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XLIV 271, 16 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: 72,831.94 ▲ 190.75 NIFTY: 22,096.75 ▲ 84.80 NIKKEI 225: 40,888.43 ▲ 72.77 HANG SENG: 16,499.47 ▼ 363.63 `/$: 83.43 ▼ 0.27 `/€: 90.24 ▲ 0.52 BRENT: $85.88 ▲ $0.10 GOLD: `65,975 ▼ `704 TRANSFER OFASSORTED subsidies and sops to the beneficiaries through the direct benefit transfer resulted in gains of `63,700 crore in FY23, taking the Centre’s savings due to plugging of leakages to about `3.5 trillion since FY15, reports Prasanta Sahu. ■ PAGE 2 FOREX RESERVES HIT RECORD HIGH OF $642.5 BILLION FOREX RESERVES HIT a record high of $642.5 billion in the week ended March 15, latest data from RBI showed, reports fe Bureau. The reserves rose by $6.4 billion in reporting week, after rising around $20 billion in the previous three weeks. ■ PAGE 8 FE S P E C I A L Yamaha MT-03: Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde It looks a bit vanilla, but roll that throttle and see it turning into a monster. ■ MOTOBAHN, P7 ■ Prohibits members from competing in each other’s businesses Venu Srinivasan’s son Sudarshan Venu can't use certain trademarks ■ ■ Mallika Srinivasan and Lakshmi Venu, wife and daughter ofVenu Srinivasan, won't use certain trademarks, including TVS agreed to not engage in certain businesses, including two- and three-wheeler vehicles, partsand/oraccessoriesforanysuchvehicles, for a defined period. Continued on Page 9 Complied by Kishor Kadam 100 Sensex 98 BSE IT 96 meeting summaries have been generated in five months 94 15 18 19 20 March 2024 21 22 TOP IT STOCKS LOSERS (Weekly) % loss Accenture guidance dims recovery hopes A REVENUE GUIDANCE cut by the global informationtechnology(IT)giantAccenture has cast a shadow over Indian IT peers, reports Padmini Dhruvaraj.Analysts now worrythatthenextfinancialyear,2024-25, will also be gloomy for these companies, dashinghopesofamuch-anticipatedrecoveryeyed laterthis calendaryear. Accentureslasheditsrevenueforecastfor FY24 to 1-3% from 2-5% earlier, citing macroeconomic uncertainties that are banks bid big in RBI’s VRR auction SACHIN KUMAR Mumbai, March 22 94.46 Base: March 15, 2024=100 LTIMindtree ■ The MoU does not in anyway impact the business, says chairman emeritus Venu Srinivasan certain trademarks in the businesses headed by members 100.26 -3.6 TVS MOTOR COMPANY’S promoter family has executed a memorandum of understanding(MoU)todemarcateusageofcertain trademarksbydifferentfactionsandprohibit competing in each other’s businesses. The MoU does not in any way impact the business of TVS Motor Company,Venu Srinivasan,chairman emeritus,said a letterto the company on Friday. Under the agreement, Venu Srinivasan’s son Sudarshan Venu, managing director of TVS, and persons controlled by Sudarshan will not use certain trademarks in relation to businesses,including design,manufacturing andsupplyofaluminiumandmagnesiumdie castings/machined castings for OEMs and the after-market. Sudarshan hasalso agreed to not compete fora defined period including in the business of agricultural machinery such as tractors, and self-propelled farm equipment. Mallika Srinivasan and Lakshmi Venu — Venu Srinivasan’s wife and daughter — have agreed that they shall not use certain trademarks (including TVS) in relation to certain businesses, including two-wheeler and three-wheeler vehicles, financial services, and real estate. They mother-daughter duo have also ■ It bars usage of Relative performance 102 Mphasis TO BE NOTED 7.2 million Continued on Page 9 -3.9 SWARAJ BAGGONKAR Mumbai, March 22 Zoom accounts have enabled AI assistant globally since Sept 2023 launch Globally, since its launch in September 2023, more than 510,000 Zoom accounts have enabled AI assistant and 7.2 million meetingsummarieshavebeengenerated,in five months.