BRANDWAGON | PAGE 9 COMPANIES | PAGE 4 The‘6E’tussleputsmajor IPRdisputesinspotlight INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 10 Business class bookings see a 50% surge in 2024 BENGALURU, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2024 China plans 5% growth goal, higher deficit of 4% FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XXXVII 204, 40 PAGES, `12 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: 80,684.45 ▼ 1,064.12 NIFTY: 24,336 ▼ 332.25 NIKKEI 225: 39,364.68 ▼ 92.81 HANG SENG: 19,700.48 ▼ 95.01 `/$: 84.90 ▼ 0.03 `/€: 89.04 ▲ 0.12 BRENT: $73.21 ▼ $0.70 GOLD: `76,082 ▼ `506 »EXPLAINER« CAN OUR RIVERS OFFER AVIABLE TRANSPORT MODE? PAGE 9 B School A RED initiative appears in today’s edition of Financial Express. This magazine is an initiative of the marketing solutions team of The Indian Express Group and contains content paid for by advertisers. The magazine should be read as an advertisement 48.9 46.3 46.3 Continued on Page 10 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 EPF investments break-up (in %) State Special Corporate development deposit bonds loans PSUs schemes 46 5 9.5 17 Central govt securities Corporate bonds - pvt ETFs EPF.The EPFinterest is calculated on amonthlybasisonthecontributions receivedbysubscribers,butdeposited into the EPF account only on March 31 of the relevant financialyear. Continued on Page 13 % fall on Dec 17* (1.3%) Philppines Thailand NIFTY 24,336 China Oil & gas 84.86 84.88 84.94 Japan (Inverted scale) Dec 16 Dec 17 -0.24 Taiwan 84.90 84.92 -0.55 Hong Kong -0.48 84.87 0.04% 84.90 -0.59 Singapore Rupee hits new low -0.73 Malaysia 332.25 points (1.35%) Top sectoral losers (%) -1.35 South Korea -1.29 Dec 16 (close) Dec 17 (close) 24,668 -1.39 India 80,684 -1.70 Indonesia Dec 17 (close) -1.72 -0.09 *over previous close Source: Bloomberg Indian firms turn to euro,yen swaps to trim borrowing cost ANUPREKSHA JAIN Mumbai, December 17 3.5 17.5 81,748 -1.59 EPFO active members (mn) 68.5 73.7 TAKING CUES FROM other Asian equitymarketsandweigheddownby an across-the-board selloff, the benchmark indices fell over1% onTuesday.The Sensex remained under selling pressure throughout the session and closed 1,064 points, or 1.30%,lowerat80,684.45—itssecondconsecutivedayofdecline.Similarly,theNSENiftyfell332.25points, or1.35%,to end the dayat 24,336. “Weak Asian cues weighed on market sentiment,while the record tradedeficitinNovemberpushedthe rupee to a new low,triggering panic selling,” said PrashanthTapse,senior VP(Research),Mehta Equities. ASIAN EQUITY MARKETS PERFORMANCE 1,064 points Dec 16 (close) Energy ENCOURAGED BY THE relatively high returns for Employees’ ProvidentFundOrganisation(EPFO)from equity investments since 2015, the government is looking to hike the retirement fund body’s exposure to the segmentsignificantly. The higher equity exposure — roughly 9.5% of the EPF investible surplus is currentlyinvested in specifiedexchange-tradedfunds(ETFs)— is being planned with a view to raise the returns for EPF subscribers substantially from 8.25% now (FY24) official sources told FE, adding that the returns used to be as high as 1012% in the 1990s. The labour ministry has recently formed an internal committee to lookatwaystoachievehigherinvestments in equity, the sources added. The move may also result in diversifying the EPF’s equity portfolio, which is currentlyrestricted to ETFs. “Weareaimingtopeghigherrate of interest,and are exploringways to achievethat,” saidanofficial,oncondition of anonymity. Last year, as many as 74 million subscribers and their employers contributed to the SENSEX KISHOR KADAM Mumbai, December 17 -1.64 PE FIRMS WERE not as lucky as VC firms in reaping gains via public market exits in CY24, reports Ayanti Bera. The gains were flat at $13 billion, thanks to Blackstone’s $808-million exit from Mphasis, else these would have been lower. ■ PAGE 4 SELLOFF TUESDAY Auto panel to look at ways Blackstone’s $808-mn to raise exposure Mphasis deal saves PRIYANSH VERMA New Delhi, December 17 the day for PE exits AT A GLANCE down `4.92 lakh cr -1.70 ● Labour ministry ● Investors’wealth Metal THE RBI HAS lifted the restrictions placed on Edelweiss ARC and ECL Finance with immediate effect, reports Anupreksha Jain. On May 29, EARCLwas barred from acquiring financial assets and ECL Finance from undertaking any structured transactions in wholesale exposures. ■ PAGE 7 EPFO weighs higher equity investments Markets slump over 1% -1.77 RBI lifts restrictions on Edelweiss ARC and ECL Finance MOVETOINCREASEINTERESTRATE -2.18 Telecom IN THE NEWS INDIAN FIRMS ARE opting for cross-currency swaps to convert part of their debt into the euro or the Japanese yen in order to trim borrowing costs,said bankers.They anticipate a sharper fall in interest rates of these two currencies instead of the dollar. While some are converting their rupeedebt into the euro oryen,others are converting their dollar debt. WiththeeasingofratesbytheEuropean Central Bank, the borrowing cost is expected to be reduced by 150-200 basis points over a few months,said bankers. Cross-currencyswaps are derivative structures that allow companies to convertloan principal,interest repayments, or both, from one currency to another, helping manage interest rates and forex risk. “People are moving to theyen as its rate of interest is closer to zero. Also, the pricing of loans is better,” said a head of treasury at a stateowned bank. Continued on Page 13 CURRENCY CALL ■ Yen's rate of interest is closer to zero, sharp fall in euro likely ■ Companies expect dollar to strengthen further ■ With ECB easing rates, the borrowing cost may be lower by 150-200 bps Q2slowdowna blip,growthto pickup,saysFM THE ECONOMIC GROWTH slowdown in the second quarter of FY25 was a blip due to a slower pace of spending, but the coming quarters willlikelyseehealthygrowth,finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman told theLokSabhaonTuesdayinherreply to the first supplementary demand forgrants,reports feBureau. She said a generalised slowdown in manufacturing is not expected,as it is restricted to a few sections.“Out of 23 manufacturing sectors in the indexofindustrialproduction,about half of them remain strong even now,” she said. AftertheGDProseby5.4%inQ2, the lowest in seven quarters, some analysts feared that FY25 growth maycome in below6.5%. ■ PAGE 2 Tighteroffshore derivative instrumentsrules TO CURB REGULATORY arbitrage, the Sebi has barred foreign portfolio investors(FPIs)fromissuingoffshore derivative instruments (ODIs) with derivatives as underlying or use derivatives to hedge theirODIs in India, reports AkshataGorde. “ODIsshallonlyhavesecuritiesas underlying and shall be fullyhedged withthesamesecuritiesonaone-toone basis, throughout the tenure of the ODI,” Sebi said in a circular on Tuesday.Further,FPIscanissueODIs onlythroughaseparatededicatedFPI registration with no proprietary investments,effective immediately. Such registrationwill bein thename of the FPI with“ODI”as suffix under the same PAN. ■ PAGE 7 BENGALURU