COMPANIES, P4 BACK PAGE, P18 INTERNATIONAL, P3 SCRIPTING A COMEBACK CLASH OF THE TITANS US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2024 TechM best poised to leverage the power of AI, says Mahindra India and South Africa battle it out today for T20 World Cup glory Biden’s wobbly debate with Trump accelerates candidacy doubts CHENNAI/KOCHI, SATURDAY, JUNE 29, 2024 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XLV 46, 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: 79,032.73 ▼ 210.45 NIFTY: 24,010.60 ▼ 33.90 NIKKEI 225: 39,583.08 ▲ 241.54 HANG SENG: 17,718.61 ▲ 2.14 `/$: 83.39 ▲ 0.07 `/€: 89.30 ▼ 0.02 BRENT: $86.52 ▲ $0.13 GOLD: `71,563 ▲ `463 FLIGHTS SUSPENDED AT T1 Stage set for multi-billion dollar inflows FATF PLACES INDIA ATA HIGHER LEVEL AMONG PEERS THE FATF has placed India in the ‘regular follow-up’ category, reports Manu Kaushik. This signifies a higher level among peers in its anti-money laundering drive, and is a distinction shared by just four other G20 countries. ■ PAGE 2 SACHIN KUMAR Mumbai, June 28 INAHISTORICmoment,Indiangovernment securities were included in JPMorganChase’semergingmarkets bond index on Friday, setting the stageformulti-billion-dollarinflows. The entry of government securities may attract INSIDE around $30-bilDebt to be lioninflowsover cheaper on the next 10 months from inclusion global bond ■ PAGE 6 investors, according to analysts. Foreign investors have alreadypouredmorethan$11billion into index-eligible bonds since the inclusiondecisionwasannouncedin Septemberlastyear. “Foreign holdings of India bonds have been on the lower side till now and hence the index inclusion event could be a watershed moment for sovereign markets,”Aditya Bagree, head markets, Citi - India & Indian Subcontinent,toldFE.“Thisdevelopmentcoupledwiththestrongmacrooutlook for the country has bought TATA STEEL UK TAKES LEGALACTION AGAINST UNION TATA STEEL UK has initiated legal action against an employees’ union, terming a decision to strike work “unilateral”, and warned of shutting operations at the Port Talbot facility much earlier, reports Rajesh Kurup. ■ PAGE 5 IN A BID to boost the participation of retail investors in the securities market, Sebi has revised the framework for basic service demat account, and increased the threshold for the account to `10 lakh, reports Akshata Gorde. ■ PAGE 6 PMLA CASE: SOREN GETS BAILAFTER FIVE MONTHS FIVE MONTHS AFTER his arrest in an alleged PMLA case, former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren was granted bail and stepped out of the Birsa Munda Jail in Ranchi on Friday, reports Abhishek Angad. ■ PAGE 7 FE S P E C I A L Xpulse 200 4V Pro: SUV of motorcycles The bike from the Hero stable has not much utility, but a lot of sport ■ MOTOBAHN, P9 A reality check for the state of India’s infra ministry has asked airlines to ensure that there is no abnormal surge in airfares for flights to and from the national capital amid suspension of operations at the affected terminal. PAGE 18 SANDIP DAS New Delhi, June 28 7.10 6.95 6.80 Sep 1, 2023 June 28, 2024 Source: Bloomberg India’s bond market to the attention of global investors and makes a strong case for overseas investors to increase overall allocation to India fixed income markets,” he said. Continued on Page 7 PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, June 28 THE MONETISATION OF India Tourism Development Corporation's (ITDC)’s prized property – The Ashok along with its land parcels – will likely kick off soon. The government is keen on the conclusion of a leasing deal in FY25 to redevelop the asset,which is in the heart of Lutyens’ Delhi. Currently, the Centre owns 87.03% of ITDC while Tata Group’s Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) holds a 7.86% stake. The proposed transaction is being structured as a public-private partnership (PPP) under which the hotel and land parcels will likely be leased out for the long term. The monetisation of The Ashok and its vacant plots is estimated to be about `7,500 crore, consisting of capital expenditure by the PPP concessionaire and upfront lease revenues to ITDC. The redevelopment of The Ashok,which has been pending for the last couple of years, is part of the `6-trillion National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) in the four years through FY25.