BACK PAGE, P24 MARKETS, P18 INTERNATIONAL, P17 Risk-based capital framework by 2025, says Irdai chief Key PAC meeting today, Sebi chief likely to appear CEO says no quick fix as Boeing losses balloon CHENNAI/KOCHI, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2024 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XLV 145, 24 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: 80,081.98 ▼ 138.74 NIFTY: 24,435.50 ▼ 36.60 NIKKEI 225: 38,104.86 ▼ 307.10 HANG SENG: 20,760.15 ▲ 261.20 `/$: 84.08 ▼ 0.01 `/€: 90.66 ▲ 0.28 BRENT: $75.30 ▼ $0.74 GOLD: `78,387 ▲ `478 GOLDMAN CUTS INDIA STOCKS; UBS SAYS ‘BUYTHE DIP’ ANALYSTS ARE BECOMING more divided on the outlook for India’s stock market after an 11-month winning streak. While Goldman Sachs has lowered Indian shares to ‘overweight’, UBS Global said it’s time to “buy the dip”, reports Bloomberg. ■ PAGE 6 Ladakh ice melts as India, China warm up GMR BAGS `6,300-CR DEBT FUNDING FROM ABU DHABI FUND ABU DHABI INVESTMENT Authority (ADIA) will invest `6,300 crore in structured debt instruments of GMR Infra Enterprises, reports Raghavendra Kamath. ■ PAGE 4 WAAREE ENERGIES' IPO SUBSCRIBED 76.34 TIMES THE IPO OF Waaree Energies garnered 76.34 times subscription on last day of share sale on Wednesday, helped by strong participation from institutional buyers, reports PTI. ■ PAGE 6 GOVT MAY SCRAP WINDFALLTAX ON CRUDE OIL THE GOVERNMENT IS mulling scrapping windfall tax on crude oil, said Tarun Kapoor, adviser to the PM on Wednesday, reports Arunima Bharadwaj. ■ PAGE 2 sensitivity should be the basis of our ties”. While both Modi and Xi emphasised the “importance of properly handling differences and disputes”, Xi also SHUBHAJIT ROY called for “more communicaNew Delhi, October 23 tion and cooperation”and said “people in our two countries TAKING THE FIRST step to and the international commurevive the bilateral ties frozen nityare paying great attention ever since Chinese to our meeting”. incursions in east- NARENDRA MODI, PM Meeting in ern Ladakh over Russia’s Kazan on MUTUALTRUST, four-and-a-half the sidelines of the MUTUAL RESPECT BRICSSummit,the yearsagotriggered AND MUTUAL a militarystandoff two leaders welalong the Line of SENSITIVITYWILL comed the agreeActual Control, GUIDE BILATERAL ment between RELATIONS Prime Minister their countries on Narendra Modi patrolling along and President Xi Jinping held the LAC as part of a process talks on Wednesday and they hope will eventually lead underlined that “maintaining to disengagement and depeace on border should be our escalation. priority” and “mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual Continued on Page 7 Say border peace their top priority PM Narendra Modi shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping before their meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia REUTERS China investment curbs to stay: FM FE BUREAU New Delhi, October 23 RESTRICTIONS ON INVESTMENTS from bordering nations will be retained, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said onTuesday,inwhat seemedtobearebuttalofreportsthat the government is looking to ease curbs on investments from China. “I cannot blindly receive foreign direct investment (FDI) because I wantmoneyforinvestment,forget- ful or unmindful of where it is coming from,” Sitharaman saidattheUS’Whartonbusiness school. “We want business, we want investment, but we also need some safeguards, because India is located in a neighbourhood which is very, very sensitive,” the FM added. There have been speculations over India easing curbs on Chinese investments, particularly since the Economic Survey2024 suggested that given the global geopolitical situation,the best way for India to get deeper into global supply chains was through attracting Chinese FDI. Continued on Page 7 Jio,Allianz in talks for JV German firm plans to exit Bajaj tie-up ANTO ANTONY & STEPHAN KAHL October 23 JIO FINANCIAL SERVICES has held talks with Allianz to set up an insurance partnership in India as the German company seeks to scrap its two existing joint ventures (JVs) in the country, according to people familiar with the matter. INSURANCE PLANS ■ Allianz & Jio Financial looking to establish a general insurance and a life insurance company ■ Discussions between the two said to be still in early stages ■ The German firm says it is committed to the India market Jio Fin had earlier partnered BlackRock to start an asset management business Allianz and Jio Financial are looking to establish a general insurance and a life insurance company in India, the people said. The discussions are in early stages and both parties maydecide not to proceed with the plan, the people said. Continued on Page 7 HUL misses estimates; Setback for profit down 4% in Q2 Byju’s in SC VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO Mumbai, October 23 HINDUSTAN UNILEVER (HUL) missed both profit and revenue estimates for the quarter ended September amid demand concerns, notably in INSIDE urban URBAN SLUMP areas. The country’s NEW RISK largest conFACTOR sumer goods ■ PAGE 4 company on Wednesday reported a drop of 4% in its standalone net profit to `2,612 crore, below Bloomberg estimates of `2,688 crore. HUL will be separating its ice cream business as part of a portfolio restructuring,the company said in a separate filing.This aligns with parent Unilever’s plans to hive off its globalicecreambusinessacrossmar- REPORT CARD Hindustan Unilever standalone financials Q2FY24 Q2FY25 y-o-y % chng Revenue 15,508 NEWS MODI, XI HOLD FIRST BILATERAL IN 5 YEARS 15,276 IN THE (` crore) Ebitda 3,694 3,647 -1.3 Net profit 2,717 -3.9 2,612 1.5 kets.TheFMCGgiantalsoannounced adividendof`29pershareforFY25. Continued on Page 7 ■ TVS Motor profit rises 23%, P5 ■ Bajaj Finserv profit up 8%, P18 ■ Godrej Properties net soars, P5 DEALING A BLOW to Byju’s, the Supreme Court on Wednesday set aside the National Company Law AppellateTribunal’s (NCLAT) order that had halted insolvency proceedings against the troubled edtech major after approving its `158.9-crore dues settlementwith the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Hearing the plea of Byju’s US lender Glas Trust, a bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra directed the cricket board to deposit the settlement amount with the committee of creditors (CoC). With the SCverdict,founderand CEO Byju Raveendran and his brother Riju Raveendran will again lose control over Think and Learn and the resolution professionalwill be back at the helm. Continued on Page 7 CHENNAI/KOCHI