COMPANIES, P4 COMPANIES, P4 INTERNATIONAL, P7 ESSENTIALS DOWN SAMSUNG GROWTH SEEN FLAT TO ADDRESS BIAS, PRIVACY Coffee, chocolate & cookies hit the sweet spot in FMCG market iPhone exports from India to nearly double to `80,000 cr in FY24 Europe reaches deal on landmark rules for artificial intelligence KOLKATA, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2024 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL 33 NO. 114, 26 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: 72,761.89 ▼ 906.07 NIFTY: 21,997.70 ▼ 338.00 NIKKEI 225: 38,695.97 ▼ 101.54 HANG SENG: 17,082.11 ▼ 11.39 `/$: 82.86 ▼ 0.09 `/€: 90.51 ▼ 0.03 BRENT: $83.64 ▲ $1.72 GOLD: `65,182 ▼ `349 IN THE NEWS PIYUSH GOYAL IN BJP'S SECOND LIST FOR LS POLLS COMMERCE MINISTER PIYUSH Goyal is all set to take the plunge in electoral politics as the BJP's candidate from Mumbai North in the Lok Sabha polls. Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Anurag Singh Thakur and three former chief ministers, including Haryana's Manohar Lal Khattar, figure in the BJP's second list of 72 candidates. BULK OF POLL BONDS BOUGHT REDEEMED: SBI THE STATE BANK of India, in its affidavit in the Supreme Court on Wednesday, said of a total of 22,217 electoral bonds purchased by political parties between April 1, 2019, and February 15 this year, 22,030 were redeemed. ■ PAGE 2 HINDENBURG ATTACK TO DEFAME INDIA, SAYS ADANI THE OBJECTIVE OF US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research’s attack on Adani Group was not just to destabilise the group but also to politically defame India’s governance practices, Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani has said, reports Rajesh Kurup. ■ PAGE 5 CABINET NOD TO TWO DELHI METRO CORRIDORS THE UNION CABINET on Wednesday approved two new corridors of Delhi Metro's Phase-IV project —Lajpat Nagar to Saket G-Block and Inderlok to Indraprastha —- in a move that will improve connectivity, reports PTI. ■ PAGE 2 MARKETS NOT IN SERIOUS BUBBLE TERRITORY: KOTAK THERE ARE ENOUGH checks and balances in the system “to compare ourselves in serious bubble territory”, Kotak Mahindra Bank founder and non-executive director Uday Kotak said at a Sebi event on Wednesday. ■ PAGE 6 FE S P E C I A L S ‘Analytics & business processes must go hand-in-hand’ Oracle’s Rajan Krishnan on emerging trends in enterprise software ■ EFE, P9 Why taps are running dry in Bengaluru Can the city find a lasting solution to its water woes? ■ EXPLAINER, P9 ANTI-COMPETITIVE PRACTICES No global & local divide on digital Bill Zomato, Swiggy and Oyo oppose ex ante framework WIDE SCOPE JATIN GROVER & RISHI RAJ New Delhi, March 13 IT'S NOT ONLY global tech firms like Google, Meta, Amazon and Applewho are against the proposed ex ante digital competition law. Domestic platforms with leadership positions in their respective segments have also voiced their opposition to the draft legislation. In the case of big domestic platforms,localrivalswhoareopposedto their practices have fully supported the ex ante provisions, the draft of which was released by the ministry of corporate affairs onTuesday. Food aggregator platforms like Zomato, and Swiggy, and traveltech platform Oyo have expressed theirreservations on having ex ante provisions. The Internet and MobileAssociation of India (IAMAI) — which had sided with domestic startups in theirrecent spatwith Google on inapp purchases — has also opposed such regulations. IAMAI has membersfromdomesticandglobalplayers, but the current management committee is dominated by members of domestic firms. In contrast, there are associations led by domestic firms which are opposed to the stand taken by ■ Draft digital competition Bill seen to take on Big Tech firms ■ But even domestic platforms that are market leaders have opposed it Markets wilt under regulatory heat Mid & small-caps WEDNESDAY WIPEOUT bleed again, `20 trn 73,667.96 39,237.90 Mar 12, 2024 Mar 12, 2024 eroded in 3 sessions 906.07 points JOYDEEP GHOSH Mumbai, March 13 THE MID AND SMALL-CAP indices took a significant knock on Wednesday,as regulatory concerns around their valuations gained ground amid INSIDE investors. In addition, there Little bit was talk that of froth: some fund Nilesh Shah houses could be ■ PAGE6 pruning their holdings to have enough cash in hands to meet any redemption pressure. The S&P mid-cap index fell 4.20% while the S&P small-cap index fell 5.11% — the biggest single-day fall in percentage terms in two years. Since the regulatory SENSEX 1.23% (Close) Mar 13, 2024 72,761.89 BSE MIDCAP 42,831.29 