OPINION, P10 WELL BEING Naturally fermented foods can be a great way to pack a probiotic punch to your everyday meals, not to forget the immense benefits they can bring to your health Page 9 Neighbourhood first to last to lost MIND & GAMES Astronomers spot a future in which our planet outlives its star Page 11 Will the sun destroy the earth one day? ADD MORE DEPTH TO YOUR DIET ACROSS THE AISLE, P CHIDAMBARAM LEISURE Follow us on Twitter & Facebook. App available on App Store & Play Store WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM Vol. 17 No. 30 ANJAN CHATTERJEE FINANCIAL EXPRESS ON SUNDAY 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 A T A , D E L H I , P U N E TO MAKE FOR GLOBAL MARKETS TOO The creative conundrum Tata puts `9,000-cr TN plant into motion India’s artisans, weavers and even traders face unique challenges that often go unnoticed and cause them significant losses. Is formalising the creative economy the answer? ■ WORDS WORTH, P4 Monumental measures ● First joint platform for next-gen cars by Tata Motors, JLR Tenets for an organisation to not just survive but also succeed NARAYANAN V Ranipet, September 28 TATAMOTORS ON Saturdayheldthe Sellers on Flipkart move court over CCI antitrust probe THEIR ARGUMENTS ■ Sellers make submissions in Karnataka HC to 'set aside' investigation report, put process of CCI on hold ■ Sellers argue that during probe they were called to submit data to help officials, but were named as accused, which is against due process ■ ‘The alleged investigation ... is arbitrary, opaque, unfair,' sellers argue in three separate court filings Ventures—in their lawsuits argue that during the investigation they were called to submit data to help officials, but were later named as accused, which is against due process,court papers show. “The alleged investigation ... is arbitrary,opaque,unfair,”thesellers argued in three separate court filings,whichwillcomeupforhearing likely next week. Continued on Page 2 groundbreaking ceremony for its `9,000-crore manufacturing facility at Panapakkam in Ranipet district to manufacture next-generationvehicles forTata Motors and its British subsidiary, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).To serve both domestic and international markets, the plantwillproduce250,000vehicles annually at full capacity. “This is more than just another factory.It will be a state-of-the-art facility producing high-end vehicles. And, for the first time, this plant will also develop a modern platform co-created by Tata Motors and JLR,” said N Chandrasekaran,chairman ofTata Sons, during the ceremony. Thenewfacilitywillnotonlycreate 5,000 direct jobs but also generate thousands of indirect opportunities in the local economythrough its supplier ecosystem, Chandrasekaran noted for the make-inIndia push.Productionwill begin in phases and progressively ramp up to optimum capacity over the next five-seven years at the facility, whichwill utilise renewable energy for operations. The groundbreaking ceremony Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin with Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran during the foundation stone-laying ceremony on Saturday PTI coming days,” Chandrasekaran said. He said several Tata Group companies have been operating from Tamil Nadu, and now "we now intend to build our advanced vehicle manufacturing plant here using cutting-edge manufacturing technology and world-class sustainability practices". He added, "Our endeavour will be to have a high share of women employees across levels, in line with our focus towards greater empowerment of women,” pointing out that their electronics factory in Hosur, Krishnagiri, employs 20,000 workers,of which over 15,000 are women. HITTING THE ROAD ■ Manufacturing facility to produce 250,000 vehicles annually at full capacity ■ It will create 5,000 direct jobs, generate thousands of indirect opportunities ■ Production to begin in phases, ramp up to optimum capacity in 5-7 years comes just six months after the Tata Group signed an MoU with the Tamil Nadu government in March.