POLITICS, P11 COMPANIES, P4 INTERNATIONAL, P7 Justice Sanjiv Khanna takes oath as 51st CJI Hybrids in demand: More auto firms switch gears Amazon working on smart driver glasses CHENNAI/KOCHI, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2024 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XLV 160, 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: 79,496.13 ▲ 9.81 NIFTY: 24,141.30 ▼ 6.90 NIKKEI 225: 39,533.32 ▲ 32.95 HANG SENG: 20,426.93 ▼ 301.26 `/$: 84.39 ▼ 0.01 `/€: 90.16 ▲ 0.79 BRENT: $72.30 ▼ $1.57 GOLD: `76,577 ▼ `454 RISING DOLLAR INDEX KEEPS RUPEE UNDER PRESSURE THE RUPEE CLOSED at a fresh low on Monday as the greenback maintained its strength. With the dollar index hovering around a 4-month high and US Treasury yields rising, the pressure on the rupee is likely to continue till the markets get clarity over policies to be undertaken by the Trump administration, reports Anupreksha Jain. ■ PAGE 6 RESULTS CORNER Britannia Q2 profit falls 9.4% to `532 cr PAGE 10 Hindalco profit jumps 78% to `3,909 cr PAGE 5 ONGC posts 39% drop in net profit PAGE 2 FE S P E C I A L SBI: Outlook stable with MCLR hike Aims at 14-16% loan growth, 10-11% deposit expansion for FY25 ■ INVESTOR, P9 Jun Sep Inflows (` crore) Equity 34,419 41,887 Source: Amfi 25,323 May 24,509 Aug Jul 2024 Apr Oct 3,071 3,772 INVESTORS IN SYSTEMATIC investment plans (SIPs) continued to have faith in equities,with inflows crossing `25,000 crore for the first time in October,despite a sharp fall in benchmark indices during the month. Overall,it seems investors saw an opportunity to enter the market at a time when foreign portfolio investors have been pulling out aggressively. The total inflows into equity mutual funds jumped 21% month-on-month to `41,887 crore, data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) showed. Large-cap funds were the biggest gainers,as inflows nearly doubled from a month ago to `3,452 crore. Inflows into mid-cap funds jumped 50% to `4,683 crore, while small-cap funds saw a 23% rise in fund flows to `3,772 crore. SIPs hit a fresh record high at `25,323 crore, registering a growth of 3.3% from September.“October has demonstrated the remarkable momentum in India’s mutual fund industry.The 44th consecutive month of positive equity inflows since March 2021 underscores the deepening maturity of Indian investors,” said Venkat Chalasani, chief executive,Amfi. However, the net assets under management (AUM) of equity mutual funds fell by 4% to `29.89 lakh crore due to mark-tomarket losses. On the other hand, the overall net AUM 23,547 VIVEK KUMAR M Mumbai, November 11 3,130 4,683 THE CENTRE IS giving a fresh lease of of life through cash support to some central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) to let them stay afloat, even as the strategic sale policy is put on the backburner, report Jatin Grover & Prasanta Sahu. ■ PAGE 2 MUKESH JAGOTA & PRIYANSH VERMA New Delhi, November 11 SIP (` crore) 23,332 SOME CPSEs SEE FRESH CAPITAL INFUSION Allowed to raise stake beyond the 10% cap without divesting Equity MF flows up 21%; RECORD large-caps gain traction SURGE 21,262 THE NEARLY 10-YEAROLD Vistara bid adieu to the skies as the fullservice carrier operated its last domestic and international flights as an independent airline on Monday night, before merging into Air India. Flight UK 986 from Mumbai to Delhi and UK 115 from Delhi to Singapore were the last two. ■ PAGE 10 top `25,000 cr 1,769 3,452 FINAL CALL! VISTARA TAKES OFFTO THE SKIES ONE LASTTIME 20,904 NEWS Regulators make it easier Oct SIP inflows for FPIs to get FDI tag NEW HIGH DESPITE WEAK MARKET 20,371 IN THE Largecap Midcap Smallcap Sep ‘24 Oct ‘24 of the industry rose to `67.25 lakh crore from `67.09 lakh crore a month ago. Benchmark indices fell around 6% each in October to register the biggest decline since the Covid pandemic crash of March 2020.The month saw record selling by FPIs on account of China stimulus measures driving tactical fund outflows,concerns ahead of the US election, and slowing earnings growth for Indian companies. Continued on Page 7 Exports of solar PV products skyrocket Shipments up 23 times to $2 bn in FY22-FY24 THERESERVEBANKofIndia(RBI)onMondayeffectivelyeased the capital controls on foreignportfolioinvestors(FPIs)byallowing themtotransitionintoforeigndirectinvestment (FDI) smoothly under a new operational framework. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) also issued a circular detailing the reclassification norms laterin the day. While investments by a single portfolio investororinvestorgroupinanIndian-listed companywillcontinuetobecappedat10%, anysuchentitywantingtoraisetheholding will now have the option of turning the NEW NORMS ■ Easier reclassification of FPI into FDI may boost capital inflow into productive sectors, say some experts entire investment into FDI without having todivesttheextantstake,andcominginvia the FDI route afresh. The facility would, however,be subject to conditions specified by RBI and the Sebi within 5 trading days from the date of settlement of the trades causingthebreach,RBIsaid.Also,theFPIwill have to take necessary approvals from the government and concurrence of the Indian ■ Move in line with Arvind Mayaram panel report, which recommended that such investment of 10% or more in a listed firm be treated as FDI ■ Others point out investee firms may not give nod in most cases for smooth transition investee companyconcerned. Analysts are divided on whether