BACK PAGE | PAGE 14 COMPANIES | PAGE 6 Pushpa returns to rule box office INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 3 New year, new prices: Cars set to get costlier Trump names former PayPal exec 'AI & crypto czar' KOLKATA, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2024 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM VOL 34 NO. 31, 16 PAGES, `12.00 (NORTH EAST STATES `13.00 & ANDAMAN `17.00) 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 READ TO LEAD SENSEX: 81,709.12 ▼ 56.74 NIFTY: 24,677.80 ▼ 30.60 NIKKEI 225: 39,091.17 ▼ 304.43 HANG SENG: 19,865.85 ▲ 305.41 `/$: 84.70 ▲ 0.04 `/€: 89.59 ▼ 0.37 BRENT: $71.47 ▼ $0.62 GOLD: `75,910 ▼ `250 THE STATISTICS MINISTRY is likely to release the first monthly unemployment surveys for both rural and urban areas in March end, an official source told Priyansh Verma. The surveys, officially known as the Periodic Labour Force Survey, will depict unemployment scenarios across the country. ■ PAGE 4 MobiKwik trims IPO size to `572 crore from `700 crore GURUGRAM-BASED FINTECH firm MobiKwik has reduced the size of its fresh issue to `572 crore in its latest red herring prospectus, from the earlier `700 crore, and set a price band of `265-279 per share, with a minimum lot size of 53 shares. ■ PAGE 7 inflationtargetuppedto4.8% Das walks the talk JOYDEEP GHOSH Mumbai, December 6 REVISED PROJECTIONS THE PITCH WAS rough with the clamour for a repo rate cut growing by the day, especially after the shocking 5.4% GDP growth in the second quarter of this financial year. Even before that, at least two Union ministers went public with their call for a rate cut. Butinthelastmonetarypolicyof his current tenure, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das stood his ground firmly and left the benchmark rate unchanged at 6.50% for an 11th straightpolicymeeting.This,despite dissent from two members of the monetary policy committee (MPC) — Nagesh Kumar and Ram Singh. “In the life of a central bank, there is no room for knee-jerk reaction,”said Das, adding more“credible evidence” is needed on the outlook for inflation. “Our effort has been to remain in line with the curve, never fall behind the curve and I think we are following that trend,”he said. Like a veteran batsman, however,Das gave a glimpse of his flexibility by taking steps to boost liquidity in the banking system and stemadeclineintherupee.Thecash reserve ratio — the proportion of deposits that banks must set aside with the RBI — was lowered by 50 basis points to 4%, to address a potential cash squeeze.The CRRcut — for the first time in four years — will inject `1.16 lakh crore into the banking system. “At this critical juncture, prudence and practicalitydemand that we remain careful and sensitive to thedynamicallyevolvingsituation,” Real GDP growth forecast (%) Q2 FY26 Das, however, said the deceleration in economic growth had bottomed out in the July-September quarterandactivityhaspickedupin subsequent months, led by festival spending and strong agricultural output following a good monsoon. Continued on Page 7 Continued on Page 7 Q3 Q4 FY25 Q1 FY25 4.00 Q1 LG ELECTRONICS INDIA, the domestic arm of the South Korean electronics and consumer durables major LG Electronics Inc, on Friday filedthedraftredherringprospectus (DRHP) for its initial public offering (IPO).Though it did not mention the issue size, industry sources said it is likelyto be over`15,000 crore. LG will be the second Korean major after Hyundai Motor India to belistedinIndia.Atthissize,itwillbe thefourth-largestIPOinthecountry afterHyundaiMotor(`27,870crore), LIC (`21,008 crore) and Paytm (`18,300crore). TheIPOwillbeentirelyanofferfor sale (OFS) of 101.8 million equity shares by the parent firm with face valueof`10each,withnofreshissue component,according to the DRHP. Post-offer, the shareholding of parent company LG Electronics will be diluted by 15% to 576.9 million shares. The document shows Morgan Stanley,JPMorgan,AxisCapital,BofA SecuritiesandCititobetheleadmanagers of theissue. "Ourcompanyexpectsthatlisting of the equityshareswill enhance our visibility and brand image and provideliquidityandapublicmarketfor the equity shares in India,"the companysaid in the papers. Theprospectusprojectsthecountry'sappliancesandelectronicsmarket to reach `10 lakh crore (around $120 billion) by2028,driven byvarious growth tailwinds. 