POLITICS, P7 COMPANIES, P4 INTERNATIONAL, P22 JAILED SINCE FEBRUARY 2023 LARGE DEAL WINS A DRAG TO ‘SAFEGUARD INTEREST’ SC grants bail to AAP leader Sisodia in both CBI and ED cases India IT firms’ revenues from Europe see sequential decline China takes Europe’s EV tariffs to WTO as trade tensions rise CHENNAI/KOCHI, SATURDAY, AUGUST 10, 2024 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XLV 82, 32 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: 79,705.94 ▲ 819.72 NIFTY: 24,367.50 ▲ 250.50 NIKKEI 225: 35,025 ▲ 193.85 HANG SENG: 17,090.23 ▲ 198.40 `/$: 83.96 ▲ 0.01 `/€: 91.68 ▲ 0.07 BRENT: $78.95 ▼ $0.21 GOLD: `69,236 ▲ `580 IMPORT OF PULSES MAY FALLTO 4-4.5 MT IN FY25 THE COUNTRY'S IMPORT of pulses is likely to decline to 4 to 4.5 million tonne (MT) in the current fiscal from a record 4.73 MT in the FY24 because of adequate monsoon rain and substantial imports last fiscal, Bimal Kothari, chairman, India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA) said on Friday, reports Sandip Das. ■ PAGE 2 AT $674.91 BN, FOREX RESERVES AT NEW HIGH INDIA'S FOREX RESERVES jumped by $7.533 billion to a new record high of $674.919 billion for the week ended August 2, RBI said on Friday, reports PTI. ■ PAGE 6 RESULTS CORNER Trent profit rises two-fold; revenue up 56% PAGE 4 India Cements posts `241-cr profit in Q1 PAGE 10 Mamaearth profit jumps 63% to `40.25 cr PAGE 4 Grasim profit declines 12% to `2,268 cr PAGE 10 FE S P E C I A L S A British SUVwith a Greek name in Rajputana country Driving the MG Hector from Delhi, we bypassed Jaipur, and found history. ■ MOTOBAHN, P9 Appreciation rate of property key Longer holding period usually leads to a higher indexed acquisition cost ■ PERSONAL FINANCE, P9 THE UTTAR PRADESH government will thrash out the differences between automakers at a meeting on Sunday over its recent move to waive registration tax on hybrid vehicles.Until now,such a concession in the state was only for electric vehicles. The meeting, convened by the state's chief secretary,will be attended byall passenger vehicle manufacturers and is expected to be a stormyone as companies are ranged in two camps. While Maruti Suzuki, Toyota Kirloskar, and Honda Car India, which make hybrid vehicles and stand to gain from the move,are backing ■ UPgovernment announced last month towaive registration charges on hybrid vehicles.Around 100 strong hybrid carswere sold in UPin FY24 Maruti Suzuki, Toyota Kirloskar, which make hybridvehicles and stand to gain from the move, are backing it whileTata Motors, M&M and Hyundai Motor India, are strongly opposing it. ■ The meeting, convened by the state's chiefsecretary,will be attended by all passenger vehicle manufacturers and is expected to be a stormy one the move; Tata Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra, and Hyundai Motor India, are strongly opposing it. Sources in the UP government said that companies like Tata Motors, M&M, Hyundai, and Kia, fear that the sale of their diesel vehicles may get hit if any sop Continued on Page 10 HITTING THE STREET RUNNING Ola Electric Mobility (Intra-day) AFTER A SLOW start, Ola Electric Mobility’s shares soared to `91.20 on theirlisting debut on Friday,hitting the 20% upper circuit.The stockwas priced at `72-76 in the initial public offering (IPO). Market experts said investorappetite picked up during the course of the day.At the end of Friday’s session, Ola commanded a market capitalisation of `40, 226 crore. The electric two-wheeler manufacturer, backed by SoftBank INSIDE Group and Tiger Global D-St debut Management, mopped up `6,145.5 crore via the mints 20 IPO. This is among the crorepatis biggest raises via an IPO ■ PAGE 6 over the past year and the first by an auto firm in two decades. Although the secondary markets have beenvolatile in recentweeks,companieswith good business models are finding good demand from retail and institutional investors. So far in the current year, companies have raised some `55,000 crorevia IPOs, twicetheamountinthecorrespondingperiod of 2023. The Ola IPO attracted marquee anchor investors, including funds linked to Nomura Holdings, Fidelity International and SBI Mutual Fund with the demand far outweigh- 20% Close 91.18 BHAVISH AGGARWAL, FOUNDER, OLA ELECTRIC ...TODAY IT FEELS LIKE AN IMPORTANT DUTY, A RESPONSIBILITYTO DOUBLE DOWN ON OUR ASPIRATIONS AND TO BUILD THE COUNTRY OF OUR DREAMS. Open 75.99 ing the supply of shares. Ola had said in the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) it would be using around `1,600 for research and development (R&D).An amount of `1,227.6 crore is to be set aside for the expansion of its manufacturing capacity at the Tamil Nadu Gigafactory. It will also be repaying debt to the tune of `800 crore. Equity MF inflows in July fall 8.6% m-o-m INFLOWS INTO equitymutualfundsinJulyat `37,113 crore were the second-highest monthly numbers ever and marked the 41st straight month of inflows, reports