the move would encourage capital inflows into thecountryorwhetheritwillpromoteashift from short-term speculative investments typical of FPIs to more stable, long-term commitments associatedwith FDIs. Continued on Page 11 Caller ID: Telcos lose to Truecaller JATIN GROVER New Delhi, November 11 IN A GOOD news for the Truecaller app, telecom operators have informed the department of telecommunications (DoT) that they can display a caller’s identity on an user’s phone screen only within their own network. This means subscribers will continue to be dependent onTruecaller to find out the identity of all anonymous callers. The telcos’ submission means that if an Airtel subscriber calls another Airtel user, the caller’s name will get displayed, but the same will not happen if the same subscriber calls a Jio or Vodafone Idea user. The reason for this partial success of the calling name presentation (CNAP) feature is due to some technical constraints such as circuit switching as well as the reluctance of telcos to share their consumer database with each other. “It is not possible to implement CNAP at this stage when calls are made between two networks,”an executive at a telecom operator said. Further, this feature will not work on 2G phones, the executive added. It is therefore likely that the government will implement CNAP in phases, with the first being where names are displayed on calls made within a network, official sources said. “We have done trials and will be ready to implement CNAP,but it will be limited to our database. We cannot display the names if they are on other networks until the operator concerned shares the data with us,” Jagbir Singh, chief technology officer at Vodafone Idea, told FE. Continued on Page 7 SEEING A JUMP ARUNIMA BHARADWAJ New Delhi, November 11 INDIA’S EXPORT OF solar photovoltaic (PV) products soared 23 times between FY22 and FY24, when it touched $2 billion, and continues to grow at a scorching pace.The trend signals that the country is poised to be a net exporter of these products, even as it is eyeing big targets for solar capacity addition, and these products are meant to be in great demand locally. According to industry sources, apart from the availabilityof a booming market in the US,robust growth in exports of PVitems can also be attributed to temporary stagnation in domestic demand for PV modules owing to the delay in the implementation of the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers for the local markets.Most PV manufacturers have ended up looking to sell their products at a high premium abroad. The US has emerged as a key market for Indian solar PV products, accounting for 97% of shipments in both FY23 and FY24. ■ Temporary stagnation in domestic demand for PV modules a reason for the surge in exports ■ Rising demand for Indian PV products abroad, attractive incentive structure also pushed Indian makers to establish facilities overseas ■ US a key market for Indian solar PV products, accounting for 97% of shipments in FY23 and FY24 But the short-term focus on exports, while leaving the domestic market high and dry, may also have some benefits, according to analysts. Continued on Page 11 85% OF PRIVATE EQUITY DEALS FALL THROUGH Valuation blues for dealmakers RAGHAVENDRA KAMATH & VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO Mumbai, November 11 CANADA’S LARGEST FUND manager CPP Investments (CPPIB) recently shelved its plans to sell a 50% stake in its logistics joint venture with IndoSpace despite getting bids from marquee global investors such as Mubadala and Dutch pension fund managerAPG.The decision was reportedly due to a mismatch between the fund manager’s expectations and the bids it got. According to sources, there was a 10-15% difference between the ask and bid price, though this could not be independentlyverified. AsiaPacific-focuseddeveloperESRand GermaninvestorAllianz,whichwerelookingtosellstakesintheirwarehousingplatform,also called off the deal after facing a similar mismatch,sources said. These are not just two stray cases,said top investment bankers and PE funds. About 80-85% of private equity(PE) deals which originated this year have fallen through,they said.In comparison,during 2021-2022,outofthe100dealsthatorig- SPEED BUMPS ON DEAL STREET ■ Canada pension fund drops plans to sell 50% stake in IndoSpace joint venture ■ ESR- Allianz defer plans to sell stake in warehousing joint venture inated,80 were closed. M&A deals also seem to have taken a hit,with only around 30-40% of the proposed having seen closure this year. Qatar’s Nebras Powerwas supposed to acquire up to a 49% stake in Aditya Birla Group’s renewable energy business for nearly $400 million (`3,320 crore). But the deal has been put on hold due to a valuation mismatch,sources said. In anotherinstance,Adani Enterprises withdrew its plan last month to demerge its 43.94% stake inAdaniWilmarand end ■ Nebras Power’s plan to buy 49% stake in Aditya Birla renewable biz put on hold ■ Adani’s plans to sell stake in FMCG business hits a valuation wall its JVwith Singapore-basedWilmarInternational,whichalso hasa 43.94% stake in the company.While the Adani Group had said it was opting out of the demerger schemetofocusonreducingitsminimum public shareholding requirement to 75% from87.9%now,sourcessaidtherealreasonforcancellingthedemergerwaslinked in part to a valuation mismatch of its FMCG business, which had been put on the block in 2023. Continued on Page 7 CHENNAI/KOCHI