“When it comes to collaboration and communications platforms, we intend to lead the way in AI,” Kapur said. “We’ve had great success in India so far.We believethataswelaunchsomeofournewer products around Zoom Phone and Zoom Contact Center,wewill continue to acceleratewith increased momentum,” he added. Therearechallengesassomeoftheareas where Zoom has now ventured is already crowdedbyincumbents—voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP),forinstance. SENSEX vs BSE IT INDEX Genesys Intl TVS promoter family sign trademark pact THE BSE ITINDEX fell 2% on Friday reacting to the report ofAccenture lowering its guidance.The benchmark Sensex posted a marginal gain of 0.26%. In fact in the week ended March 22, the BSE ITIndex fell by 5.54% while the Sensex remained flat.Among the top four ITmajors, Infosys declined 7.7%,TCS 7.2%, Wipro 5.8% and HCLTechnologies 5.4% in the week. “Nifty ITindex corrected 5.5% in the last one month and underperformed the broader markets by 4.6% on account ofmuted guidance provided by some ofthe global services peers for CY24.We expect Accenture to cut its guidance to weigh on near-term stock performance," said Emkay analysts. "The Accenture's guidance is negative for the rest ofthe ITservices sector," analysts at Kotak Institutional Equities said. -4.5 Continued on Page 9 ■ More than 510,000 IT STOCKS FEELTHE BLUES Starved of liquidity, HCL Tech Magellanic Cloud have been rising quickly. We believe the private consumption data will be revised up in subsequent GDP revisions.” The finance ministry also said with an uptick in private investment and inflation trending down,the economic outlook forthe next fiscal looked positive. -4.7 CENTRE’S SAVINGS FROM DBT CROSS `3.5 TRILLION ■ High demand for residential properties in tier-2 and 3 cities augurs well for construction sector fact, the company is eyeing huge business opportunity from India on the back of new products such as Zoom Phone, Zoom Contact CenterandAI companion. Zoom Phone is a cloud business communications platform, which helps businessestomakeandreceivecallsoverWi-Fi, cellular data,with options to switch from video to voice call, from desktop to handphone, with various other chat and call management tools. Similarly,AI Companion is Zoom’s generativeAIassistantthatnotonlyhelpsbusinessessummarisecustomerandteamchats, but also give meeting transcripts,language translations,composeemails,sendcalendar invites, generate post-call tasks for followup,among otherthings. -5.4 LEVERAGING ITS BENCH strength, Wipro appointed 25 vice presidents and six senior vice-presidents as part of steps to continue transformation within the company, CEO and MD Thierry Delaporte told staff in an internal mail, reports Sameer Ranjan Bakshi. ■ PAGE 5 ■ Fall in core inflation hints at moderation in price pressures -5.4 WIPRO PROMOTES 31 EMPLOYEES TO SENIOR ROLES Bloomberg index from 2025 to bolster capital inflows Wipro Persistent Systems THE 15 NIFTY 50-LISTED firms account for redeemed electoral bonds worth `646 crore while the Sensex-listed firms account for `337 crore, reports Anjishnu Das. The BJP alone redeemed bonds worth `521 crore, accounting for a share of 81% of bonds purchased cumulatively by the 15 Nifty companies. ■ PAGE 3 uptick in private investment and easing in inflation, outlook for FY25 looks positive ■ Inclusion of gilts in jump in free user sign ups during Covid focus, it has widened its offerings to suit the postpandemic world -5.8 BJP ENCASHED 80% OF BONDS BOUGHT BY LISTED FIRMS AMID CONCERNS OVER a weakening of privateconsumptionafterthereleaseofpent-up demand immediatelyafterthe pandemic,the finance ministry on Friday said a strengthening of the same is evident.