Vivek KumarM.Thiswas,however,8.6%lowercompared with June figures. Gross inflows into systematic investment plans (SIP) hit a record high of `23,332 crore inJuly,upnearly10%fromJune,datafromthe Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) showed.ThenumberofSIPaccountssurgedto provides such concessions, the neighbouring states also feel the need to do the same is provided to hybrids.The reason for that is simple: Hybrid vehicles roughly cost around `1.5-3 lakh more than diesel,and if registration charges are waived, they cost almost the same. Ola Electric makes a sizzling debut, up 20% FE BUREAU Mumbai, August 9 ■ Ifone state government a record 9.34 crore. “It’s evident that mutual funds have become an integral part of retail investors’ financial strategies. SIP contributions reaching an alltime high reflects the growing financial discipline among retail investors,” Venkat Chalasani,chief executive ofAmfi,said. Of the total equity inflows of `37,113 crore, `16,565 crore came in through the 15 new fund offers (NFOs) launched by several fund houses during July. ■ Page 6 Blackstone sells 21% in Nexus Select Trust for `4,455 crore RAGHAVENDRA KAMATH & KISHOR KADAM Mumbai, August 9 TWO ENTITIES OFBlackstonesold 21% stake in Nexus Select Trust,a real estate investment trust sponsored (REIT) by the US-based investor, according to bulk deal data released by the exchanges on Friday. Blackstone raised `4,455 crore through the sale. The units were sold at `138 apiece against a floor price of `135. Blackstone 's stake in the REIT has come down from 43.1% to 22% after the stake sale. Foreign investors such as Carmignac Gestion,Morgan Stanley,Wells Fargo and others bought the units while domestic investors who purchased included ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, HDFC Mutual Fund. The sale happened at a 4.3% discount to Thursday's closing price of `144.1. The REIT's units closed at `137.88 on Friday, 4.51% down from Thursday's price. Blackstone has exited its holdings in its listed REITs, including Embassy Office Parks REIT and Mindspace Business Parks REIT. Nexus SelectTrust has a portfolio of 17 centres with a space of about 10 million square feet as on June 2024. Net profit of Nexus SelectTrust rose 48.68% to `139.58 crore in Q1FY25 as against `93.88 crore in Q1FY24. Sales rose 96.03% to `553.82 crore in in Q1FY25 against `282.52 crore during the Q1FY24. FE BUREAU New Delhi, August 9 HOUSING FOR ALL THE CABINET ON Friday approved the revamped Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana Gramin (PMAY-G) and Urban (PMAY-U),at an estimated total cost of `4.35 trillion for the Centre over the next five years. Italsogaveitsnodtoeightnewrailwayprojects, with a combined estimated cost of `24,657 crore,and approved a few changes in Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN Yojana for advanced biofuel projects, while extending its implementation timeline byfiveyears till 2028-29. Under PMAY-U 2.0, 10 million houses for urban poor and middle-class families will be builtwithaninvestmentof`10trillionincluding the government subsidyof `2.3 trillion. ForPMAY-G 2.0,20 million houseswill be built with a total outlay of `3.06 trillion for FY24-25 to FY28-29 including central share of `2.05 trillion and states’ matching share of `1 trillion. BriefingmediaabouttheCabinetdecisions, railways ministerAshwini Vaishnaw said that underPMAY-U,financialassistancewillbeprovided families through states and UnionTerritories to construct,purchase or rent a house at an affordable cost in urban areas in fiveyears. In addition,the corpus fund of Credit Risk Guarantee Fund Trust (CRGFT) has been increasedfrom`1,000croreto`3,000croreto provide benefit of credit risk guarantee on affordablehousingloansfrombanksandhousing finance companies. Families belonging to EWS/LIG/Middle Income Group (MIG) segments having no pucca house anywhere in the countryare eli- ■ For PMAY-G 2.0, 20 million houseswill be builtwith a outlay of `3.06 trillion for FY2425 to FY28-29 ■ Under PMAY-U 2.0, the government has estimated the construction of ■ Families belonging 10 million to EWS/LIG/MIG segments having no pucca house are eligible to purchase or construct a house houses for urban poor and middle-class families gible to purchase or construct a house under PMAY-U 2.0. Underinterestsubsidyschemecomponent, the government will provide subsidy on home loans for EWS/LIG and MIG families taking loansupto`25lakhwithhousevalueupto`35 lakhat4%interestsubsidyonfirst`8lakhloan upto12yearstenure.Amaximumof`1.80lakh subsidywill be given to eligible beneficiaries in 5-yearlyinstalmentsthroughpushbutton. For PMAY-G 2.0,financial assistance is to be provided for the construction houses at existing unit assistance of `1.20 lakh in plain areas and `1.3 lakh in North Eastern Region States and Hill States of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. Continuation of the scheme beyond