MARKETS, P6 COMPANIES, P4 INTERNATIONAL, P5 MPC MINUTES CALLS FOR JOBS CREATION LATEST VERSION LIKELY IN AUG Disinflationary policy stance due to high food inflation: Das India Inc should join govt to build human capital: HUL chairman Amazon mulls $5-10 monthly price tag for unprofitable Alexa CHENNAI/KOCHI, SATURDAY, JUNE 22, 2024 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XLV 40, 18 PAGES, `12.00 P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E SENSEX: 77,209.90 ▼ 269.03 NIFTY: 23,501.10 ▼ 65.90 NIKKEI 225: 38,596.47 ▼ 36.65 HANG SENG: 18,028.52 ▼ 306.80 `/$: 83.54 ▲ 0.11 `/€: 89.38 ▲ 0.34 BRENT: $85.77 ▲ $0.06 GOLD: `72,442 ▲ `635 Driving Tata Altroz Racer on a racetrack near Coimbatore It won’t burn the track with its performance, but its agility is another level cool. ■ MOTOBAHN, P7 Closing a card will impact credit score It will increase the utilisation ratio and shorten credit history ■ PERSONAL FINANCE, P7 advisors and individualswho provide trading tips come under the same umbrella ■ RIAs need to give exams to renew their NISM certification every three years ■ Individuals providing trading tips to be moved to ‘research analyst’ licence ■ RIAswon’t need to give the exam to renew their NISM certification every three years ■ Both Instamart and current market-leader Blinkit operate in 25-30 cities across India ■ Zepto has seen a rapid rise in its gross merchandise volume over the past three years Ola faces investor pushback on IPO valuation OLA ELECTRIC Mobility, India’s largest electric scooter maker, is facing investor pushback on its targetedvaluation forits upcoming initial public offering,according to people familiar with the matter, reports Bloomberg. The company’s founder has been aiming for a potential Continued on Page 9 valuation of as much as $7 billion in a Mumbai listing, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. That would compare with a valuationofabout$5billionbasedoninitial feedback from investors,the people said. ■ Page 4 ● INFOSYS’ ■ Limit for ■ Individual RIAs are required to convert to a partnership firm or company upon reaching 150 clients ■ RIAs are required 25TH YEAR AT NYSE compulsory conversion to a corporate entity will be increased doubled or more ■ Assistants of to hire assistants with at least two years ofexperience in financial sector Infosys rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Friday to celebrate 25 years of its listing at the exchange. CEO Salil Parekh, CFO Jayesh Sanghrajka & other key company leaders were present at the occasion investment advisors need not have two years of experience is burningly important. Eighty percent of the time,itis.Buttherecouldbeoccasionswhereit is possible to be more flexible,” she had said. According to current norms, RIAs must renew their National Institute of Securities Markets(NISM)certificationeverythreeyears by clearing an exam – something,many view as a business continuityrisk.Sebi’s proposalis expected to do awaywith this requirement. Continued on Page 9 Jail term for Hindujas in Swiss case By FY25 end, NPS HUGO MILLER June 21 FOUR MEMBERS OFthe billionaire Hinduja familywere found guiltyof illegally exploiting poorly paid servants at theirluxuryGenevavilla,in a damning verdict for the Swiss branch of one of India’s wealthiest and most influential clans. Family scion Ajay Hinduja, his wife Namrata and his parents Prakash and Kamal illegally took advantage of staff hired in India, paying themwages a fraction of the goingrateinSwitzerland,according to Judge Sabina Mascotto.The elder Hindujas —who failed to attend the trial,citing poorhealth —were both sentenced to 4 1/2 years in jail.Ajay and his wife, who were not present PAYBACK TIME ■ Family scion Ajay Hinduja, his wife Namrata and his parents Prakash and Kamal illegally took advantage of staff hired in India ■ The staff were exploited given the disproportion between what they were paid & should have been paid ■ The elder Hindujas were both sentenced to 4-1/2 years in jail.Ajay and his wife got 4 years Ajay Hinduja (left) & father Prakash. The Hindujas knew the vulnerabilities of the staff, the court said in the courtroom, were given a lesser sentence of 4 years. All four were acquitted of the charge of human trafficking. The domestic staff “were exploited given the evident dispro- portionbetweenwhattheywerepaid and should have been paid,” Mascotto said, reading from the verdict. “Theywere exploited given theirsituationinIndiawassoprecariousand they