“The pace at which we have moved will only accelerate in the Ban on non-Basmati exports lifted To curb rise in prices and improve domestic supplies, the government had in September last year banned exports of white rice and subsequently had imposed a 20% export duty on parboiled rice. However, India had allowed white rice exports for meeting the food security needs of many countries and on the basis of requests from their governments. THE GOVERNMENT ON Saturday liftedthebanonnon-Basmatiwhite rice exports and imposed a minimum export price (MEP) of $490/ tonne on it, exempting the commodity from export duty. As per a directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) notification, the MEP on white rice come into immediate effect. Just a fortnight after the MEP of Basmati rice was Min export price set at $490/tonne removed, the government late on Friday had cut the export duty on parboiled rice to 10% from 20%. Continued on Page 2 Over `1.5 lakh-cr IPOs waiting to hit markets AROUND 75 COMPANIES are set to raise over `1.5 lakh crore in upcoming fundraising efforts, as per Primedatabase.com. Of these, 22 companies that have already received approval from Sebiwill raise over `60,000 crore. Meanwhile, the remaining 53 companies are awaiting Sebi’s approval for raising an additional `95,000 crore. So far, in the current calendar year, 62 companies have successfully raised over `64,000 crore, marking the highest fundraising activity in the past three years. Compiled by Kishor Kadam Top 5 IPOs that received Sebi's approval Estimated IPO size (` cr) Top 5 IPOs awaiting Sebi's approval Estimated IPO size (` cr) NTPC Green Energy 10,000 Hexaware Technologies 9,950 Vishal Mega Mart 8,000 Schloss Bangalore 5,000 NSDL 4,500 Source: Primedatabase.com, media reports Continued on Page 2 SANDIP DAS New Delhi, September 28 Mahanagar and Nayak—all made between 1963 and 1966. Mahapurush,KapurushandJaiBabaFelunath complete theBrazilVOD package. “Satyajit Ray is a big name in countries like the United States, 2,200 launch of his films in Poland,Greece andevenIndonesiaandSouthKorea. The list of Ray films to be launched byImovision,a film distributionplatforminBrazil,hassomeof his most works like Charulata, SK Finance the Satyajit Ray birth centenary, countries that haven’t been traditional markets for the neorealism master,like Brazil,are embracing his works with infectious enthusiasm. This year has already seen the VOD 3,000 ■ SPOTLIGHT, P5 ■ Brazil's Sao Paulo International Film Festival to have retrospective of Ray films from Oct 17-30 Waaree Energies Brazil will be watching Indian films sittinginthecomfortoftheirhomes. In a first-ever major OTT release of Indian movies in South America, Brazil's biggest VOD (video on demand) platform is launching six Satyajit Ray films, all digitally restored,foramodern-dayaudience. Twoyears afterthe celebration of Festival to screen Charulata, Nayak and Mahanagar in November release is scheduled in Japan next spring United Kingdom and France,” said Varsha Bansal,head of international sales at Kolkata-based RDB Entertainments,which holds the rights of all the six Rayfilms due forrelease in Brazil.“Itisencouragingthathisfilms aretodayreleasedincountrieswhere it was not possible to talk about Ray earlier,” she added. Clearly,morethanhalf-a-century after they were made, Satyajit Ray movies still rule India’s soft power dynamics,evidentbythefactthatthe Indian films currently scorching the global theatrical and festival circuit arenotnewreleasesfromBollywood orTollywood,but old Ray movies,all restored from nearruins. 7,000 COME OCTOBER 3, film buffs in ■ Cairo International Film ■ Similar ■ This will be followed by theatrical release in Netherlands in November FAIZAL KHAN New Delhi, September 28 ing on Walmart-owned Flipkart have sued antitrust watchdog Competition Commission of India (CCI) over an investigation which found they,Flipkart and rival Amazon breached competition laws, according to court filings seen by Reuters. The filings come after antitrust investigations concludedinAugustfoundAmazon and Flipkart, some of theirsellersandsmartphone brands violated local competition laws by giving undue preference to select online sellers and prioritising certainlistings,Reutershasreported. In an effort to quash the critical proceedings,the three sellersonthe platform made submissions in the Karnataka High Court to“set aside” the investigation report andput the process of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on hold. Lawsuits from sellers ofAmazon and Flipkart can potentially delay the investigation process, which