OPINION, P8 WELL BEING ACROSS THE AISLE, P CHIDAMBARAM The omnipresent toxic substances have been linked to serious health issues Page 6 Prepare for more of the same MIND & GAMES THE LURKING DANGERS OF ‘FOREVER CHEMICALS’ How science went to the dogs (and cats) Once dismissed as trivial, companion animal science is hot today Page 9 LEISURE Follow us on Twitter & Facebook. App available on App Store & Play Store WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM VOL XX, NO. 62 SERVING UP THE FUTURE FINANCIAL EXPRESS ON SUNDAY HYDERABAD SUNDAY, JULY 7, 2024, 12 Pages, `12 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 E N N A I , READ TO LEAD H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K A T A , ● Indian liquor industry no more male-dominated ■ SPOTLIGHT, P5 Noodle wars KASTURI BANERJEE FOUNDER, STILLDISTILLING SPIRITS WHENKASTURIBANERJEE launched Stilldistilling Spirits—makers of the Maka Zai White Rum—in 2020, she was one of the fewwomen leaders in the country’s burgeoning alco-bev industry. “Today, it’s great to see a steady rise in the number of female entrepreneurs entering the sector, across several roles,” said Banerjee, who worked in the financial services industryasabankerforover16years, in India and Singapore, before HINA NAGARAJAN MD & CEO, DIAGEO INDIA ASHWINI DEORE & YOGINEE BUDHKAR CO-FOUNDERS, CERANA MEADS IPSITA DAS MD, MOET HENNESSY INDIA embarking on her entrepreneurial journeyto produce premium homegrown rums from Goa. Manywomen are making a foray into the liquor business. From owning resto-bars to leading alco-bev companies, from bartending to launching new spirits, there’s a noticeable trend towards greater equalityunfolding in the space. Yoginee Budhkar and Ashwini Deore,both41yearsold,werepursu- Likely pro-poor Budget to be tabled on July 23 ■ WORDS WORTH, P4 Intelligence at work Former spy chiefs discuss peace and conflict threadbare FM’S OFFERING ● Parliament ■ Economic Survey for 2023-24 Session to be from expected to be presented on July 22 July 22 to August 12 17 companies enter `1-trillion mcap club Samvardhana Motherson, Solar Industries, Vodafone Idea, and Indus Towers were the top gainers among these 17 companies. While the market cap of Mazagon Dock more than doubled to `1.13 trillion from `54,039 crore, Samvardhana Motherson's market cap rose 45.6% to `1.40 trillion. Compiled by Kishor Kadam Top 10 entrants in `1-trillion market cap club June 4, ‘24 Mazagon Dock Samvardhana Motherson Solar Industries Vodafone Idea Indus Towers JSW Energy BHEL Shriram Finance Cummins India Bajaj Holdings Source: Capitaline July 4,’24 Chg (%) 54,039 1,12,963 96,124 1,40,001 78,971 1,09,879 87,958 1,18,856 82,856 1,08,889 96,949 1,26,722 85,711 1,08,292 84,873 1,06,535 89,854 1,12,683 88,258 1,10,111 ■ Centre’s expenditure size of PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, July 6 `47.65 trillion presented in interim Budget to see increase THE FULL BUDGET for 2024-25, ■ Besides new incentives, govt to improve upon ongoing schemes which is expected to have a slew of measuresforthepoorandthemiddle class,will be presented on July 23 in theBudgetSessionoftheParliament commencing on July 22. The Economic Survey for 2023-24 is expected to be presented on July22. “Hon’ble President of India, on the recommendation of GovernmentofIndia,hasapprovedtheproposal for summoning of both the HousesofParliamentfortheBudget Session,2024 from 22nd July,2024 to 12 August, 2024 (Subject to exigencies of Parliamentary Business). Union Budget, 2024-25 will be presented in Lok Sabha on 23 July, 2024,”ParliamentaryAffairs MinisterKiren Rijiju posted onX. ■ Fiscal deficit target, projected to be 5.1% in interim Budget, may be retained around 5% President Droupadi Murmu, in her address to the joint session of Parliament on June 27,had said the first Budget of the newgovernment would unveil “far-reaching policies andafuturisticvision”.Itwouldalso contain major economic and social decisions and many