“The steady consumptiondemandisbackedbyresilienturban demandconditions.Therecoveryinruralconsumption demand is expected to be strengthened by the forecast of a normal monsoon in FY25,” the ministry said in its monthly economic report forFebruary. The report,authored byeconomistsin the ministry headed by V Anantha Nageswaran, cited indicators like burgeoning air passenger traffic and sale of passengervehicles,rising digital payments, improved consumer confidence to argue that demand is rising. The ministry's assessment comes close on the heels of positive commentary on private finalconsumptionexpenditure,whichaccording to the National Statistical Office (NSSO) data,grewjust 3.5% onyearin Q3FY24. Stating that consumption growth isn't equitable yet, HSBC Global Research wrote: “Thereareseveralreasonstobelievethatconsumption growth is not as slow as GDP data suggests.Consumergoods imports,personal services and non-housing personal loans ■ With an 6,700% ■ Shifting its TCS GREENKO MAY HAVE purchased electoral bonds worth `35 crore through 11 group companies, all of which have “Greenko” in their registered names, reports Sukalp Sharma. It may have bought bonds via at least 44 companies, the highest for any group. In all, `117 crore was shelled out on electoral bond purchases. ■ PAGE 3 PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, March 22 GROWTH INDICATORS ITWAS KNOWNasthe‘Zoomboom’.When theCovid-19pandemicshutteredtheworld and pushed people to increase their screen time, the video communication platform user base skyrocketed. In India, it saw 6700%growthinfreeusersignups.Butthe law of gravity played out soon.As the pandemicwaned,Zoomsawgrowthtaperingto 3% in FY24 from 326% globallyin FY21. Things are, however, changing rapidly. Realising it needs to be more than just a video call service,Zoom is now focusing on becoming an end-to-end communications platform with an emphasis on artificial intelligence assistance. “We have now evolved from being a video platform to being an end-to-end communication and collaboration platform,” Ricky Kapur, head of Asia Pacific (APAC) region at Zoom,told FE in an interaction.“The growth curve is going to get more exciting,”Kapur added. Analysts agree, stating that there’s immense scope for the company’s new offerings in emerging markets like India. Kapur’sconfidencestemsfromthetractiontheplatformhasreceivedforitsAIcompanionproductwithinsixmonthsoflaunch, as well as garnering 7-million consumers worldwide for its Zoom Phone offering. In -7.2 GREENKO USED ITS 44 ENTITIES TO BUY BONDS FOR PARTIES Rise in household savings necessary for private sector capital formation JATIN GROVER New Delhi, March 22 ■ Post pandemic, growth seen tapering to 3% in FY24 from 326% globally in FY21 In India, it saw Covid-19 pandemic, Zoom's user base skyrocketed Infosys DELHI CM ARVIND Kejriwal was on Friday remanded in the ED custody until March 28, hours after the agency told a Delhi court that he was the “kingpin and key conspirator of the Delhi excise scam” being probed by the agency, reports Nirbhay Thakur. Banks on generative AI SWITCHING UP assistant, Zoom Phone ■ During the -7.7 ED GETS KEJRIWAL CUSTODY, CALLS HIM A KINGPIN Consumption demand gains strength: Govt Zoom goes off beaten track Coforge NEWS NON-FARM EMPLOYMENT HAS REVIVED -9.4 IN THE restraining clients from spending on consulting services and increasing pressure in the volume of smaller deals. Earnings of Accenture, the world’s largest IT services provider, are often seen as a projection of howitsIndianpeerswillperform.Asaresult, thenewsoftherevenueforecastcutsentthe sharesofIndianITmajors,Infosys,TataConsultancyServices,Wipro,HCLTechnologies, Tech Mahindra and LTIMindtree lower by 1.5-4% intradayon Friday. ■ Page 5 WITH LIQUIDITYDRYINGouttemporarily because of goods and servicestax (GST) and advance tax outflows during the end of the fiscal, banks put in bids aggressively for the three variable report rate (VRR) auctions on Friday. