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APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL 17 NO. 252, 28 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: 84,299.81 ▼ 1,272.04 NIFTY: 25,810.85 ▼ 368.10 NIKKEI 225: 37,919.55 ▼ 1,910.01 HANG SENG: 21,133.68 ▲ 501.38 `/$: 83.80 ▼ 0.10 `/€: 93.77 ▼ 0.35 BRENT: $71.56 ▼ $0.42 GOLD: `75,051 ▼ `289 MF LITE REGULATIONS ALSO GET BOARD NOD BANKER OF THE YEAR V VAIDYANATHAN, MD & CEO, IDFC FIRST BANK Sebi approves new asset Fortune favours the brave class, faster rights issue SHOBHANA SUBRAMANIAN New Delhi, September 30 FACED WITH MOUNTING dues from Bangladesh, Indian power firms have started discussions with the country’s interim government and Power Development Board, report Arunima Bharadwaj & Raghavendra Kamath. ■ PAGE 2 NETTAX GROWTH DROPS BELOW BUDGET ESTIMATE THE CENTRE’S GROSS tax revenue in the first five months of FY25 stood at `13.3 trillion, 12% higher from same period last year, data showed. However, net tax receipts (after mandatory devolution to states) grew at just 8.7%, against the budgeted growth rate of 11.8%, reports Priyansh Verma. ■ PAGE 2 RBI FLAGS LAPSES IN GOLD LOAN PRACTICES RBI HAS UNCOVERED significant irregularities in the processing of loans against gold jewellery by supervised entities, reports Sachin Kumar. The lapses were found after a recent review and on-site inspections. ■ PAGE 6 Escalating West Asia crisis, yen carry trade risks spook investors MONDAY BLUES Sensex (Intra-day, Sept 30) 85,600 85,200 VIVEK KUMAR M Mumbai, September 30 1.49% Current account balance (% GDP) 0.5 Multiple sets of eco- Core sector shrinks in Aug Centre’s expenditure (FY25, growth, %, y-o-y) nomic data put up a (in %) 39 mixed picture. Core April-Aug fiscal deficit at infra sectors saw a 21 27% 1.8% output decline of target inAug, while Q1FY25 for FY25 CAD came in at 1.1% 0.1 of GDP. Govt finances looked robust with fiscal deficit tillAug -18 being just 27% of the -38 annual target. ■ PAGE 2 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug April May June July Aug 84,400 FY23 FY24 85,208.76 84,000 Previous close: 85,571.85 84,299.78 Open Nifty Close (Intra-day, Sept 30) 26,200 26,061.30 26,075 1.41% 25,810.85 25,950 25,825 Previous close: 26,178.95 25,700 Open Close ciallywithwhat is happening inWestAsia and even on the Russia-Ukraine front.The uncertainty on account of these events plus the investorrush to China post the recent government intervention is going to increasingly become bigger influences on the market,” UR Bhat,co-founderofAlphaniti Fintech,said. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index slumped nearly5% on MondayafterShigeru Ishiba,whois perceived tobeinfavourof raising interest rates and taxes, was elected the head of the country’s ruling party. Continued on Page 7 OUTPUT GROWS 21.5% IN 2022-23 Industrial survey shows sustained recovery,but wage growth sluggish PRIYANSH VERMA New Delhi, September 30 INDUSTRIALOUTPUTGREWmore than a fifth in 2022-23 compared with 35% in 2021-22, indicating that the decline reportedintheprevioustwoyearsduetothe pandemichasbeenquicklyoffset,anannual survey of industries released by the Union statistics ministryon Mondayshowed. However, at 7.3%, the growth in gross value added(GVA) bythe industryin 202223 was much lower than 27% reported in thepreviousyear,reflectingreducedpricing powerof the industry. Additionally,the survey results showed lowergrowth of 4.4% inworkerperfactory against7.9%inthepreviousyear,reflecting thatevenascapitalinvestmentsarepicking up,jobs growth is lagging behind. Wages per worker also saw a slower rise of5.5%in2022-23againsta10%increase in 2021-22.The reasons forthe lowerwage growth, according to Lekha Chakraborty, professor at National Institute of Public IN A NUTSHELL Wages per worker 4.1 FY20 4.4 FY21 6.8 10.7 FY22 FY22 FY23 -3.4 4 5.5 7 2.1 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 7.4 -3.2 0.8 FY23 GVA (gross value added) FY20 FY21 Total persons engaged 10 Invested capital FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 Workers per factory in operation Output per worker 8.8 7.3 (Growth rates in %) 26.7 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 Finance and Policy,are not just cyclical but also structural in nature.