ECONOMY, P2 COMPANIES, P4 INTERNATIONAL, P7 DATA PROTECTION ALSO DISCUSSED 3RD BIGGEST MARKET IN THE WORLD VOTING ON APRIL 3 PM Modi raises issue of AI misuse in meeting with Bill Gates Carmakers end FY24 on a high; total volume tops 4.3 mn units Battle for Disney board seats hots up as votes come in CHENNAI/KOCHI, SATURDAY, MARCH 30, 2024 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XLIV 277, 12 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: 73,651.35* ▲ 655.04 NIFTY: 22,326.90* ▲ 203.25 NIKKEI 225: 40,369.44 ▲ 201.37 HANG SENG: 16,541.42 ▲ 148.58 `/$: 83.40* ▼ 0.02 `/€: 89.87* ▲ 0.40 BRENT: $87 ▲ $1.59 GOLD: `66,987* ▲ `486 IN THE NEWS SHAPOORJI ARM AFCONS INFRA FILES IPO PAPERS AFCONS INFRASTRUCTURE, THE construction arm of Shapoorji Pallonji Group (SP Group), has filed a draft prospectus with market regulator to raise upto `7,000 crore through an IPO, reports Rajesh Kurup. The firm intends to use the proceeds to pare debt and for its general capital expenditure needs, amongst others. ■ PAGE 5 GREEN ENERGY CAPACITY PICKS UP AFTER FEWHICCUPS THE FINANCIAL YEAR 2023-24 saw many reforms in the electricity sector with a major emphasis given on the extensive addition of renewable capacity and enhancing the energy storage systems, reports Arunima Bharadwaj. ■ PAGE 2 HDFC BANK HIKES HOME LOAN RATE BY 10-15 BPS HDFC BANK INCREASED its repolinked home loan interest rates by 10-15 basis points (bps). According to information on the bank’s website, the home loan rate ranges from 9.05-9.80% per annum. ■ PAGE 8 45-DAY PAYMENT RULE FOR MSMEs SETTO BEGIN AS THE 45-DAYPAYMENT rule favouring micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) is all set to come into force from April 1, the units are generally upbeat, reports Geeta Nair. ■ PAGE 2 FE S P E C I A L A 1,000-km road trip to a temple,on a bike and a prayer How to reach Tungnath (the world’s highest Shiva temple) on a motorcycle. ■ MOTOBAHN, P7 Tax on overseas credit card Lock-in of `1.5 trn spend unlikely from Monday TATA TECH, MAMAEARTH TOP NAMES shares set to end No word yet from poll-bound govt on April 1 notification 66 companies will see the end of lock-in period in the next four months VIVEK KUMAR M Mumbai, March 29 PRIYANSH VERMA, SACHIN KUMAR & KISHORE KADAM New Delhi/Mumbai, March 29 LOCK-IN PERIOD EXPIRY AS MANY AS 66 companies will see the end of the lock-in period of their shares worth `1.48trillioninthenextfourmonths.Market experts said this could lead to some selling pressure on these stocks. Among the big names whose anchor and otherinvestorswill get an opportunityto exit include Tata Technologies, Mamaearth-promoter Honasa Consumer, Cello World, and Jana Small Finance Bank, according to a report by Nuvama Wealth Management. On April 1, the lockINSIDE in period of some shares of Global SurFY24: The faces, Sai Silks, JSW mega year Infrastructure, Platfor IPOs inum Industries, and ■ PAGE 8 Exicom Technologies, will expire. Deepak Jasani, head of retail research at HDFC Securities said that while there could be some selling across the counters where lock-in periodswill expire,it maynot impact the share price so much if the stock has performed well since its initial public offering (IPO). As per the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) regulations, anchor investors have to hold at least 50% of the shares allot- Name of the issue Issue size (` cr) Lock-in shares (m) Tata Tech 3,000 262 JSW Infra 2,800 103 Bharat Highways InvIT 2,500 83 Global Health 2,200 54 IREDA 2,200 1,478 Cello World 1,900 124 Juniper Hotels 1,800 11 Honasa Consumer Entero Healthcare 1,700 158 1,600 3 5 Star Business 1,600 58 Source: Nuvama Institutional Equities ted to them in IPOs for at least 90 days.Similar restrictions are also placed on promoter shares in the IPO companies. Continued on Page 10 THE PLAN TO bring overseas credit-card spend above a threshold under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) and a 20% tax-collected-at-source (TCS) is unlikely to be implemented from April 1, as the government is inclined to defer it again till the elections are over, sources from the government and banks told FE on condition of anonymity. The roll-out of the decision, announced in May 2023 with an aim to put a lid on rising outward foreign remittances, was put in abeyance after it cre- STATUS QUO ■ The proposals to expand the scope of LRS were first announced in Budget FY23 ■ The roll-out of the decision, announced in May 2023, was put in abeyance after it created a flutter among Indians seeking to study abroad, and the HNI community ■ The government has also restored the limit of `7 lakh for overseas credit card spending (barring expenses on medical treatment and education) on which no TCS would be levied ■ The government's move followed a rising incidence of international credit card spend by Indians above the annual LRS limit of $250,000 for an individual ated a flutter among Indians seeking to study abroad, and the HNI community. The plan to postpone its implementation further is despite most banks having put in place the necessary IT infrastructure, as directed by the Reserve Bank of India. The government's move followed a rising