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) received bids of `2.78 trillion – morethandoubletheVRRauctions’ amount of `1.25 trillion. In the first VRR auction, banks placed bids worth `1.3 trillion against the notified amount of `50,000 crore. In the second auction, lenders placed bids worth `1 trillion against notified amount of `25,000 crore. For the third auction, RBI received bids worth `40,700 crore against notified amount of `50,000 crore. “Liquidity has tightened due to payments for advance tax and GST. Two VRRs worth `1.25 trillion, which were conducted earlier, matured today (Friday),” V Ramachandra Reddy, head of treasury, Karur Vysya Bank, told FE. He addedthatwiththethreeVRRsconducted on Friday, RBI has replenished the banking system by infusing the same amount of liquidity, therebyensuring that the banks are not starved of cash. Continued on Page 9 MICROSOFT, GOOGLE, APPLE NOT MOVING FAST ENOUGH TO FIELD CONSUMER PRODUCTS Tech giants forge tie-ups to speed up AI deployment DINA BASS & JACKIE DAVALOS Seattle/Washington, March 22 EARLIER THIS WEEK, Microsoft named artificial intelligence (AI) pioneer Mustafa Suleyman chief of its consumer AI business and hired most of the staff from his Inflection AI startup.A day before,Bloomberg reported that Alphabet’s Google was in talks to licence its Gemini AI engine to Apple. The moves suggest that despite pouringbillionsofdollarsintopartnerships, investments and product development,MicrosoftandGoogle are struggling to figure out how to capitalise on generative AI. Neither company is moving fast enough to field consumer products that generate revenue and grab market AI ON THE PRIZE ■ Microsoft ■ Google, Microsoft, Apple are forming alliances, but GenAI requires each of the tech giants to assemble various ingredients ■ None has all of the ingredients — computing power, top-of-the-line AI models, trustworthy products and ways of getting them to people ■ Google, once the pioneer in large language models, keeps releasing products with worrying errors & biases share, and, despite their size and power, they remain vulnerable to being disrupted. Even as engineers labourto perfect the large language models undergirding the technol- ogy, the companies are forming alliances and scouring theworld for talent and promising startups. Forgingaleadingpositioningenerative AI requires each of the tech got a head start with OpenAI’s groundbreaking models, but couldn't build exciting consumer products besides video games ■ Apple is years behind in AI and planning to announce a comeback strategy in June, but it does have the iPhone and app store giants to assemble various ingredients—computingpower,top-of-thelineAImodels,trustworthyandeasyto-use products and ways of getting them to people. None of the tech giants has all of the ingredients. Google,oncethepioneerinlargelanguage models,keeps releasing productswithworryingerrorsandbiases. Microsoftgotaheadstartwithexclusive access to many of OpenAI’s ground-breaking models,but has never beenskilledatbuildingexcitingconsumerproductsbesidesvideogames. Apple is years behind in artificial intelligenceand,toshoreupitscapabilities in China, the company is in exploratory talks with Baidu about using the Chinese company’s AI technologyin devices sold there,the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. On the plus side, Apple sells the world’s most popular smartphone, anditsAppStoreservesasadistribution platform for millions of apps. The company plans to announce an AI comeback strategyin June. “Even large tech companies and cloud providers, with their vast resources,cannotinnovatetheentire generative AI ecosystem single handedly,”said Ido Caspi,a research analystatGlobalXETFs.“Companies must constantly be on the lookout forthe best talent and technologyto fill gaps in theirportfolios.” MicrosoftCEOSatyaNadellaisn’t satisfied with his team’s efforts to createconsumerproducts,according totwopeoplefamiliarwithhisthinking.Overthepastyear,ithasbakedAI into the Bing search engine, Windows, Office and other products— creating various digital assistants underthe newCopilot brand. Continued on Page 9 CHENNAI/KOCHI