first started in 2020, and was triggered after brick-and-mortar retailers of the Confederation ofAll India Traders complained to the watchdog. Amazon and Flipkart deny any wrongdoing. ThreeofFlipkartsellers—CIGFIL Retail, Wishery Online, Xonique N E W Afcons Infrastructure ● From Brazil to Italy, GLOBAL APPEAL ■ Charulata, Mahanagar, Nayak, restored titles to be Mahapurush, Kapurush, Jai Baba shown at fests, OTTs Felunath on VOD in Brazil from Oct 3 THREE ONLINE SELLERS operat- M U M B A I , 50years on,Ray’s films integral to India’s soft power WHAT'S INSIDE REUTERS New Delhi, September 28 L U C K N O W , 11,600 F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , Swiggy P U B L I S H E D READ TO LEAD 25,000 SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2024, 14 Pages, `12 Hyundai Motor India MUMBAI ‘Chinese is most popular foreign cuisine & we saw this opportunity’ Page 7 Continued on Page 2 FIRE ATTAMIL NADU HEZBOLLAH LEADER IPHONE COMPONENT HASSAN KILLED IN PLANT, 10 INJURED ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE AT LEAST 10 people received medical treatment after a major fire on Saturday disrupted production at a Tata Electronics plant in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, which makes Apple iPhone components. The incident is the latest to affect iPhone supply chain just as Apple is looking to diversify beyond China and sees India as a key market. LEBANON’S HEZBOLLAH group confirmed on Saturday that its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut the previous day. A statement said Nasrallah “has joined his fellow martyrs.” Hezbollah vowed to “continue the holy war against the enemy and in support of Palestine.” ■ PAGE 14 Hero rides on all-new Destini to take on Honda in 110-125cc race month—but dropped a whopping 58% in sales this year, even as the scooter market has been growing. Data collated from the industry shows that Xoom sold merely May Jun Jul 27,006 units during January-July 2024—at a monthly average of 3,858 units—a far cry from 63,695 unitssoldduringJanuary-July2023 (9,099 units per month). January-July uary-July 2024 Jan Feb Theautomakerisnowrelyingon its old warhorse, Destini, and has readied the all-new model that will be likely launched next month. “First launched in 2018, the Apr 11,428 6,864 6,039 12,596 14,143 7,490 Mar May 86,507 7,670 11,140 54,464 17,033 8,232 2023 Jun 7,194 5,709 Destini sales (in units) 10,975 14,458 3,106 Apr 13,377 Mar 8,673 Feb 8,926 6 4,906 Jan 63,695 27,006 3,449 2024 11,938 4,409 profilescooterthatwassupposedto take on Honda Activa, TVS Jupiter and Suzuki Access, and give Hero a stronghold in the 110-125-cc segment—has failed to take off. Launched on January 30 last year, it sold well in the initial months—crossing10,000unitsper 2023 12,384 4,326 XOOM—HERO MOTOCORP’S high- January-J January-July Xoom sales (in units) 7,214 3,283 VIKRAM CHAUDHARY New Delhi, September 28 SCOOTER METRICS 1,183 3,527 ● Readies to launch upgraded model as Xoom sales drop Jul Destini brand has already been built, and the new model should giveHerogoodnumbersinsales,”an automotive analyst told FE. “Despite it being a six-year-old product, sales of Destini have been going strong, and during JanuaryJuly2024 these grewat a surprising rate of 59%—much higherthan the industrygrowth,”theanalystadded. During January-July 2024, Hero sold 86,507 units of Destini—far morethan54,464unitssoldinJanuary-July 2023.“A cause for concern, however,isthatthesetwoHeroscooters appear to be taking away sales from each other,instead of scooters from other manufacturers. During January-July 2024, both Xoom and Destinitogethersold113,513,which is a slight drop from the 118,159 units both sold during January-July 2023,” the analyst said. “Although salesofthethirdHeroscooter—Plea- sure—have been growing,Xoom has been a disappointment.” Another analyst said that Hero is stillpayingthepriceofnotbeingable to ride the scooterwave that started with HondaActiva in the 2000s and thenstrengthenedbytheJupiterand theAccess.“Thosedays,thecompany focusedalotonitscommutermotorcycle offerings such as Splendorand Passion, and that investment is still paying off,”he said. “Even today, Hero controls the commuter motorcycle market, but it hasn’t been able to ready a ‘hero’ product that can salvage its scooter market share.” Continued on Page 2