BACK PAGE, P20 MARKETS, P6 BRANDWAGON, P9 RBI CURBS ON FINTECH MAJOR FACTORING 60% DISCOUNT THE MAKING OF A CONTENT KING Paytm can overcome regulatory setbacks to lead in Asia: Sharma Tata Sons could fetch valuation of `7-8 trn via IPO The Hotstar-Jio combine will upend the OTT ecosystem KOLKATA, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2024 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL 33 NO. 107, 24 PAGES, `12.00 (NORTH EAST STATES & ANDAMAN `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: 73,677.13 ▼ 195.16 NIFTY: 22,356.30 ▼ 49.30 NIKKEI 225: 40,097.63 ▼ 11.60 HANG SENG: 16,162.64 ▼ 433.33 `/$: 82.90 < > 0.00 `/€: 89.96 ▼ 0.03 BRENT: $82.16 ▼ $0.64 GOLD: `64,413 ▲ `1,124 — IN THE NEWS GOLD RATES SURGE BY `800, HIT FRESH HIGH OF `65,000 GOLD RATES SURGED by `800 to hit a fresh record high of `65,000 per 10 grams on Tuesday in the national capital, reports PTI. In its previous close, gold price had closed at `64,200 per 10 grams. ■ PAGE 6 SERVICES PMI EASES FROM JAN HIGH, BUT STAYS ROBUST INDIA’S SERVICES ACTIVITY expanded at a robust pace in February, with the HSBC Services PMI coming in at 60.6 during the month, a release by S&P Global said on Tuesday, reports Priyansh Verma. This was, however, lower than 61.8 recorded during January. ■ PAGE 2 DIGITAL PLATFORMS TO OVERTAKE TV BY YEAR-END INDIA'S MEDIA & entertainment sector crossed `2.3 trillion in CY23, an 8% growth over the previous year, led by categories such as television, reports Viveat Susan Pinto. But that picture will change by 2024-end, as digital is poised to overtake TV in terms of revenue. ■ PAGE 4 ADANI, JSW, ESSAR MAY BET BIG ON COAL-FIRED POWER PRIVATE FIRMS LIKE Adani Power, JSW and Essar Power have expressed interest in building at least 10 GW of coal-fired power capacity over a decade, ending a six-year drought in major private involvement in the sector, reports Reuters. ■ PAGE 4 FE S P E C I A L A bitter pill: Why SC banned Patanjali’s ads The court has largely stayed out of the ‘allopathy vs Ayurveda’ debate, and has focused on the misleading nature of the ads ■ EXPLAINER, P9 $5-7 BILLION INFLOWS ESTIMATED Bloomberg EM index to add Indian G-secs PRASANTA SAHU & SACHIN KUMAR New Delhi/Mumbai, March 5 BLOOMBERG INDEX SERVICES on Tuesday announced a plan to include Indian government securities (G-secs) in its emerging market (EM) local currency index in a phased mannerstarting January31 nextyear,a move that raises the prospect of additional forex inflows to the tune of $5-7 billion. This is the second prospective instance of international listing of India’s sovereign bonds, which are to be part of the JP Morgan EM Index from June this year. Bloomberg Index Services said in a statement: “The inclusion of these bonds will be phased in overa 10-month period starting on the rebalance date of January 31, 2025...The weight of India FAR ( fully accessible route) bondswill be increased in increments of 10% of their full market value every month over the 10-month period ending in October 2025.”India FARbondswill be fullycapped at 10% weight within the index. Government officials had earlier said India’s inclusion in JP Morgan index would help relatively stable capital inflows of $2026 billion to Indian markets, relieving the domestic financial institutions from investing heavily in G-Secs, and making available moreinstitutional financeforproductive sectors of the economy. The capital flows from overseas listing of Indian bonds would also make it easier to financethecurrentaccountdeficit,strengthen BOOSTTO INFLOWS ■ Yet, the ■ Inclusion to be foreign ownership of G-secs is less than 2% now phased out over a 10-month period startingJan 31, 2025 ■ Second instance of global listing afterJPMorgan EM Index inclusion from June this year ■ As many as 34 Indian gilts to be eligible for inclusion in the Bloomberg EM index ■ To help relatively stable capital inflows of ■ At around $20-26 billion $1.2 trillion, Indian gilts market is the third-largest among EMs to Indian market the rupee.It could help bring down the cost of capitalfornotjustthegovernment,butprivate investorsaswell.Withtheoverseaslistingcreating more demand for Indian bonds, yields may decline 35-50 basis points over the next 12 months,analysts feel. Google blinks, relists apps Move temporary, says tech giant JATIN GROVER New Delhi, March 5 AFTER COMMUNICATIONS AND IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s intervention, GoogleonTuesdayreinstatedalltheappsit had removed on INSIDE March1.Theseapps Rolls out new wereremovedfrom PlayStoreovernonuser, app payment of comrules in EU mission charges for ■ PAGE 7 in-app purchases. The development is significant because the reinstatement is on the same terms and conditions which existed as on March 1. Now the WHAT'S IN STORE ■ Tech giant to continue to bill app developers at 11-26% commission for in-app purchases; can be paid later App developers concerned over potential financial burden at a later stage due to the pile up of in-app invoicing ■ 120 days to reach a sustainable and non-monopolistic solution On March 1, Google delisted apps of 10 users of these apps can make in-app purchases either by using Google’s payment system or third-party billing. Google had reinstated several