“The property will be monetised in the current financial year,” an official aware of the matter told FE. The integrated offering to the bidders — hotel and the land parcels — could include a leasing period of 60-99 years under an operation, management and CHECKING IN `7,500 crore estimated monetisation of The Ashok and its vacant plots Stakeholders in ITDC: Centre: 87.03% Tata Group’s IHCL: 7.86% ■ Transaction is being structured as a public-private partnership ■ Hotel and land parcels to likely be leased out for 60-99 years development model. The Ashok Hotel was built on 11.42 acres and has a total inventory of 550 rooms, including 160 suites,barelya fewhundred metres from the Prime Minister’s residence and the embassies. Continued on Page 7 COMBINED SOWN AREA UP A THIRD ON YEAR Normal sown area 2023 DESPITE A WEEK-LONG monsoon breakbetweenJune17-22,sowingof kharif crops has got off to a brisk start.At24.07millionhectares(MH), thecombinedsownareaofkeycrops – paddy, pulses, oilseeds, sugarcane and cotton –was up 32% onyearon Friday,according to data bythe agricultureministry.Thisallaysthefears of another spurt in food inflation, which has been stickier than the headlineinflationinrecentmonths. While the area under paddy,the most important kharif crop, stood at the same level as a year ago,sowing of pulses (181%) and oilseeds (155) saw sharp spikes. These are still early days as a little over a fifth of the kharif crops usuallyget sown by this time of the season. Going by a five-year average, barely 6% of paddy sowing is completed by June-end. The kharif sowing activities will continue till Fiscal deficit at just 3% of FY25 BE in April-May Core sector growth slows to 6.3% in May A SHARP DECLINE in capitalexpenditureamid the election season, and higher-than-budgeted growth in tax revenues enabled the Centre to rein in the fiscal deficit in April-May at 3% of the Budget estimate for FY25, reports Prasanta Sahu. In the corresponding period ofthepreviousfiscal,thedeficitwas 11.8% of the respective annual target. The Centre’s capex halved in Mayto`44,390crorewhilerevenue expenditure fell a third on-year to `2.33 trillion. ■ Page 2 Paddy 40.15 Pulses* 13.60 Oilseeds** 19.01 Sugarcane COMPARISON OF POPULAR PREPAID PLANS AFTER TARIFF HIKE Airtel 199 299 349 649 859 979 Jio 189 249 299 629 799 859 Vi* 199 299 349 649 859 979 2 GB monthly, 28 days 1 GB/ day, 28 days 1.5 GB/ day, 28 days 2 GB/ day, 56 days 1.5 GB/ day, 84 days (in `) 2 GB/ day, 84 days Data and Validity * Vi (Vodafone Idea) plans of over 1.5 GB/day also includes unlimited data (12 am to 6 am) marketshareasitstariffsarethelowest amongst peers. This view gets strengthened from the fact Jio moved first to take a tariff hike. In 2019,tariffhikewasledbyVodafone Idea and byBhartiAirtel in 2021. “In 2019 and 2021,Jio followed Bharti in raising tariffs. Since then, Jiohasconsolidateditsmarketleadership further, which may have led ittotaketheleadthistime,”Jefferies saidinitsreportonFriday.“Jio'slim- ited participation in the spectrum auctions this week suggests that its focus on network monetisation is rising and its initiative on raising tariffs suggests that it is more confident that its subscribers are 2024 Cotton Total^ 0.8 2.25 1.68 12.93 109.58 18.16 GROWTH OF THE eight core industries eased to 6.3% y-o-y in May from 6.7% in April and 5.2% a yearago,mainlyduetoslowergrowth in steel,refinery products and crude oil output,data released bythe commerce ministry showed on Friday, reports PriyanshVerma.On a sequential basis,however,the the output rose 3.7% in May. The month-onmonthgrowththisyear,however,was lower than the average growth of 6.8%recordedbetweenthetwomonths in the past12years. ■ Page 2 unlikely to churn out. Rising focus onmonetisationcouldalsobeaprecursor to its imminent listing,” the brokerage firm noted. Telecom industry executives explainedthatafterthehikes,Bharti's tariffs continue to be at premium to Jio's,though the gap has narrowed a bit.Therefore,goingahead,Jioknows that if it raises tariffs, Bharti and Vodafone Ideawould followsuit and a similar gap will continue to be maintained.