business, including deposits, credit products and digital wallets,by February29. “We have given one month's time so that there are no difficulties to customers….so that customers adjust and transition,”Das said. In its order against Paytm, RBI barred PPB from furtherdeposits orcredit transactions or Inflation falls to 5.1%; Dec IIPat 3.8% ■ REPORT ON PAGE 2 IIP (% change, y-o-y) July 6.2 10.9 Aug 6.4 Sep (% change, y-o-y) 12 CPI CPI core CPI food 10 8 6.52 6 4 6 6.1 8.30 Nov Dec 7.44 2.4 3.8 Source: Mospi 5.10 4.9 4. 3.6 2 Jan 2023 11.6 Oct 11.51 July ’23 Jan 2024 Sebi steps up scrutiny of IPO papers JAYSHREE P UPADHYAY & M SRIRAM February 12 Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman with RBI governor Shaktikanta Das during the post-Budget meet in New Delhi on Monday PTI top-ups in any customer accounts, pre-paid instruments,wallets, FASTags, National CommonMobilityCards(NCMC)etcafterFebruary 29, other than any interest, cashbacks, or refundswhich may be credited anytime. Continued on Page 10 public offer documents, as Sebi observed companiesaremisleadingintheirreasons for fundraise,”said one of sources. THE SECURITIES AND Exchange Board The regulator is particularly scrutinof India (Sebi) is increasing scrutiny of ising what companies say they intend to issue documents filed by companies use funds raised from the IPO for, the going public, sources said on sources, directly familiar with INSIDE Monday, amid a rise in initial the matter, said. public offerings (IPOs) in the Oyo seeks Theydeclined to beidentified Indian market. as they are not authorised to nod to The country’s surging stock expedite speak to the media. Sebi did not market has prompted nearly IPO ■ PAGE 4 respond to an email. 50 companies to launch public As perSebi rules,funds raised issues in 2023; eight issues via IPOs can be used for capital have been completed so far this year and expenditure,debt reduction,general coranother 40 are waiting for clearance porate purposes and acquisitions. from Sebi. “The regulatorhas returned at least six Continued on Page 10 RAISING COMPLIANCE ■ The regulator is particularly scrutinising what companies say they intend to use funds raised from the IPO for Nearly 50 companies to launch public issues in 2023 ■ If funds are used to reduce debt, promoters will have their shares locked in for 18 months ■ For capital expenditure, the lock-in period is three years Merchants turn SpiceJet’s layoff to Paytm rivals, plan to result in sign-ups spike `100-crsavings AYANTI BERA Bengaluru, February 12 ROHITVAID New Delhi, February 12 WITH THE RESERVE Bank of India's crackdown on Paytm Payments Bank on January31 fornotcomplyingwithregulations,appdownloads of rival BharatPe and MobiKwik have seen a significant surge as merchants onboard platforms of other fintech players. For instance, merchant sign-ups on BharatPe’s platform have doubled in the firstweek of February, compared to a similar period in January. Particularlyinmetros,merchant sign-ups are up 104%overthefirstweekin January,while those in tier2and3citiesjumped95%,industrysourcessaid. Meanwhile, MobiKwik saw a 50-60% rise in new merchants onboarding its platform so farthismonth,comparedtoasimilarperiodin January.Thegrossmerchandisevalueofoffline merchants using their platform jumped 40% during this time, while that of online merchants rose 30%. FINANCIALLYTROUBLED LOW-COSTcarrier SpiceJet plans to bring down its annual cost by around `100 crore, mainly by laying off employees.Though the airline did not reveal the number of employees who will be asked to leave as part of manpower realisation programme, sources said that the number could be around 1,000. SpiceJet currently has around 9,000 employees. “As part of our turnaround and cost-cutting strategy, following the recent fund infusion, SpiceJet has initiated several measures, including manpowerrationalisation,aimedatachieving profitable growth and positioning ourselves tocapitaliseontheopportunitiesintheIndian aviation industry. Through this initiative alone,we anticipate an annual saving of up to `100 crore,”a company spokesperson said on Monday. Continued on Page 10 Continued on Page 10 INDIA TO BE HUB FOR BELOW 500CC BIKES KTM maker rejigs Bajaj partnership SWARAJ BAGGONKAR Mumbai, February 12 THE INDO-AUSTRIAN ALLIANCE of Bajaj AutoandPiererMobility(formerlyknownas KTM) will restructure their operations in India.This will be done in tandem with the expansion of its product portfolio and positioning India as the exclusive manufacturer ofentryKTMbikes,globally. Stefan Pierer,CEO,Pierer Mobility,said, “Ourstrong alliancewith Bajaj has lasted for 17 years. For the upcoming year, we have agreedtoseparatethedistributionpartofthe organisationforKTMinIndia.” Pierer,who was speaking in a post earningscall,addedthatthenewset-upwillpush new kinds of products into the country, including off-road bikes (for example, dirt bikes),whicharecurrentlynotsoldinIndia. “WearegoingtoappointanMD(managing director) with experience (and) with knowledge of the off-road segment because theIndianmarketisthefastestgrowinginthe premiumsegment,”Piereradded. Indiaisthethird-biggestmarketforKTM intheworldafterEuropeandNorthAmerica. In 2023,Pierer Mobility sold nearly 66,000 motorcycles of KTM and Husqvarna brands RECALIBRATING OPERATIONS ■ The new set-up will push new kinds of products into the country, including offroad bikes ■ In 2023, Pierer Mobility sold nearly 66,000 motorcycles of KTM and Husqvarna brands in India, representing a share of 17% of its global market ■ India is the third-biggest market for KTM in the world after Europe & North America in India,representing a share of 17% of its global market.Its volumes in India grew by morethan28%comparedto2022. Around 74.2% of Pierer Mobility is owned by Pierer Bajaj, in which the Bajaj Groupholdsa49.9%stake. Pune-based Bajaj Auto produces KTM and Husqvarna motorcycles having engines in the 125-390cc segment from its plant in Chakan, near Pune. This facility is close to become the single STEFAN PIERER, CEO, Pierer Mobility THE STRATEGY IS VERY CLEAR – MAKE ENTRY BIKES IN INDIA, MID-RANGE AND EVs IN CHINA AND PREMIUM IN EUROPE largest location that produces bikes for the Pierer group. In 2023, the Pune plant produced 145,000 KTM and Husqvarna motorcycles. In 2024,the Austrian company aims to sell more than 70,000 such bikes in India,while simultaneously reducing production in Europe to around 150,000 perannum from 230,000perannum. (Toll Free No.) 1800 222 244 / 1800 222 243 / 1800 425 1515 / 1800 208 2244 | www.unionbankofindia.co.in Continued on Page 10 CHENNAI/KOCHI