COMPANIES | PAGE 4 INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 7 COMPANIES | PAGE 5 SaaS startups shift focus to tier-2, 3 cities Musk ups SEC feud by latest disclosures AirPods assembly in Telangana by early ‘25 CHENNAI/KOCHI, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2024 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XLV 188, 16 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: 82,133.12 ▲ 843.16 NIFTY: 24,768.30 ▲ 219.60 NIKKEI 225: 39,470.44 ▼ 378.70 HANG SENG: 19,971.24 ▼ 425.81 `/$: 84.80 ▲ 0.07 `/€: 88.93 ▲ 0.28 BRENT: $73.81 ▲ $0.40 GOLD: `76,735 ▼ `1,198 IN THE NEWS 50% jump in award of highway projects likely this fiscal THE GOVERNMENT HAS set an ambitious target of 12,900 km for award of highway projects in the current financial year as it seeks to address a slowing of construction activity, reports Mukesh Jagota.■ PAGE 2 Forex reserves drop to over five-month low at $654.86 bn INDIA'S FOREIGN EXCHANGE reserves fell by $3.2 billion to a more than five-month low of $654.86 billion as of December 6, data from RBI showed on Friday. ■ PAGE 6 ATM withdrawals for PF funds likely from early 2025 WITHDRAWAL OF PF money through an ATM could soon become a reality, reports Priyansh Verma. The government is mulling to introduce this facility early next year. ■ PAGE 3 ONGC set to list green energy arm next fiscal ONGC IS LIKELYTO list its subsidiary ONGC Green in FY26, according to a senior company official, reports Arunima Bharadwaj. ■ PAGE 4 DRAFTSEEKSCOMMENTSBYJAN3 Algo trade for retail coming ● Sebi plans overhaul in framework to ensure safeguards AKSHATA GORDE Mumbai, December 13 THE SECURITIES AND Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Friday proposed reviewing the framework for algorithm trading to facilitate participation of retail investors with properchecks and balances. “The evolving nature of algo trading,particularly with the increasing demand for algo trading by retail investors,has necessitated a further reviewand refinement of the regulatoryframeworksothatretailinvestors arealsoabletoparticipateinalgotradingwith properchecks and balances,” theregulatorsaidinadraftpaper,invitingpubliccommentsbyJanuary3. “In order to facilitate participationofretailinvestorsinalgotrading, it has been decided to review and refinetheexistingregulatoryframeworktoensureproperchecksandbalances,to safeguard investor interest aswell as integrityof the market.” Withalgosbeingusedonlybyinstitutional investors,the refined framework is expected to fill in the gap for retail investorswhowant to use algos andSebi'sDirectMarketAccess(DMA) facilitytotakeadvantageofthefaster orderexecutionandimprovedliquidity,withpropersafeguards. Theframeworkoutlinestheroles and responsibilities of stock brokers, stockexchanges,algoproviders/vendors, market infrastructure institu- GET, SET, ALGO ■ Algo trading is a method of executing orders by providing a predefined set of rules to a computer program ■ When the conditions are met, orders are placed at a higher speed and frequency ■ The algorithm can be based on a number of inputs like price, timing, quantity or other metrics ■ Institutional investors use it to purchase large quantities of stocks without influencing the price of the stock Source: Zerodha, AngelOne tions (MIIs) and investors. Sebi has alsoproposedcategorisingalgosinto two distinct types--replicable and nonreplicablealgostobecalledwhite boxandblackboxalgos,respectively. Under the proposed structure, brokers would obtain the necessary approvals from stock exchanges for eachalgorithmtheyoffer.Thebroker wouldhavetoseekapprovalfromthe exchange for any modification or change to the approved algos orsystems used foralgos. Continued on Page 14 V-shapedrecoveryforindices ● Sensexrecovers 2,100points fromday’slow KISHOR KADAM Mumbai, December 13 BENCHMARK INDICES STAGED a sharp ‘V-shaped’ recovery on Friday, after being down by almost 1.5% in the first hour of