incidence of international credit card spend by Indians above the annual LRS limit of $250,000 for an individual. Continued on Page 10 E-tailing launch on GeM portal soon MUKESH JAGOTA New Delhi, March 29 E-RETAILERS LIKE AMAZON and Flipkart maysoon have a new competitor in the government e-Marketplace (GeM). The public procurement portalhasdoubledthe business it facilitated in a year by processing orders worth over `4 trillion in 2023-24, and is now preparing to make itself available to PROCUREMENT VIA GOVT EMARKETPLACE 21 million `7.9 trillion Orders on GeM since start of FY17 the general pubic for purchase of various goods and services. “That (consumer sales) is a very different ecosystem altogether.We will be Value of GeM transactions since inception mulling over it.We are preparing for that kind of eventuality if the government so desires. If feasible, if practical we will do a smallpilotinthisareaaswellinthecoming year if all the approvals are in place,” chief executive office of GeM PKSingh said. Continued on Page 10 Byju’s investors reject olive branch,skip EGM ANEES HUSSAIN Bengaluru, March 29 NOD TO RIGHTS ISSUE THE DISSENTING INVESTORS of Byju's – Peak XV Partners, General Atlantic, ChanZuckerberg Initiative and Prosus – on Friday rejected the olive branch extended by founder-CEO Byju Raveendran earlier during the day, to join the company's rights issue in the next 72 hours. While Byju’s concluded its extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to increase its authorised share capital with no objections raised on the resolutions, sources said that none of the four investors joined the proceedings, which lasted about half an hour. However, some sources added that officials from the law firm Trilegal were present at the EGM to represent the investors. Earlier, in the day, Raveendran, in a letter to shareholders,said that in response to the postal ballot announced on March 7, the company received more than 50% of votes in favour of increasing the authorised share capital. "As you are aware, we closed the rights issue last month, which was a crucial step towards ensuring the sustainability and growth of our company in these challenging economic conditions. I am happy to inform you that, in response to the postal ballot ■ Founder-CEO Byju Raveendran in a letter said, the company got more than 50% of votes in favour of increasing the authorised share capital ■ The EGM concludedwith no objections for raising authorised share capital ■ Sources said that officials from law firm Trilegalwere present to represent the investors ■ Around 20 investors representatives attended, along with Think & Learn management whichwasannouncedonMarch7,wealready got more than 50% votes to the increase in authorised share capital,"Raveendran wrote. "From theveryinception of this company, my vision has been to take everyone along, from one milestone to another. Continued on Page 10 IT MAJOR TRAINS 350,000 EMPLOYEES IN GENAI TCS opens its gates for 2024 grads PADMINI DHRUVARAJ Bengaluru, March 29 IN A GOOD news for freshers, the country's largest information technology services company,Tata ConsultancyServices (TCS), has started the process of hiring engineers and others graduating in 2024. The company has opened up its hiring portals for freshers across three different categories – Ninja, Digital, and Prime – with the Ninja category being offered a package of `3.36 lakh per annum for different roles, while the Digital and Prime categories will get `7 lakh and `9-11.5 lakh perannum,respectively.It has called applications from BTech, BE, MCA, MSc and MS batch of 2024. The last day to apply is April 10 and tests will be held on April 26. However, the company has not specified how many it plans to onboard. The recruitment announcement comesasa relief forstudentsasnumerous IT firms have frozen hirings due to poor demandfromtheirclients.Separately,TCS also announced that it has trained 350,000employeesingenerativeAIskills. FRESHTALENT ■ The company has opened up its hiring portals for freshers across three different categories – Ninja, Digital, and Prime ■ TCS had a target to recruit 40,000 freshers in the financial year 2023-24 ■ Ninja category is being offered a package of `3.36 lakh per annum, while Digital and Prime will get `7 lakh and `9-11.5 lakh per annum respectively ■ It has called applications from BTech, BE, MCA, MSc and MS batch of 2024 The company, which had in January announced that 150,000 staffers are trained in the skill sets ofwhat is said to be the biggest opportunity for IT services firms in the future, has now taken the numberup to overhalf its employee base. In 2023, it had become the first technology company to create a dedicated business unit for AI and cloud to address the growing needs of customers for cloud and AI adoption. TCS'worktillnowincludesapplicationof GenAI to enhance customer experience for airlinesfeaturingnaturalconversationswith customerswhen theirflights are delayed or cancelled,andalternativeroutingoptions.It has also tapped into GenAI capabilities to streamlineandsimplifythecontractreview process,includingidentificationandvalidationofclauses,thecompanysaid. Continued on Page 10 CHENNAI/KOCHI