COMPANIES, P4 COMPANIES, P5 INTERNATIONAL, P3 BIG-BUDGET RELEASES `66 CR REMUNERATION IN FY24 PRESIDENTIAL POLLS Multiplexes gear up for stronger second half as election ends Infosys’s Salil Parekh is second-highest paid CEO among IT peers Claudia Sheinbaum elected first woman to lead Mexico CHENNAI/KOCHI, TUESDAY, JUNE 4, 2024 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XLV 24, 24 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: 76,468.78 ▲ 2,507.47 NIFTY: 23,263.90 ▲ 733.20 NIKKEI 225: 38,923.03 ▲ 435.13 HANG SENG: 18,403.04 ▲ 323.43 `/$: 83.15 ▲ 0.32 `/€: 90.09 ▲ 0.44 BRENT: $78.67 ▼ $2.44 GOLD: `71,486 ▼ `641 EYEWEAR RETAILER LENSKART has raised $200 million in a secondary investment round from Temasek and Fidelity Management and Research Company. The investment likely values Lenskart at $5 billion against its previous valuation of $4.5 billion. ■ PAGE 4 KHARIF MSP LIKELY TO BE INCREASED IN 5-10% RANGE THE GOVERNMENT MAY announce generous 5-10% increases in minimum support price (MSP) of kharif crops for 2024-25 season (JuneJuly) to incentivise farmers to boost output, reports Sandip Das. ■ PAGE 2 2-WHEELER SALES FALLTO 7-MONTH LOW IN MAY DEMAND FOR TWOWHEELERS softened in May, reports Swaraj Baggonkar. Six companies controlling more than 90% of the domestic market reported a year-on-year growth of 10% in wholesale volumes to 1.54 million units. This was the lowest in seven months. ■ PAGE 4 CPSEs’ CAPEX RISES 6.5% TO CROSS `50,000 CR IN APRIL INVESTMENT BY CENTRAL public sector entities — companies and departmental agencies — rose 6.5% on-year to `50,206 crore in April, reflecting the government's thrust on investment-led growth, reports Prasanta Sahu. ■ PAGE 2 FE S P E C I A L May 31 (close) 73,961 Complexity of products & lack of expertise among TPAs are the biggest impediments in the settlement process ■ EXPLAINER, P9 INSIDE Election rally may still have legs, say experts ■ PAGE 6 Continued on Page 10 Adani Group m-cap crosses pre-Hindenburg level ■ PAGE 6 5.68 Axis Bank 6.27 Top Sensex gainers (%) Jun 03, 2024 Apr 07, 2020 Feb 01, 2021 May 18, 2009 Sept 20, 2019 Mar 25, 2020 Feb 15, 2022 Mar 20, 2020 Aug 30, 2022 May 20, 2022 Points % gain 2,507.47 3.39 2,476.26 8.97 2,314.84 5.00 2,110.79 17.34 1,921.15 5.32 1,861.75 6.98 1,736.21 3.08 1,627.73 5.75 1,564.45 2.70 1,534.16 2.91 Dollar vs Rupee 10-yr govt bond yield (%) 82.80 (inverted scale) 7.000 83.15 83.00 83.20 83.40 83.60 83.47 6.979 6.960 ▲ 6.940 0.38% May 31 6.980 Jun 3 6.920 6.944 May 31 Jun 3 THE GOVERNMENTIS considering setting up a dedicated overseas market development body— IndTrade — and a national branding division to get to the goal of $2 trillion in exports by 2030. IndTradewillwork fortrade promotion and the branding division willworkalongwiththeexportstrategy to promote ‘Made in India’ as a global brand,a seniorofficial said. At present, there are 14 export promotion councils under the department of commerce which deal with different product groups. Besides, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) functionsasanumbrellaorganisationof exporters. IndTradewill not seek to replace them but take a lead in “outward looking market development” for all sectors,the source said. For branding, large scale targeted campaigns will be planned. The‘Made-in-India’label scheme is likely to be announced in the first Budget of the incoming government in July,sources said. While the target is to more than double exports in next six years,for 2047 the exporttargetis $8trillion. To meet such tall targets, plans are underway to strengthen overseas market linkages through trade missions.Forexportersfurtherdigitisation of trade approvals and regulatory processes are in the pipeline. Free trade agreements (FTAs) are another priority element to boost export growth. Continued on Page 10 BJP upbeat, Oppn fingers crossed JP Associates to face insolvency process MANOJ CG New Delhi, June 3 AS THE COUNTRY awaited the counting of votes on Tuesday to decidetheoutcomeoftheLokSabha elections,the mood in the BJPcamp wasupbeat.TherewascautiousoptimismandanxietyintheOpposition INDIA bloc which believes, despite the exit polls predictions of an overwhelming mandate in favour of the BJPandNDA,that itcanstandinthe way of Modi and history. No prime INSIDE minister since JawaharlalNehru CEC: Fake has managed to narratives secure a third spread successive term ■ PAGE 7 in power.And no party since 1977 — when the Congress was voted out ofpowerforthefirsttimeafterIndependence — has got a third straight stint in