trade. Both the Sensex and Nifty recouped initial losses quickly and closed the day higher by over 1%. TheSensexinitiallyfell1,207points to 80,082.82 in the morning, in line with other Asian equity markets trading in the red. However, it rebounded 2,131 points (2.66%) to »INSIDE« hittheday'shighof FPIs TURN 82,213.92 before NET finally settling at SELLERS 82,133.12, up OF G-SECS 843.16 points or AGAIN 1.04%. PAGE 6 Similarly,Nifty WEEK ENDS WITH GAINS Sensex ex Dec 12 (close) 81,289 81,289 2 1.04% Dec 13 (close) 82,133 Telecom TECK Consumer durables FMCG Bank Low 80,082 alsojumpedover600pointsfromthe day's low of 24,180.80 to the day's high of 24,792.30, after posting initiallossof368points.Itultimately ended the day at 24,768.30, up 219.60 points or0.89%. This was the fourth consecutive week that the indices closed in the green. Investors’ wealth rose by `1.26 lakh crore to `459.42 lakh 2.13 1.32 1.14 1.07 0.81 Top sectoral gainers Bharti Airtel ITC Kotak Mahindra HUL UltraTech Cement 4.39 2.07 2.06 1.92 1.87 Top Sensex gainers (%) (%) crore on Friday. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were net buyers of shares worth `2,335.32 crore during the session while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers of `732.20 crore, as per provisional data bythe exchanges. Continued on Page 5 SwiggydoesaZomatowithScenes RAGHAV AGGARWAL New Delhi, December 13 In Delhi-NCR, users can access approximately 55 events, including New Year celebraIN A STRATEGIC move to bol- tions, Christmas parties and live ster its events and ticketing music shows. Similarly, business, food delivery giant Bengaluru offers around 48 Swiggy has launched a new ser- events. Dineout, Swiggy’s dining vice called ‘Scenes’ under its platform, previously facilitated out-of-home vertical live event ticketing Dineout. This feature through collaborations »INSIDE« enables users to book with platforms like parties, events and live FY24 REVENUE BookMyShow. MORETHAN music at Swiggy’s partWhen contacted, DOUBLES ner restaurants. Swiggy did not reply to FOR ZEPTO AT`4.4K CR ‘Scenes’ is currently FE’s queries. live in Delhi-NCR, PAGE 4 Bengaluru and Mumbai. Continued on Page 14 RIVALRY HEATS UP ■ 'Scenes' lets users to book parties, events & live music with partners restaurants ■ It is currently live in DelhiNCR, Bengaluru, and Mumbai ■ This follows Zomato’s ticketing platform District last month ■ Analysts say competition between two is set to escalate Tax blow to Swiss arms of India Inc PRIYANSHVERMA New Delhi, December 13 THE TAX LIABILITY OF several Indiancompanies,whichhaveoperationsinSwitzerland,includingbellwether IT and pharma firms, may risewiththecentralEuropeancountryannouncingadecisiontoincrease the withholding tax on dividends their Swiss arms pay to Indian parentsunderthe‘sourcerule’,from5% to 10%,effective January2025. Switzerlandciteda2023rulingby theSupremeCourtinNestleIndiacase for the move. The SC ruled that the bilateral double taxation avoidance agreement(DTAA)betweenthecountriesdoesn'tautomaticallyentitleitto a lower withholding tax in India for dividendstransferredtotheSwissparents,unlessanotificationtothiseffect isissuedbytheIndiantaxauthorities. Citing this ruling,Switzerland has now withdrawn the most favoured nation(MFN)statustoIndiainregard to dividend taxation, which means absence of non-discriminatoryreciprocal treatment. Currently, subsidiaries of Swiss firms in India pay 10% withholding tax on dividends paid to parents.Dr Reddys Laboratories,Infosys,Wipro,Tech Mahindra, HCC,HCL are among Indian companies with presence in Switzerland & are likelytobeimpactedbythemove, accordingtoindustrysources. “This suspension (of MFN treatment)mayleadtoincreasedtaxliabilities for Indian entities,highlighting the complexities of navigating international tax treaties in an evolving globallandscape,”saidSandeepJhunjhunwala,M&Atax partnerat Nangia Andersen. Continued on Page 5 CHENNAI/KOCHI