historic steps with the poor, youth, women and farmersatthecoreofpolicymaking. The Centre’s expenditure size of `47.65 trillion presented in the Ratan Kesh named interim MD,CEO of Bandhan Bank PIYUSH SHUKLA Mumbai, July 6 THE BOARD OF privatesectorlender Bandhan Bank on Saturday approvedtheappointmentofRatan KumarKeshasinterimMDandCEO of the bank with effect from July 10. The presentMDandCEO,ChandraShekharGhosh,isset to retire on July9. “Pursuant to the approval of the Reserve BankofIndiaandonthe basis of the recommendation of the nomination and remuneration committee, the Board of directors of the bank has approved the appointment of Ratan KumarKesh,executive director and chief operating officer, as interim MD & CEO of the bankwith effect from July 10 for a period of threemonthsortillanewMD&CEO takes charge, whichever is earlier,” the bank said in an exchange filing. Besides Kesh,anotherexecutive director, Rajinder Kumar Babbar, was also in the running. However, Kesh, being seniormost executive director at the bank, had an edge over Babbar. Kesh joined Bandhan Bank as executive directorinMarch2023.Hehas previously worked with ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Yes Bank and Axis Bank. In April, bank founder Ghosh had declared that he will retire at the end of his third tenure on July9. He had saidhewould,however,continue to have a‘larger strategic’role at the group level. Total 17,540 Total 67,558 IT WAS SUPPOSED to change the brandimageofMarutiSuzuki—from a small-car company to one that can makeandselltoughoff-roaders—but ayearlaterthe Jimnyhas remained a pale shadow of Mahindra Thar, the original off-roader. LaunchedonJune7,2023,Maruti Suzuki has sold just 17,540 units of SLUGGISH SALES Jun the Jimny in a year—till May 31, 2024—whichisalmostone-fourthof the67,558unitsoftheTharsoldduring the same period. (in units) Jimny Thar 3,071 3,899 3,778 5,265 3,104 5,951 2,651 5,417 1,852 5,593 1,020 5,810 730 5,793 163 6,059 322 5,812 318 6,049 257 6,160 274 5,750 VIKRAM CHAUDHARY New Delhi, July 6 KARISHMA CHANDY CO-FOUNDER, HAPPENSTANCE BEVERAGES KARISHMA MANGA BEDI FOUNDER, IDAAYA Jul Aug Sep Oct 2023 Nov Thispoorperformanceisdespite the fact that the Jimnyhad received 30,000 bookings even before itwas launched.“TheJimnygotgreathype Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr 2024 May thanks to multiple digital campaigns run by Maruti Suzuki and the media during 2022-23,” an industry executive told FE. “But ing their doctorate at the Food Engineering&TechnologyDepartmentat The Institute of Chemical Technology,Mumbai,whenavisitorfromthe UK introduced them to the concept ofmead.“Meadcheckedalotofboxes N E W D E L H I , P U N E interim Budget in FebruaryforFY25 would see some increase depending onthenewideasincludedbythegovernment.Keyratiossuchasthefiscal deficit are unlikelytovarymuch. The dividend of `2.11 trillion from the RBI as against the Budget estimate of `80,000-90,000 crore has given an extra fiscal space of 0.4% of GDP to the Centre. Continued on Page 2 of interest for both Ashwini and me. Itistheoldestalcoholicbeveragewith a rich historical context and great future potential. It aligns with our idea of a sustainable alcoholic beverage because it is made with honey, and there is significant potential to incorporate various local flavours,” saidBudhkar.ThuswasbornNashikbased Cerana Meads in 2019. Similarly, for Karishma Chandy, the love for different aromas and flavours led her to study wine and spirits and become a certified sommelier. “Years of brand experience andanevolvedanddiscerningpalate createdadesiretostartabrandofmy own,which led me to team up with KalpeshParekh(co-founder),”saidthe Mumbai native. Continued on Page 2 Zepto could surpass DMart soon: CEO ● Q-comm unicorn hopeful of growing 2-3X every year FE BUREAU New Delhi, July 6 BUOYED BY THE success of online grocerysales,quick commerce unicorn Zepto is optimistic of growing 2-3X every year,and sees itself surpassing