government. In all,642 million votes are to be counted Tuesday for the 542 Lok Sabha seats across the country. Countingofvoteswillalsotakeplace for Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha,where the exit polls have predicted that the fate of the rulingYSRCPand the BJD hangs NCLT admits pleas from ICICI Bank, SBI FE BUREAU New Delhi, June 3 Preparations are in full swing at a counting centre at Nesco complex at Goregaon in Mumbai on Monday, on the eve of counting day for the general elections EXPRESS PHOTO: SANKHADEEP BANERJEE in the balance. As far as the Lok Sabha is concerned,there is a lot at stake for the BJP and the INDIAbloc.Will the BJP be able to make gains in southern India? Will it be able to retain its support base in the Hindi heartland and make major inroads in West Bengal and Odisha? According to the exit polls, the BJP could make major gains in these eastern states, more or less hold on to its dominance in northern India and make inroads in some southern states where it had no presence. As for the Opposition, the big question is whether the Congress willenditsHindiheartlanddrought. Continued on Page 10 THE ALLAHABAD BENCH of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Monday directed initiation of insolvency proceedings against debt-ridden Jaiprakash Associates (JAL). The insolvency plea against the company was filed by ICICI Bank and State Bank of India in 2018 and 2022 respectively. A two-member NCLT bench, comprising members Praveen Gupta and Ashish Verma, also appointed an interim resolution professional (IRP). Jaiprakash Associates, the flagship firm of Jaypee Group,is mainly into construction,cement and hospitality businesses. JAL has sold many cement plants in the last few years to reduce debt. ICICI Bank has claimed over `3,000 crore to be recovered, DEFAULT STATUS `3,000 cr claims made by ICICI Bank, which filed first insolvency plea in 2018 `6,893.15 cr claimed by SBI in subsequent plea filed in 2022 ■ JALwas on RBI's list of26 big loan defaulters to commercial banks to initiate bankruptcy proceedings ■ Several Jaypee Group companies facing insolvency proceedings before NCLT including interest, in its plea. The first insolvency plea was filed by ICICI Bank before the tribunal in 2018. SBI also filed a plea in 2022 claiming a total default of `6,893.15 crore. Continued on Page 10 UNVEIL NEW AI CHIPS, STRATEGIC PLANS Nvidia,AMD chiefs square off in fight for control of AI VLAD SAVOV, JANE LANHEE LEE & TAKASHI MOCHIZUKI June 3 How cashless claims can be settled faster `1,913.98 crore, according to provisional data.This is the highest single dayinvestment byFPIs in India in 2024, if one excludes Singtel’s 0.8% stake sale in Bharti Airtel and British American Tobacoo or BAT's 3.5% stake sale in ITC. Andrew Holland, CEO of Avendus CapitalAlternate Strategy,said,“If exit polls are correct, then FPIswill be confident to put money back into India. Especially in the banking sector because that’s one sector where they have taken money off table given it is a large part of their portfolio in India.” While investors were certain of the BJP-led NDA returning to power for a third consecutive term, the margin of victory predicted by the exit polls came as a Biggest gains L&T LENSKART RAISES $200 MILLION FROM TEMASEK, FIDELITY INDICES ROSE MORE than 3% on Monday, as exit polls predicted better-than-expected results for the incumbent government in the Lok Sabha elections. Both the Sensex and Nifty posted their biggest single-day gains in over three years, as foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) rushed to cover their highestever short positions. The Nifty-50 rose 733.2 points or3.3% to end the session at 23,263.90 points, while the Sensex swelled 2,507.47 points or 3.4% to 76,468.78 points. Overall investor wealth jumped by `13.79 trillion to a record `425.91 trillion. The broader marketindices,BSESmallcapand BSE Midcap, rose 3.5% and 2.1%,respectively. FPIs bought shares worth $825 million (`6,850.76 crore), whereas domestic institutional investors bought shares of 76,468 3.39% Export push, Made in India brand facelift in the works MUKESH JAGOTA New Delhi, June 3 Jun 3 (close) SENSEX 8.97 BARON CAPITAL HAS marked up the fair value of its stake in food delivery platform Swiggy by about 25% to $109.2 million as of March 31, from $87.2 million in the preceding quarter. This puts Swiggy’s valuation at $15.1 billion, reports Ayanti Bera. ■ PAGE 4 VIVEK KUMAR M Mumbai, June 3 FPIs still have net short positions of 196,900 contracts