March, 2026 after evaluation of the PMAYG by the NITI Aayog and re-appraisal of the scheme by EFC. Equities continue weekly fall DOMESTIC EQUITIES RECORDED a second consecutive week of losses despite a relief rally on Friday as a slew of global factors kept investors jittery throughout the week. The Sensex ended the week 1.6% lower, while the Nifty fell 1.4%. The broader market, too, saw selling pressure as the BSE Smallcap index fell 1.9% and the BSE Midcap index dropped 1%. FPIs led the selling spree as they sold shares worth around $1 billion. Weekly return Sensex (in %) (Weekly) BSE Midcap BSE Smallcap 3 3.9 Jul 5 -0.1 -0.3 Jul 12 79,705 BRUSHING ASIDE APPREHENSION about merger of HDFC bank and HDFC, MD & CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan said on Friday that the stability of metrics show that the underlying resiliency of the two institutions is intact, reports Sachin Kumar. ■ PAGE 10 SWARAJ BAGGONKAR Mumbai, August 9 AT OPPOSITE ENDS ■ Automakers like Jul 19 -2.6 -2.8 3.1 3.5 Jul 26 Aug 2 Aug 9 CEO: UNDERLYING RESILIENCE OF HDFC TWINS INTACT Tata Motors, M&M had opposed registration fee waiver on hybrids 81,332 80,981 THE GOVERNMENT ON Friday introduced a Bill in Parliament to amend five banking laws to streamline services and governance standards, including allowing up to four nominees for depositors and raising the tenure of directors in cooperative banks from 8 years to 10 years, reports Prasanta Sahu. ■ PAGE 2 Railways gets a `24.6K cr boost; eight new projects announced 80,519 80,604 BANKING LAWS TO BE TWEAKED TO IMPROVE SERVICES UP calls truce meet to douse hybrid-EV fire 79,996 NEWS Cabinet nod to 30 mn houses under PMAY-2.0 AUTOMAKERS TO THRASH OUT ISSUES ON SUNDAY Jul 5 Jul 12 Jul 19 Jul 26 Aug 2 IN THE Top sectoral losers Aug 9 -1.0 -1.9 Top Sensex losers (weekly) % loss* -4.3 -0.1 0.6 (weekly) % loss* -4.1 Tata Steel -4.0 Maruti Suzuki -2.7 Utilities Consumer durables Metal Services -3.9 Bajaj Finserv -2.5 Commodities -3.9 IndusInd Bank -2.3 -3.9 UltraTech Cement -2.8 *Between August 2 and 8 DEMOGRAPHIC, ECONOMIC TAILWINDS AIDING SHIFT From PepsiCo to P&G,India next big growth bet as China lags ANANYA MARIAM RAJESH August 9 INDIA HAS BECOME the next big bet for PepsiCo, Unilever and other packaged goods giants looking to fill the growth vacuum left by an uneven recovery in China. With India's economy expanding at the fastest pace among major emerging markets, companies are trying to serve its diverse palette by launching new flavours and size variants aimed at attracting the country's vast population and untapped rural market. "While the last decade had companies focused on selling into China,the next decade is about selling into India,"said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth INDIA CALLING ■ The combined ■ Major consumer goods companies based in India are expecting a resurgence in private consumption ■ Consumer goods companies have also been pumping money into India with launches like PepsiCo's Kurkure Chaat Fills ■ Nestle plans to introduce its premium coffee brand Nespresso at year-end Management. "Youhaveto gowhere thedemographic and economic tailwindsare at your back." Major consumer goods compa- nies basedin India,theworld's most populous country, are expecting highergovernmentspending,abetter monsoon season and a resurgence in private consumption to market share of the top five multinational companies (Coca-Cola, P&G, PepsiCo, Unilever and Reckitt) is forecast to shrink to 4.30% in 2023 in China from 4.37% in 2022 help consumer spending recover in the coming quarters. That is expected to boost the combined market share of the top five multinational companies - Coca-Cola, P&G, PepsiCo, Unilever and Reckitt - to 20.53% in 2023 from 19.27% in 2022, mainly in thebabycare,consumerhealth,cosmetics, beverage and household categories, according to research firm GlobalData. Their total market share in China is forecast to shrink to 4.30% in 2023 from 4.37% in 2022, the data showed. "China went through a long and extended Covid... they even went through a brief period of negative growth, and after this, growth has been very sluggish. In comparison tothat,thegrowthrateinIndiahovering around 4% seems like a healthy growth for total fast-moving consumer goods," said K Ramakrishnan,managing director, South Asia, at Kantar's Worldpanel Division. Both the urban and rural segments in India have seen growth, but rural has fared a little better,he said. Consumergoodscompanieshave alsobeenpumpingmoneyintoIndia withlauncheslikePepsiCo'sKurkure Chaat Fills, Coca-Cola's packaging upgradestoincrease theshelf-life of its products and Nestle's plans to introduce its premium coffee brand Nespresso atyear-end. As a result, Coca-Cola's household penetration in India increased by 24% for the 12 months ended June,PepsiCo'sby12.7%,Nestle'sby 6.7% and Reckitt's about 3.8%, data from Kantar showed. Continued on Page 10 CHENNAI/KOCHI