POLITICS, P7 COMPANIES, P4 INTERNATIONAL, P3 Rahul's promise before J&K polls: Will restore statehood No interim spectrum likely for OneWeb, Jio Antitrust probe against Nvidia escalates in US CHENNAI/KOCHI, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2024 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XLV 104, 38 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: 82,352.63 ▼ 202.81 NIFTY: 25,198.70 ▼ 81.15 NIKKEI 225: 37,047.61 ▼ 1,638.70 HANG SENG: 17,457.34 ▼ 194.15 `/$: 83.97 ▼ 0.01 `/€: 92.83 ▼ 0.13 BRENT: $73.26 ▼ $0.49 GOLD: `71,004 ▼ `131 IN THE NEWS SERVICES ACTIVITY AT FIVE-MONTH HIGH IN AUGUST INDIA'S SERVICES ACTIVITY rose to a five-month high of 60.9 in August as new business growth ticked higher, reports fe Bureau. Moreover, rising from 60.3 in July, the headline figure indicated the strongest rate of expansion since March. ■ PAGE 2 FAME-III NORMS MAY BE FINALISED IN TWO MONTHS THE THIRD PHASE of the FAME scheme is likely to be finalised in a month or two with heavy duty trucks being covered, heavy industries minister HD Kumaraswamy said on Wednesday, reports fe Bureau. ■ PAGE 2 NCLTTO HEAR BYJU’S LENDERS’ PLEA ON SEPT 11 THE NCLT HAS asked US lenders to Byju’s, represented by Glas Trust, to file a fresh plea to argue against the removal from the committee of creditors and deferred the hearing to September 11, reports Bloomberg. EXPLAINER How your old car can get you a discount ■ PAGE 9 10 GWh CAPACITY PROJECT RIL wins bid for EV battery unit under PLI Beats five other competitors CHARGED UP MUKESH JAGOTA New Delhi, September 4 RELIANCE INDUSTRIES (RIL) will setupanothermegaadvancechemistry cell (ACC) storage unit with a capacityof10gigawatt hour(GWh). The company outbid five others to securetheproduction-linkedincentive(PLI)of`3,620crorefortheunit underthe latest round of auction. ACC storage capacity requires investments to the tune of `2,000 per GWh, experts said, adding that the proposed `20,000-crore unit is largeenoughtoprovide“grid-scale” storage capacity. This is the second time Reliance emergedasthetopbidderforanACC unit underPLI.In an earlierround in 2022,Reliance NewEnergyhadwon a 5 GWhACC capacity. New-generation ACC batteries canstore andconvertelectricalenergy and have assorted applications, including forelectricvehicles (EVs), renewable energy storage, consumer electronics, as power backup. These are expected to complement battery energy storage systems (BESS), which are being supportedwithaviabilitygapfunding of 40% of capital cost for the setting up 4,000 MWh capacity. ■ The ACC scheme has an outlay of `3,620 cr ■ JSW Neo Energy, Amara Raja & Lucas TVS were among the seven bidders ■ Six companies were shortlisted for financial evaluation ■ Entire capacity of 10 GWh on offer goes to Reliance ■ Remaining five have been put on the waitlist ■ ACME is at the top on the waitlist followed by Amara Raja, Waaree Energies, JSW Neo Energy and Lucas TVS Of the seven bids received in the latest ACC bidding round, six companieswere shortlistedforfinancial evaluation.While the entire capacity offer has gone to Reliance, the remainingfivehavebeenputonthe wait list in the following order: ACME Cleantech Solutions,Amara Raja, Waaree Energies, JSW Neo Energy and Lucas TVS. Continued on Page 7 Onboarding by P2P lenders plummets more than 90% Most platforms halt HIT HARD BY RBI RULES new user addition 3,000-4,000 ■ Some players say SACHIN KUMAR Mumbai, September 4 HIT HARD BY the recent guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), more than half of the peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms have halted the onboarding of new customers. Previously, these P2P lending platforms were bringing on 250,000 to 300,000 users (both borrowers and lenders) each month, but this has now plummeted to just 3,000-4,000,according to industry estimates. Liquiloans, the largest player in the P2P lending sector, is among users per month being onboarded now after the new RBI rules the pause is temporary, allowing them to align systems with new rules 250,000 to 300,000 ■ Others say operating under the new