apps between March 2-4, but these were on consumption-only basis — purchases could be made outside the Play Store. Aforum comprising app developers and Google likely in ■ companies, including InfoEdge, Shaadi.com, Bharat Matrimony, Kuku FM, among others “Google and startups met with us.We have hadveryconstructive discussions and finally,Google has agreed to listall the apps with same status as on Friday, March 1,” Vaishnawsaid onTuesday. Continued on Page 12 Barred from fresh financing against shares, debentures RBI cracks the whip on JM Financial of JM Financial Products, in terms of repeatedly lending to a group of customers forinvesting in IPOs and non-conTHERESERVEBANKofIndia(RBI)onTues- vertible debentures (NCDs) with ‘perday directed JM Financial Products,a non- functory’due diligence. banking financial company “This action is necessitated (NBFC), from extending loans due to certain serious deficienINSIDE against shares and debentures, cies observed in respect of loans No ethical including those against initial issues at play: sanctioned by the company for public offering (IPO), in a‘cease IPO financing as well as NCD IIFL Fin MD and desist’ order.This directive subscriptions. The RBI carried ■ PAGE 6 comes a day after the central outalimitedreviewofthebooks bank barred IIFL Finance, of the company on the basis of anotherNBFC,fromsanctioninggoldloans theinformationsharedbytheSecuritiesand afterobservingserious“seriousdeviations”. Exchange Board of India,” the RBI said. The banking regulator found serious breach of regulatory compliance on part Continued on Page 12 PIYUSH SHUKLA Mumbai, March 5 THE DIKTAT ■ RBI observes serious deficiencies in loan process ■ Limited review done on the basis of info shared by the Sebi ■ Can't sanction and disburse loans against IPO of shares Continued on Page 12 BigBasket set to deliver profit in 6-8 months Firm targets IPO in 2025 ON THE TABLE ■ Pins hope FE BUREAU Mumbai, March 5 THE NUMBER 13 could turn luckyforBigBasket.The online grocer,which was launched in 2011, is expecting to turn profitable in another6-8 months,its co-founderand chief executive officer Hari Menon told reporters on Tuesday.The company, now owned by the Tata group,is planning an initial public offering (IPO) in 2025,Menon said. The companywill turn profitable once the newly-launched‘BB Now’vertical starts making money, Menon said. Under BB Now, the company delivers products in 10 minutes. Menon said the older business lines, including slotted and BB Daily,are in the black. On the IPO, Menon, however, added the final decision will come from the Tatas.“We will probably have it in 2025.But we are leavingittotheTatas,therecannotbeanybodybettertoguideusonthat,”hesaid,hintingthatthe issuewillincludebothprimaryandsecondary share sales. Till the time the IPO comes, the Tatagroupwillprovidethecapitalrequiredfor ongoinginvestments,thebulkofwhichwillbe on 'BB Now' vertical to starts making money ■ IPO may include both primary and secondary share sales ■ Targets to close FY24 with 30-35% revenue growth ■ Looks to clock a topline of about `12,000 cr HARI MENON, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, BIGBASKET WE ARE LEAVING IPO TO THE TATAS. THERE CAN'T BE ANYBODY BETTER TO GUIDE US in technology,marketing and people. The company,which competes with similarofferings fromAmazon and Flipkart,is targeting to close FY24with a revenue growth of 30-35% over the previous fiscal, with a topline of about `12,000 crore,Menon said. Continued on Page 12 $128 MILLION IN COMBINED UNPAID SEVERANCE Former Twitter execs sue Musk JEF FEELEY & KURTWAGNER March 5 FOUR EX-TWITTER EXECUTIVES,including former chief executive officer Parag Agrawal, sued Elon Musk for allegedly stiffing them on more than $128 million in severance payments after they were ousted from the company. The former top INSIDE officials said Musk showed“specialire” Musk loses toward them after richest title he took over the to Bezos social media plat■ PAGE 7 form in 2022, publicly vowing to withhold their severance to recoup about $200 million from the $44-billion deal, according to a lawsuit filed on Monday in federal court in California. Twitter, which Musk renamed X, has beenaccusedinmultiplesuitsofnumerous labourandworkplaceviolations,including failing to pay severance to thousands of workers laid off in the months after the X-FACTOR ■ Four former top Twitter executives, including former CEO Parag Agrawal, have sued Elon Musk ■ Other plaintiffs are Ned Segal, former CFO; Vijaya Gadde, former chieflegal officer; and Sean Edgett, former general counsel ■ Musk denied them severance pay they had been promised for years, former executives say takeover.The companyalsowas accused in araftofsuitsoffailingtopaymillionsowed tovendorsandlandlordswhilepurportedly trying to stayfinanciallysolvent. “Under Musk’s control, Twitter has becomeascofflaw,stiffingemployees,landlords,vendorsandothers.Muskdoesn’tpay ■ They say they each are owed one year's salary and hundreds of thousands of stock options his bills, believes the rules don’t apply to him, and uses his wealth and power to run roughshodoveranyonewhodisagreeswith him,”lawyers forAgrawal and the other exexecutives said in the 38-page complaint. Continued on Page 12 Kolkata