in index futures, that is, over 60% positions are yet to be covered surprise to investors who had taken short positions in the market. According to IIFL data, FPIs still have net short positions of 196,900 contracts in index futures, that is, over 60% positions are yet to be covered. “The exit polls suggest a bigger margin of victory for NDA than what the stock market was expecting. But what happens tomorrow is important,” said Saurabh Mukherjea,founderand chief investment officer at Marcellus Investment Managers. Given the one-way street, the IndiaVIXfell 15% to 20.94 level, as investors believe much of the uncertainty over the election could be now behind us. “A thumping victory for NDA will lift the whole narrative on India for the next round of faster growth and also earnings improvement. In my view, the overall momentum for Indian economy should continue with new vigour,” said A Balasubramanian, managing director and CEO,Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC. Shares of PSU banks were by far the biggest gainers on Monday with the Nifty PSU Bank index soaring 8.4%. 9.12 BARON MARKS UP SWIGGYVALUATION BY 25% TO $15.1 BN Exit polls, enter FPIs Power Grid MANUFACTURING ACTIVITY IN the country, as measured by the HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), stayed robust in May despite growing at a moderate pace as compared to April. The index fell to a three-month low of 57.5 in May from 58.8 in April, reports Priyansh Verma. ■ PAGE 2 ● BANK NIFTY BREACHES WEALTH CREATION IN A DAY 51,000 MILESTONE 9.21 MANUFACTURING PMI DECLINES TO THREE-MONTH LOW AS FPIs COVER SHORTS ● AT `13.79 TRN, BIGGEST SBI NEWS ● BEST DAY IN 3 YEARS NTPC IN THE THE CHIEFS OF Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) showcased new generations of the chips powering the global boom in AI development, deepening a rivalry that may decide the direction of artificial intelligence design and adoption. JensenHuangandLisaSu—both born in Taiwan and now local celebrities for leading US tech powerhouses — employed different tacks in conveying their expertise during back-to-back shows at the world’s largest computing conference this week inTaipei. Nvidia’s CEO repeatedly voiced DIFFERING PROCESSES ■ Nvidia is selling ■ Nvidia's Jensen Huang teased 'Rubin', a chip envisioned for 2026 and named after Vera Rubin, who helped discover dark matter customers a fully proprietary system — with chips, networking gear and everything required to run advanced AI development in data centres ■ AMD's Lisa Su introduced Ryzen AI 300 processors, announced new AI chips for 2025 and 2026. Also showed off Copilot+ laptops his $2.7 trillion company’s dominance in the accelerators that OpenAI and Microsoft rely on to build generative AI services like ChatGPT. Huang went as far as to tease a chip envisioned for 2026 he dubbed Rubin—afterVeraRubin,theAmerican woman who helped discover darkmatter.Thechip,whichwillsucceedtheBlackwellfamily,willbekey ■ AMD touts open standards that make its hardware interoperable with that of rivals like Intel tosustainingitsrunawayleadership. While Huang headlined much of his own two-hour presentation on Sunday,AMD’sSuchosetomakehers more of a team effort. She brought out a stream of big-name partners from HP CEO Enrique Lores to LenovoGroup’sLucaRossitoconvey the company’s focus on designing neural processors — a type of chip that runs AI services directly from laptops.AtonepointduringherComputex address, Asustek Computer chairmanJonneyShihcalledher“the prideofTaiwan”—acharacterisation often associated with Huang of Nvidia, whose market valuation is nowabout 10 times that ofAMD’s. “People see Nvidia as a personification of Jensen.And while Lisa is the savior of AMD, she’s very clear that it’s about everyone around her,” said Ian Cutress, chief analyst at the consultancy More Than Moore.“AMD still have that underdog element about the business, and with AI it’s very much true.” The back-to-back presentations — attended by hundreds and watched by thousands more across theglobe—underscorethegrowing stakes in a technology that has the potential to redefine a slew of industries and create new devices that can near-instantly generate video and other content from simple commands. There’s a personal component to the competition too. Su and Huang are not only both Taiwanese, they wereborninthesamecityofroughly 1.8 million on Taiwan’s southern coast and are distant relatives.That hasn’t made eitherone morewilling to cede ground to the other. Continued on Page 10 CHENNAI/KOCHI