“The cyclical factors are related to macroeconomic uncertaintiesandinflation.Thestructuralfactors require a deeperunderstanding in the contextofIndiawhichrelatestolabourmarket dynamicsitself,” she said. AccordingtoNRBhanumurthy,director 1.5 -4.5 FY20 FY21 7.9 4.4 FY22 FY23 -5.1 1.7 -1.1 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 84,800 BENCHMARKINDICESHADtheirworstdayin nearlytwomonthsonMondayasconcernsover yen carry trade and the escalating geopolitical crisis inWestAsia spooked globalinvestors. Sensex tanked 1,272 points or 1.5% to close at 84,299.78, while the Nifty dropped 368 points or 1.4% to 25,810.85. Investor wealth declined INSIDE by `3.58 trillion METAL STOCKS to `474.35 trillion on the BSE. EMERGE AS As perprovisional OUTLIERS data, foreign portfo■ PAGE 6 lio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth `9,791.93 crore during the day, while domestic institutional investors bought `6,645.80-crore shares. Reliance Industries (RIL) and private bank stockswerethebiggestcontributorstothefall in the keyindices.While RILsingle-handedly contributed to around 23% of Sensex’s fall, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank together contributed for another 35%. Experts said global factorswill playa more crucial role in market activity going ahead despite domestic events such as the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) policy meeting, regulatory changes,and earnings season. “Idon’tseeanybigsurpriseswhenitcomes to earnings and the market is expecting moderate numbers. More than corporate results, theglobalsituationwillbeabiggerfactor,espe- -1.0 POWER COMPANIES SPEED-DIAL BANGLA GOVT FOR DUES Tracking the macro indicators -0.2 -1.0 -1.3 Sensex, Nifty down NEWS 1.5% on global fears IN THE Continued on Page 7 -2.0 Continued on Page 7 ■ Other measures, Page 6 private equity firms dismissed his plans as unrealistic,he soldiered on. Despite the pandemic having disrupted business for a couple of years, the operations of IDFC First Bank are -2.1 -3.8 returns and exploit investors’ expectations forbetteryields,leading to potential financial risks,”Sebi said in a press release. In a move that will help listed companies quicklyraise capital and make rights issues attractive over preferential issues, Sebi has shortened the timeline for a rights issue to only 23 working days from 317 days. houses launching only passively managed schemes. The new asset class, which will offer “investment strategies”, is aimed at higher-risk investors to bridge the gap betweenmutualfundsandportfoliomanagement services (PMS). The minimum ticketsizeforthisproductwillbe`10lakh. “The new product also aims to curtail the proliferation of unregistered and unauthorised investment schemes/entities,which often promise unrealistic high to small enterprises — was enormous.In fact,it took him justtwosittings to finalisethe merger of Capital First into IDFC Bank,and the regulator backed him. And although virtually all the top 6.1 Sebi chief Madhabi Puri Buch NOMINATION From 3 to 10, simplifying process with minimum documentation -1.8 ■ EASING ■ TIGHTER INSIDER TRADING NORMS Adding more categories, including spouse, kids, parent of person & spouse, sibling and their kids 5.1 THE SECURITIES AND Exchange Board of India (Sebi), in its board meeting on Monday,approvedaslewofmeasures,including the introduction of a new asset class,faster rightsissueprocess,anASBA-likefacilityfor secondarymarket,andexpandingthescope ofinsidertradingforlistedcompanies.However, the widely-anticipated futures and optionsguidelinesdidnotgetagreensignal from the board members. Thiswas the first board meeting of the markets regulator after allegations were levelledagainstchairpersonMadhabiPuri Buch by US short-seller Hindenburg and theOppositionCongress.Sebididnothold a press briefing as has been the norm. The regulator also cleared simplified compliance and eligibility requirements for investment advisers, and the Mutual Funds Lite (MF Lite) framework for fund for high risk-takers in schemes called Investment Strategies 6.9 `10 lakh AKSHATA GORDE Mumbai, September 30 6.9 Ticket size of minimum 7.1 ■ MF LITE REGULATIONS For AMCs launching only passive funds, even existing ones can hive off passive schemes in a separate group company under same sponsor 6.3 NEWASSET CLASS 4.2 No green light to F&O guidelines HE WANTED TO be a pilot, but became a banker instead — first at Citibank and then at ICICI Bank. In 2010, he was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug and mortgaged his house to buy into a loss-making non-banking financial company. Looking back, V Vaidyanathan, 56, doesn’t regret the big risk that he took giving up a good job and a board seat at ICICI Bank to buildaretaillendingbusiness. TheMDandCEOofIDFCFirst Bankhadalwayswantedtoset up a bank,convinced that the scope forlending — especially now on a firm footing. In 2022-23, three rating agencies — Crisil, Icra and India Ratings — upgraded the bank’slong-termcreditrating to AA+ (stable). Indeed, it was a standout year for the lender withprofitssoaringto`2,437 crore and delinquencies falling sharply. Critically, the bank was able to take up the share of retail deposits to 76%.The bank’s market capitalisation more than doubled from `24,561 crore in April 2022 to `53,307 crore in March 2023. Despite his formidable achievements,it isn’t allwork and no play. 25.3 13.1 at Madras School of Economics, the lower growth rates in GVA, input and output in 2022-23 compared with the previous year are a consequence of base effect, which impacted the growth prints of FY21 and 2021-22,and normalised in 2022-23. Continued on Page 7 Lucknow FY25