were exploited as they didn’t know the language, had their passportsconfiscatedandwereonlyever paidevery3-6months.ThefourHindujasknewthevulnerabilitiesof the staffandknewwhattheruleswerein Switzerland, as they all were Swiss citizens and Ajay was educated in Switzerland.” The judgment marks another important victory forYves Bertossa, Geneva’s top prosecutor, who secured a conviction of mining tycoon Beny Steinmetz in 2021 on bribery charges and rogue Credit Suisse banker Patrice Lescaudron in 2018. Bertossa asked the judge to either immediately detain the two youngerHindujasandifnot,toorder themtosurrendertheirpassportand pay2 million Swiss francs ($2.2 million) each as bail. -- BLOOMBERG LEO BURNETT LEADS WITH 5 METALS, OGILVY NEXT WITH 4 India bags 18 metals in worst show since 2015 INSIDE INDIA BAGS 18 METALS Indian agencies clinched 4 metals on the final day of the Cannes Lions – 2 Silvers and 2 Bronzes. This took India's final tally, at the time of this copy going to press to 18, with 2 Golds, 7 Silvers, and 9 Bronzes – an underwhelming performance when compared to past results Agency CANNES Leo Burnett India DIARY Gold 1 2 2 5 1 Ogilvy India McCann Worldgroup Silver Bronze Total 3 4 2 3 Early Man Film 1 1 2 ALOKANANDA CHAKRABORTY New Delhi, June 21 VML India 1 1 2 FCB Kinnect 1 1 INDIA STARTED ITS campaign at PalaisdesFestivalsetdesCongrèsin Cannes this year quite slowly, but there was hope that the tempo would pick up later. That hope was dashed as the Indian ad contingent was unable to break out of that initial sluggishness. tgthr 1 1 With 18 metals at the end of the five-day festival, the Indian contingent was staring at its worst performance since 2015 when it picked 13 metals.Ametal in advertising parlance refers to an award or trophy. Cannes, like every other advertising festival, gives away Gold, Silver and Bronze Lions to standout work in various categories. Leo Burnett led the Indian con- 1 tingent this yearwith 5 metals,followed by Ogilvy at 4, McCann with 3, Early Man Film and VML with 2 each and FCB Kinnect and Tghtr with one Lion each in theirbag.This total of 18 metals was made up of 2 Ideas that inspire PAGE 18 Golds,7 Silvers and 9 Bronze.Interestingly,none of these awards were fordigitalcraftthatcelebratestechnological artistry in advertising. A bit of history will explain the disappointingperformance.During India's last three outings, the score cardwaslikethis:2020-21:22metals; 2022: 47; 2023: 24.Even at the 2015 festival when Indian landed only 13,the redeeming feature was a Grand Prix in that year's new category,Glass Lions. Inventiveness and bravery are two prerequisites for awards, Hemant Misra,founder,Magic Circle, and former CEO, Publicis Capital,says. Continued on Page 9 corpus may rise 28% to `15 trn PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, June 21 THEASSETS UNDER management (AUM) of the National Pension System (NPS) may rise by a steep 28% on year to `15 trillion by end of 2024-25,aided byfresh enrolment of private subscribers and a newlife cycle scheme, Pension Fund and RegulatoryDevelopmentAuthority (PFRDA) chairman Deepak Mohanty said on Friday. This shows even amid the clamour for a return to the old (definedbenefit) pension scheme, and several state governments re-introducing unfunded pension schemes for their staff,with potentially huge costs to the exchequer, the NPS continues to gain traction. With the government-sector enrolment saturated, PFRDA is encouraging private corporates to enroll their staff under NPS.About 0.87millionnewprivatesectorsubscribers joined NPS in FY24. According to Mohanty, the new life cycle scheme thatwill automatically allow people till 45 years of age to invest 50% of theircorpus in equity,will be launched by AugustSeptember. After the cut-off age, equity exposure will taper off gradually. An auto-choice lifecycle fund would offeran easyoption forthose privatesubscriberswho donot have the required knowledge to manage their NPS investments. Mohanty said he would suggest to the government allow the scheme for its staff as well. The proposed scheme is an improvement overthe extant LC50 - Moderate Life Cycle Fund which provides a cap of 50% of the total assets for equity investment. The ROBUST RETURNS Average annual NPS returns* (%) Past one year Since inception 11.12 9.19 FE S P E C I A L S ■ Investment Expected OUR STORES ARE TURNING PROFITABLE FASTER, WHILE WE ARE ACHIEVING NEAR POSITIVE EBITDA AT A COMPANY LEVEL APY# IN A PRE-BUDGET meet with