4.30 4.60 FY25 Dec 6, 2024 4.50 4.80 Q4 FY25 7.30 Q3 Oct 9, 2024 4.20 4.50 Dec 6, 2024 Q2 FY26 Source: RBI SHAKTIKANTA DAS RBI GOVERNOR In the life of a central bank,there is no room for knee-jerk reaction »INSIDE P10« REDUCTION IN CRR ONLYA BAND AID? BOND YIELDS JUMP 6 BPS, MOST IN 6 MONTHS NRI CAPITAL: HIGHER INTEREST CAP MAY HAVE MUTED IMPACT »OPINION P8« EDIT: SAME OLD STORY ROOM FOR A SHALLOW RATE CUT Das said, adding a status quo is “appropriate and essential”,though if growth slowdown lingers beyond apoint,“itmayneedpolicysupport”. The RBI reduced its growth projections for FY25 to 6.6% — a big downwards correction of 60 bps — while the inflation target has been revised upwards by30 bps to 4.8%. LG Electronics India files for IPO, may raise `15,000 crore RAGHAVAGGARWAL New Delhi, December 6 Inflation forecast (%) 4.80 5.70 Oct 9, 2024 7.30 6.90 Monthly labour surveys for urban, rural areas from Mar toinject`1.16lakhcrore 7.20 6.60 CEAT HAS SIGNED a definitive agreement to acquire two Sri Lanka-based tyre-making plants and the brand Camso — all owned by Michelin, the world’s largest tyre maker, for about $225 million (`1,905 crore). This is the Mumbai-based company’s first-ever acquisition. ■ PAGE 7 ● FY25growthestimatecutto6.6%, 7.40 7.20 Ceat to buy Camso tyre, tracks biz from Michelin for $225 mn ● MPCholdsrates,cutsCRR 7.40 6.80 IN THE NEWS NO SURPRISES, RATE CUT LIKELY IN FEB Q3 growth to make up forQ2 loss: FM FE BUREAU New Delhi, December 6 THE GROWTHSLOWDOWN inthe second quarter of the current financial year was not systemic but the result of a lack of public investments duringthefirstquarter,astheadministration was busy with the general election, finance minister Nirmala SitharamansaidonFriday.ThethirdquarterGDPgrowthnumberswould make up forthe loss in Q2,she said. ThisistheFM’sfirststatementon growth after the lower-thanexpected GDP growth witnessed in Q2andindicatorsshowingamarked slowing of urban consumption. After the GDP rose by 5.4% in July-September year-on-year, the lowest in 7 quarters, some analysts feared that FY25 growth may come in below 6.5%.The H1FY25 growth turned out to be 6%, substantially lowerthan most projections. On Friday, the Reserve Bank of India lowered its GDP growth forecast to 6.6% from 7.2% projected earlier.Itisprojecting6.8%and7.2% growth in the third and fourth quar- NIRMALA SITHARAMAN FINANCE MINISTER It (the Q2 slowdown) isn’t systemic.It is more absence of activity on public expenditure, capex,and so on ters of FY25.The Economic Survey had projected the economy to grow by6.5%-7%in the currentfiscal. “It (the GDPgrowth slowdown in Q2) isn’t a systemic slowdown. It is more absence of activity on public expenditure,capitalexpenditure,and soon.So,Iexpectquarterthreetoalso makeupforallthis,”Sitharamansaid at the India Japan Forum 2024. Continued on Page 7 Don'twant to go Economists seek Byju'sway:Aakash cut in tax rates AAKASHEDUCATIONALSERVICES on Friday defended its move to amend the articles of association (AoA), saying it was needed for its survival andfuturegrowth.“Wedon’twantto godownthepathofThinkandLearn (parentfirmofByju’s),Aakash’ssenior counsel told NCLAT. The appellate tribunal, however, refused to overturntheNCLTorderwhichhadstayed the amendment. ■ PAGE 6 ECONOMISTS HAVEWARNED the government against a sharper fiscal consolidation than announced as they presented their views to the finance ministry on Friday as part of the pre-Budget consultations, reports Priyansh Verma. Theyalso sought a reduction in personal income tax rates to boost consumption and also an increase in capex. ■ PAGE 4 Kolkata