“In this case,it does not needtofearanysubscriberchurnand can focus on monetisation.This is a goodsignfortheindustry,wheretariff hikes will happen at frequent intervals instead of long gaps,” an industryexecutive said. Continued on Page 7 % change 2.27 2.27 5.11 Telcos to put tariff hikes on speed dial CONSUMERS SHOULD NOW get ready to pay higher phone bills at frequent intervals with the telecom operators hiking tariffs by up to 25% in the past two days. While RelianceJiohikedtariffsby12-25% onThursday,BhartiAirtelwent fora 10-21% increase, followed by 1023% byVodafone Idea on Friday. Thedayswhentherewerelonger gaps between tariffs revisions, sometimes over two years, seem to be over. Tariffs were last raised by the operators in November 2021 and before it in December 2019. Analysts attribute this change in strategytoRelianceJionowfocusing onmonetisationratherthangaining 7.009 7.25 Govt targets to seal Kharif sowing off to a brisk start Ashok deal in FY25 JIO TO FOCUS ON MONETISATION OVER MARKET SHARE GAINS JATIN GROVER New Delhi, June 28 7.167 181 155 4.29 5.54 5.68 3.63 5.91 24.07 2.5 62.8 32.54 *Data as on June 28,2024, in million hectare, average of last five years, ^including coarse creals & jute & mesta, *tur, urad, moong, **groundnut,soybean, sunflower the end of September. Monsoon has advanced to northwest,east and central parts of India in recent days, and hit the national capital region early on Fri- day.Still,theoverallrainfallthisseason has seen a 14% deficiency against the long period average. Continued on Page 7 ITC’s Puri highest paid CEO among his FMCG peers VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO Mumbai, June 28 SANJIVPURI,CHAIRMANandmanaging director (CMD) of ITC,was the highest-paid chief executive officer (CEO) among some of the country's top fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG)peersinFY24.Annualreports foronlyafewFMCGfirms, including HindustanUnilever(HUL)andNestle India,have been releasedso far. Puritookhomeatotalremuneration of `25.18 crore in FY24, a growth of 54.3% versus last year. HUL’s CEO and MD Rohit Jawa and NestleIndia's INSIDE CMD Suresh Narayanan ITC’s FMCG business hit by took home weak demand `22.39crore and `23.52 ■ PAGE 4 crore each for the twelve months ended March 31, 2024. Narayanan has seen a nearly 33% year-on-year growth in remunerationinFY24.Jawa,ontheotherhand, tookoverfromSanjivMehtainJuneend of 2023,implying this is his first annualcompensationfromthefirm. Puri's package this year interestingly is on par with last year's highest-paid CEO – Marico's Saugata Gupta. In FY23, Gupta took home a compensation package of `25.11 crore. HUL's then CEO & MD Sanjiv Mehta was the second-highest paid CEO at `22.36 crore, followed by Nestle's SALARYSURGE FMCG companies — CEO salary (in ` cr) FY23 FY24 Suresh RohitJawa Narayanan* (HUL) (Nestle India) Sanjiv Puri (ITC) 22.39 SEBI RAISES BASIC DEMATTHRESHOLD TO `10 LAKH to probe the incident. Flight operations have been suspended indefinitely at T1, which is used for domestic flights operated by IndiGo and SpiceJet. Meanwhile, the civil aviation 7.40 23.52 OWING TO POOR consumer sentiments and hot weather conditions, sales of passenger vehicles may fall the most in 30 months to 10-12% in June, reports Swaraj Baggonkar. ■ PAGE 4 At least one person was killed and six others were injured after a portion of the roof of the Delhi airport's Terminal 1 collapsed due to heavy rain on Friday. DIAL has set up a technical committee 10-year govt bond yield (%) 7.55 17.74 FALL IN JUNE AUTO SALES LIKELYTO BE MOST IN 30 MONTHS MORE REPORTS ON PAGE 18 RUSH HOUR 25.18 NEWS INDIA IN JPM BOND INDEX 16.32 IN THE Saugata Gupta (Marico) Sanjiv Mehta (HUL) Sudhir Sitapati (GCPL) 25.11 22.36 14.43 Mohit Malhotra (Dabur India) 13.35 Varun Berry (Britannia Industries) 12.84 VarunJaipuria (Varun Beverages) 5.41 Prabha Narasimhan#(Colgate-Palmolive) 4.19 *FY24 salary is for 12 months # appointed w.e.f Sept 1, 2022 Narayanan at `17.74 crore. Puri was ranked fourth in the pecking order in FY23, taking home a total remuneration of `16.32 crore. Continued on Page 7 CHENNAI/KOCHI