FM Nirmala Sitharaman, agriculture experts demanded an end to the practice of routing the fertiliser subsidies via manufacturers & sought direct transfer, report Priyansh Verma & Sandip Das. ■ PAGE 2 Current norms ■ Zepto currently has a market share of28%, as per a report. Blinkit is at nearly 40% while Instamart is at 32% 11.11 9.46 AGRI EXPERTS FOR DIRECTTRANSFER OF SUBSIDY THE SECURITIES AND Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is soon expected to come outwith a series of proposals that will provide significant regulatory relaxations to registered investmentadvisors(RIAs),sourcesclosetothe development said. A consultation paper, expected in July,has suggested elimination of thetriennialcertificationmandate,increasing the 150-client cap and doing away with the pre-requisiteofhiringexperiencedassistants. A key proposal is also likely to be moving individuals who provide stock trading tips from RIAs to the ‘research analyst’ licence to createadistinctionbetweenthemandinvestment advisors,who provide tailor-made solutions forclients and individuals. “An RIA does not only give investment advice but also works on insurance, taxation andotherimportantaspectsofaclient’sfinancial well being. So, they need to be separated fromindividualswhoprovidestocktipsorrun trading courses,”said the source. According to people in the know,the markets regulator has been holding discussions with all the stakeholders to address the challenges faced byRIAs and explore possible regulatoryrelaxations. Last October, addressing registered advisors’concernsaboutthecomplianceburdenat aconference,organisedbyAssociationofRegisteredInvestmentAdvisors(ARIA),Sebichairperson Madhabi Puri Buch acknowledged the compliance burden on RIAs and emphasised the regulator’s willingness to co-create regulations. “Thesettingofstandardsisbestdonebythe industryitselfbutthatneedstobedoneinconsultation with Sebi.For one,if there is an area wherethemarginalutilityofcomplianceislow butthecostishigh,theindustrywillaskifthis ■ Zepto said that itwill use the money to enter 10 new markets including Jaipur, Chandigarh State government# AROUND 1,500 TATA Steel workers based in Port Talbot and Llanwern in Wales will begin "all-out indefinite strike action" from July 8 in protest against the company's "disastrous plans" to cut 2,800 jobs and close its blast furnaces, reports PTI. ■ PAGE 4 AKSHATA GORDE & JOYDEEP GHOSH Mumbai, June 21 QUICK COMMERCE UNICORN Zepto has raised$665millionatavaluationof$3.6billion,which is more than doublewhen it last raised funds, thus making it the largest funding round for an Indian startup this year.Italsocomesatatimewhentheindustrycontinues to see muted numberof deals and smaller cheque size for growth-stage companies. In August,2023,Zepto had raised $200 million at a $1.4 billionvaluation in a Series E round led by US asset management firm StepStoneGroup.Thecurrentfundinground was led by existing investors Glade Brook Capital,StepStoneGroupandNexusVenture Partners, while other existing investors Goodwater Capital and Lachy Groom also participated.New investors like DSTGlobal, Avenir Growth Capital,Lightspeed Venture PartnersandAvraalsojoinedtheround. According to Aadit Palicha, co-founder and CEO of Zepto,around 40% of the fresh fundshave come from newinvestors. AADIT PALICHA, CO-FOUNDER & CEO, ZEPTO 11.11 9.58 TATA STEEL STAFF IN UK CALL FIRST STRIKES IN 40 YEARS Research analyst tag for those giving tips, client cap may be doubled RISING QUICK COMMERCE STAR Central government# TO CURB THE misselling of life insurance policies as pure investment products, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) has barred insurance companies from advertising unitlinked insurance plans or Ulips as investment plans. ■ PAGE 6 ANEES HUSSAIN Bengaluru, June 21 34.8 ULIPS LOSE PURE INVESTMENT PRODUCTTAG Sebi’s registered advisors rules set for an overhaul Zepto raises year’s best round of $665 mn at 2.6x valuation 14 NEWS TO EASE COMPLIANCE BURDEN FOR RIAs Equity IN THE *As on June 14, 2024; Aggregate returns from all investments # exposure in equity starts with 50% till 35 years of age and gradually reduces as per the age of the subscriber. This extant scheme is also available to the government staff. Subject to market conditions as it is now,Mohantysaid the cumulative NPS AUM including Atal Pension Yojana (APY) will likely reach `15 trillion by March 31, 2025. At the end of FY24, the AUM stood at `11.73 trn. Continued on Page 9 CHENNAI/KOCHI