Mar 12, 2024 1,646.75 points 4.20% (Close) Mar 13, 2024 37,591.15 noise about the‘froth’in these segments started gathering steam in the last week of February, the midcap index has lost over 5% while the small-cap index has lost almost 12%. On February 27,the Association of mutual funds in India (Amfi) wrote to fund houses to have a policythatwould take proactive measures not just limited to moderating inflows and portfolio rebalancing. On Wednesday, benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty also fell ■ IAMAI, dominated by members of domestic firms, is also against such regulation domestic platforms in the matter. For instance, while Zomato and Swiggyare opposed to ex ante regulations, Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India and National Restaurant Association of India are in favour of such a regulation. The reason being that theyviewthe practices of platforms like Zomato and Swiggy as predatory and have been locked in a tiff with the two players. Continued on Page 16 `9K-cr plant in Tamil Nadu SWARAJ BAGGONKAR Mumbai, March 13 ■ MNCs had approached finance ministry on issues top management faces with DGG officials ■ Directors/ CEOs asked to be present in person in GST probes may be unable to respond due to busy schedule ■ CBIC tells officials to first question “authorised person” responsible for ensuring tax compliance cerns,”a senior official said,on condition of anonymity. Continued on Page 16 (Close) Mar 13, 2024 40,641.67 1.2% and 1.5%,respectively. Foreign institutional investors sold shares ` 4,595 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors bought shares worth `9,093 crore. Continued on Page 16 ANEES HUSSAIN Bengaluru, March 13 IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran and Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel at the groundbreaking ceremony of three semiconductor plants — two in Gujarat and one in Assam — at Dholera PTI in Gujarat, on Wednesday. Vaishnaw said the first chip from Dholera will roll out in 2026. ■ PAGE 4 THE CENTRALBOARD OFIndirect Tax and Customs (CBIC) has directed officials in the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence(DGGI)tofollowa“bottom-up”approachwhileinvestigating tax liability of multinational companies (MNCs). In internal guidelines issued recently, the indirect tax board instructed officials at field formations to first question the “authorised person” in an MNC, responsible for ensuring tax compliance, instead of directly summoning the company’s chief executive officer (CEO), chief financial officer (CFO) or directors at the first instance. “Several MNCs had approached the finance ministry earlier, and had mentioned the issues the top management face in the hands of DGG officials… the new guidelines are expected to address such con- 5.11% Zepto levies `2 platform fee, a first for q-commerce ■ Local rivals such as restaurant bodies have fully supported ex ante provisions of draft PROBE PROCESS points Investor wealth sees `13.5 trillion erosion — biggest single-day drop since March 23, 2020 — to `372 trillion. In past 3 days, it slumped by `20.6 trillion GST probe wing told not to directly call CEOs,CFOs Tata Motors inks MoU for PRIYANSH VERMA New Delhi, March 13 2,189.62 BSE SMALLCAP TATA MOTORS, INDIA’S biggest automaker, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the TamilNadugovernmentonWednesdayto explore setting up of avehicle manufacturing facilityin the state. The company plans to invest around `9,000 crore overfiveyears in the state,potentially creating up to 5,000 direct and indirect jobs, Tata Motors said in a statement. This will be its biggest investment for vehicle capacity creation in India till date. Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin and the senior management of Tata Motors,including PB Balaji, group chief financial officer, were present for the event in Chennai. The company plans to invest around `9,000 crore over five years in the state, potentially creating up to 5,000 direct and indirect jobs The proposed plant will be the Mumbai-based company’s first in TamilNadu and the secondinsouth India after the one in Dharwad in Karnataka. The company also has plants in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand. Tata Motors did not specify the type of vehicles it plans to manufacture at the plant. The company hasa presence in passengervehicles (PV), which includes electric vehicles (EV), and commercial vehicles (CV). The agreement comes less than 10 days after the automaker announced plans to demerge