rules has become very difficult ■ Platforms say T+1 settlement is too harsh, request RBI to start from T+5 ■ There are 26 P2P lending platforms in India, out of which nearly 10 are active users per month before the new guidelines came out the companies that have stopped adding new customers. While some players have stated that the pause is temporary, allowingthemtoaligntheirsystemswith the RBI’s new guidelines, others have said that operating under the newrules has becomeverydifficult. Continued on Page 7 FMCG firms may increase prices by up to 5% FMCG COMPANIES, LED by manufacturers of processed foods, may hike prices by 2-5% in the coming months,top executives sayas prices of wheat, barley and cocoa have remained firm even as those of sugar,milkandtomatoeshavefallen inthelastonemonth,reportsViveat Susan Pinto. ■ Page 4 Govt to set up SPV for making aircraft in India THE CENTRE WILL set up a special purpose vehicle to push ahead with plans to start manufacturing commercialaircraftinIndia,civilaviation ministerKRammohanNaidusaidon Wednesday, reports PTI. Efforts are being made to ensure that the manufacturing activities can start in the fiveyears,he added. ■ Page 11 Sebi refutes ‘toxic work culture’ claim AKSHATA GORDE Mumbai, September 4 THE SECURITIES AND Exchange Board of India (Sebi) onWednesday dismissed the allegations of toxic work culture,saying that the junior officers have been “misguided by external elements”. It further said that the junior staffers were misguided to believe that“they are being underpaid,even at a CTC of `34 lakh perannum,and thatitwouldbeintheirinteresttouse issues of work culture to bargain for monetary benefits” and that “they should get automatic promotions”. According to reports, a letter MOUNTING TROUBLES ■ The regulator says the objective behind claims is to have bargaining power to seek more benefits ■ Sebi says the claims stemmed from demand of 55% hike in HRA ■ Top leadership has been accused of using harsh language, setting unrealistic targets ■ 'Outside elements' have instigated employees, claims Sebi dated August 6 signed by 500 Sebi employees accused the leadership of using harsh and unprofessional language, and setting unrealistic targets. “Shouting, scolding and public humiliation have become a norm in meetings,”said the letter. The five-page letter titled‘Grievances of Sebi Officers – A call for Respect’ said the management has started to overhaul all the systems and replaced them with regressive policies and frameworks. It added thattheintroductionofanautomatedmanagementinformationsystem (MIS)isnotanissue,butthethreatof withholding claims for non-compliancewas“unjustifiable”and“petty”. In response, Sebi said that in the recent past, employees were demandinga55%increaseinhouse rentallowance(HRA)fromFY23and hadraisedanissueontheregulator’s MIS for key result areas (KRAs).This hadledtoa15-minutesilentprotest. “The new demands placed by them would amount to an additional CTC ofalmost`6lakhperannum,”itsaid. Continued on Page 7 We at Adfactors PR have been wrapping our present for the past 27 years. Time to unwrap it. Gratitude to all our clients aka partners aka friends, current, past…and future. You granted us the privilege of serving India Inc for close to three decades. You trusted us with the largest and the most complex mandates in Indian corporate history. “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it Thank you. is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” Gratitude also to media, I-Bankers, PE, law firms and consultants…for your continued support. William Arthur Ward Gratitude to our team of over 1400 Adfactors employees and their families. We enter our 28th year with the knowledge that all factors affecting our client businesses have changed: AI, social complexity, geopolitical uncertainty, climate... So we have worked hard to create a new proposition relevant to you in this new age. As India’s largest PR firm, we will stay sharply focused on managing reputation, financial market communications and critical issues for India Inc. Thank you. www.adfactorspr.com CHENNAI/KOCHI