established offline retailer DMart in a couple years. Co-founder and CEO Aadit Palicha, speaking at an event in Delhi on Saturday,said:“DMart is a $30-billion company and they are 4.5Xoursize in sales.Ifwe continue to execute well, we can grow 2-3X every year, and possibly surpass them in the next 18-24 months.” Pointing out that grocery and household essentials are the “mother of all categories” sold on leading e-commerce platforms Flipkart and Amazon in India, Palicha said the grocery market was around $650 billion in India in FY23,and at 9% CAGR,is expected to become $850 billion byFY29."If AADIT PALICHA, CO-FOUNDER & CEO, ZEPTO WE CAN REALISTICALLY TAKE THIS BUSINESS FROM OVER `10,000 CRORE IN TOP LINE TODAY TO `2.5 LAKH CRORE OVER THE NEXT 5-10 YEARS you look at electronics, apparel, furniture, and combine everything, and double it, it's still not as large as grocery and household essentials," he said. “If we execute well, we can realisticallytakethisbusinessfromover `10,000 crore in top line today to potentially `2.5 lakh crore over the next 5-10 years,”he said. Continued on Page 2 ● STARMER HITS RIGHT NOTE ON FTAWITH MODI Britain's newly-elected PM Keir Starmer holds his first cabinet meeting. In a call to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday morning, Starmer said he stood ready to conclude an FTA that worked for both sides ■ DETAILS ON PAGE 12 REUTERS A year on, Jimny sales continue downhill ride ● Mahindra’s Thar sells 4X more than Maruti’s off-roader M U M B A I , KUNAL DOLEY New Delhi, July 6 The instant noodles’ space is hotting up in India. From newer players offering fresh flavours and unique ingredients to established brands on a further growth trajectory, the humble food is on a roll, and how THE POST-ELECTION results market rally helped 17 companies to enter the `1-trillion market cap club in the past month. The number of firms with a `1-trillion market cap has now increased from 83 on June 4 to 100 on July 4. The benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty have each gained 11% during the past month. Mazagon Dock, L U C K N O W , Howwomen leaders are stirring up alco-bev biz WHAT'S INSIDE (Market cap in ` cr) C H A N D I G A R H , How robots and AI are transforming the way food is prepared & offered Page 7 when it was showcased at the Auto Expo 2023, it came across as much smaller than the photos. When the pricing came,itwas higherthan the Thar,” he said. Jimny was launched at `12.74 lakh to `15.05 lakh (exshowroom),more than the starting price of Thar at the time— from `10.54 lakh to `16.77 lakh. The Jimnysoldwell during initial months—3,071 units (June), 3,778 (July), 3,104 (August), 2,651 (September), and 1,852 (October). Sales reduced to 1,020 units in November and just 730 units in December,and MarutiSuzukihadtointroducehuge discounts to clearthe 2023 stock. Continued on Page 2 JM FINANCIALTO SALT, SUGAR LABELLING CONSOLIDATE DEBT& ON PACKAGED FOOD IN DISTRESSED CREDITBIZ BIG, BOLD FONT: FSSAI JM FINANCIAL has decided to consolidate its holdings in the wholesale debt syndication and distressed credit business under one platform. The company's board, in a meeting on Saturday, approved the proposal for JM Financial to acquire a 42.99% stake in JM Financial Credit Solutions (JMFCSL) for a consideration of approximately `1,282 crore. Post the transaction, the stake held by JMFL in JMFCSL will increase from 46.68% to 89.67%, the company said in a statement. ■ PAGE 3 FSSAI ON Saturday approved changes in nutritional information labelling on packaged food items, proposing that total salt, sugar and saturated fat should be displayed in bold letters as well as bigger font size. FSSAI will issue a draft notification on this and seek comments from stakeholders. The decision to approve the amendment in the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020 regarding nutritional information labelling was taken in the 44th meeting of the food authority. ■ PAGE 2 HYDERABAD