its CV and PV businesses into two listed companies. The Tamil Nadu government had in 2021 tried to convince Tata Motors to takeover Ford’s car manufacturing factory at Maraimalai Nagar.GirishWagh,executivedirector, Tata Motors, and Tata Group chairman N Chandrasekaran had held meetings with Stalin. In early2023,Tata Motors completed the acquisition of Ford’s plant in Sanand, Gujarat for `725 crore.The plant rolled out the first car, Nexon EV, this January. In the EVsegment,the companyis the market leader. Continued on Page 16 ZEPTO HAS BECOME the first quick-commerce company to introduce a platform fee of `2 per order for select users.So far,platform fees have been more common in e-commerce and food delivery. For instance, Zomato-owned Blinkit and SwiggyInstamart,which directly compete with Zepto, don’t levysuchafeeongroceryorders.They do,however, levyit on food delivery. Apart from the platform fee, Zeptohasalsointroducedalatenight handlingfeeof`15onordersplaced after11pmincertaincases.Besides, it has done awaywith free deliveries forselect users. “We don’t believe in being over dependent on delivery fees to be profitable.Webelieveincoreoperating efficiency and cost reduction to be profitable. We are on track to achieve the Ebitda-positive milestoneevenwithmuchlowerdelivery fees — Zepto Pass is the quintessential example of this,” a company spokesperson said. Analysts at BofA said in a recent reportthatBlinkitandInstamartcan likelyfall back on theirfood delivery customer base and cross-sell quickcommerce. “While Blinkit has the largest market share currently, our checks indicate that Zepto is getting aggressive to gain share.Also Zepto has the lowest deliveryrates in most places,”theysaid. Zepto is the third-largest quick commerceplayerwithamarketshare of about 20%,behind Blinkit (40%) and Swiggy Instamart (37-39%), analysts at Bernstein said in January. The additional costs come weeks after the company launched its loyaltyprogramme Zepto Pass,through whichitpromises freedeliveriesand betterdiscounts.Thecompanyclaims subscribers have increased monthly spendsontheappbymorethan30% during Zepto Pass pilot phase. FOCUSES ON LEGACY, DISTINCT IDENTITY IN SALES PITCH As brand Byju’s takes a hit,Aakash tries to distance itself ANEES HUSSAIN Bengaluru, March 13 WITH BYJU’S MIRED in financial and legal troubles, its primary subsidiary, Aakash Educational Services, is trying to distance itself from its parent in its brand promotion and sales pitch. Employees of Aakash are being asked to highlight its distinct brand identity. The company, in some recent social media posts, has also subtlyreduced the emphasis on the ‘Aakash+ Byju’s’brand. A section of Aakash’s sales employees told FE that overthe past couple of months, they have been asked by senior managers to dis- CHANGING COURSE ■ Aakash posted 40% ■ Reduced emphasis on Aakash+ Byju's brand on social media ■ Aakash staff being asked to highlight 30-year legacy when parents bring up Byju's troubles tance themselves from the ‘Aakash+Byju’s’ brand identity and instead focus on the 30-year legacy of the test preparation institute. jump in revenue to `1,491 crore in FY22, and profit of around `80 crore ■ For Byju’s, FY22 saw consolidated loss of `8,245 crore on operating revenue of `5,014 crore “Over the past few months we have been receiving a lot of pushback from parents who talk about the negative perception around Byju’s in the media, including allegations of mis-selling products and loans, and corporate governance issues,”said one employee. “When I approached my senior on how to tackle this, I was asked to focus on the 30-year legacy that Aakash has. I was told to emphasise on how Aakash’s management, coaching, and teaching are all different; we have nothing overlapping with Byju’s apart from being part of the same group,” they added. OnAakash’s Instagram account, the ‘Aakash+Byju’s’ logo has been featured with less prominence in recent posts. For instance,a post on March 9, announcing Indian National Olympiad 2023-24 results, dropped the Byju’s logo altogether.Another post,on the JEE (Main) in February, features a large INSIDE HC extends interim stay on Byju's EGM till March 28 PAGE 4 Aakash logo on top, and a much smaller Aakash+Byju’s logo at the bottom. This is different from the posts even as faras ayearago,where the‘Aakash+Byju’s’logo was placed more prominently. Byju’s and Aakash declined to comment on the matter. Aakashhasinrecentmonthsseen Manipal group chairman Ranjan Pai become its largest shareholder. Continued on Page 16 Kolkata