BRANDWAGON | PAGE 7 COMPANIES | PAGE 4 Canmovietheatresafford tolimitadscreeningtime? INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 5 Maruti to make electric debut in a tough market CHENNAI/KOCHI, SATURDAY, MARCH 15, 2025 Ex-banker Mark Carney sworn in as Canada PM WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XLV 265, 10 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 IN THE NEWS Nearly `1-lakh-cr investments aided by agri infra fund TO BOOST POST-HARVEST infrastructure and farm assets via credit guarantee and interest subvention support, the Centre has approved `60,000-cr loan proposals under the agri infra fund for over 100,000 projects since its launch, reports Sandip Das. Sources said so far, these projects have mobilised `97,500-cr investment. ■ PAGE 2 JioHotstar sets new viewership records in Champions Trophy JIOHOTSTAR HAS SET new records in India's live sports streaming with over 5.4 billion views and nearly 110 billion minutes of watch time during the just concluded ICC Men's Champions Trophy 2025. Merger of PSU and disinvestment depts back on track THE MERGER OF the department of public enterprises with the department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM), is back on the discussion table, reports Prasanta Sahu. Both departments are under the finance ministry. ■ PAGE 2 ECONOMISTS SEE RBI LOWERING FY26 INFLATION FORECAST ‘Ourstrategy is to be the Chancesbrightenfor back-to-backratecuts top transaction bank’ ● Tariff war a risk,but short-term outlook for prices benign PRIYANSH VERMA New Delhi, March 14 ALOWER-THAN-EXPECTED retail inflation print forFebruaryand the likelihood of inflation aligning closerto the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) target of 4% in the coming financialyearmayprompt the central bank to opt for another 50basis point cut in the policy repo rate in FY26,an FE poll of 12 economists showed. Many of them, however, say the risks to inflation still remain due to the onset of global tariff wars triggered by the US, threats of imported inflation, relentless depreciation of the rupee against the dollar, and the likely rise in FE POLL ■ RBI may opt for another 50 bps cut in repo rate in FY26, shows an FE poll of 12 economists QuantEco Research HSBC India is gearing up forsignificant growth with plans to expand its branch network,deepen its wealth management business,and enhance digital banking capabilities.Chief executive officerHitendra Dave tells Sachin Kumarthat the bank aims to grow at 1.5-1.8 times the country’s nominal GDP,leveraging its strong presence in transaction banking and international wealth management.Excerpts: Rate cut expectations (in bps) 25 expect RBI’s MPC to cut policy rate in two successive meetings: April & June 25-50 DBS Bank 50 I-SEC PD 50 ANZ Research 50 6.25% Bank of Baroda 50 IDFC FIRST Bank 50 ■ Economists, ■ Most CareEdge Kotak Mahindra Bank 50 The repo rate is currently at however, point out that risks to inflation remain prices of key food items. Among the economists who FE spoke to, most expect the RBI’s monetary policy committee (MPC) to cut the policy rate by 50 bps in Elara Global Research 50 Crisil SBI Research Barclays 50-75 75 100 two successive meetings — April and June. Currently, the repo rate is 6.25%. Continued on Page 5 PRESSTRUSTOF INDIA Chennai, March 14 FE S P E C I A L S A priest sprays coloured powder and water on devotees during celebrations of Holi festival at the Kalupur Swaminarayan temple, in Ahmedabad on Friday ■ MOTOBAHN, P8 Special FD deadline near, go for laddering It enables periodic liquidity ■ PERSONAL FINANCE, P8 AP Beverage,icecreamfirmssee sizzlingsalesthissummer VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO & RAGHAVAGGARWAL Mumbai/New Delhi, March 14 COMPANIES IN THE business of keeping cool are gearing up for a record summer.With temperatures already on the rise in the west, east andpartsofthenorth,thesefirmsare readying production and distribution initiatives to meet the demand surge expected in these regions. “Februaryandthefirsttwoweeks ofMarchhavebeengoodfromasales perspective. We saw year-on-year sales growth of around 25-30% and weexpectnumberstoimproveasthe summerprogressesacrossthecountry,” Jayen Mehta,MD at Gujarat Co- KEEPING COOL ■ Categories such as talcum powder and cooling hair oils also expected to gain, says Nuvama ■ Summer months may see 25-30% y-o-y growth in sales between March & May, say beverage industry execs ■ Ice cream companies also remain confident of turning in good sales numbers operativeMilkMarketingFederation (GCMMF), maker of Amul brand of ice-cream and dairyproducts,said. “Summeris the most anticipated seasonformanyofourkeycategories. The earlyarrival of summerthisyear lio engage in international trade, sourcing inputs from and selling products to overseas markets. HSBCbanks50%ofthe multinationalcorporations operatinginIndia,50%of thecountry’sunicorns,and nearly2,000startups.We arealsotheonlybankwitha dedicated$650-millionfund forstartupfinancing.Ourbalancesheetremainsstrongandliquid,allowingustosupportclients throughvariousmarketcycles. Giventherobustexpansionofour customerbase,weexpectourgrowth trajectorytoconsistentlyoutpace theoveralleconomicgrowth. & WhatareHSBC’sgrowthambitions forthe next three-fiveyears? Ourgrowth targets are typicallyin the range of 1.5-1.8 times the nominal GDP,translating into an ambition of 15-18% annual growth in keybusinessvolumes.However, since HSBC’s market share in India remains relativelysmall,ourgrowth is not directlytied to GDPtrends. This growth target applies to transactionalvolumes ratherthan revenue orbalance sheet expansion. Asignificant advantage for Gigworkers in Tamil Nadu to get subsidy of`20K each BENGALURU-BASED Puravankara is expecting about a fifth of its revenues to come from the west region (Mumbai and Pune) in FY25, reports Raghavendra Kamath. ■ PAGE 4 Can this maestro of a scooter change Hero’s Destini in two-wheelers? HSBC is that ourgrowth mirrors that of ourcustomers.Whetherin wealth management,mortgages, credit cards,MSME banking, large corporates,orforeign institutional investors (FIIs),we see strong demand.Ourcustomers tend to have strong governance structures,access to qualityclientele,and a global outlook.Even MSMEs in ourportfo- WithHSBCsettoopen20branches, will there be a shift in focus? Ourcore focus remains unchanged —serving clientswith international financial needs and offering highvalue services.Ourbranch network expansion aims to strengthen our presence inwealth management, international banking,and emerging industrial clusters.The new brancheswill enhance HSBC’s abilityto bring global financial solutions to these locations,serving high networth individuals (HNIs),nonresident Indians (NRIs),and businesses in keyindustrial and IThubs. OUR APPROACH IS TO CREATE VALUE FOR DEPOSITORS RATHER THAN RELYING PURELY ON INTEREST RATE COMPETITION ● CELEBRATINGTHE FESTIVALOF COLOURS Puravankara sees a fifth of FY25 revenues coming from west Xoom is the Edge that Hero needed ● HITENDRA DAVE, CEO, HSBC INDIA has already resulted in a 30-40% yo-y rise in demand for these categoriesacrosschannels,”ManishBandlish,MD,MotherDairy,said. Continued on Page 5 THE TAMIL NADU government on Friday announced `20,000 subsidy for buying new e-scooter to 2,000 internet-based service workers who are registered with the Gig Workers Welfare Board. In his 2025-26 budget speech, finance minister Thangam Thenarasu,referringtoalargenumber of young people being engaged in internet-based services and the statesettinguptheTamilNaduPlatform-Based Gig Workers Welfare Boardtopromotetheirwelfare,said: "A new scheme will be launched to support the livelihood of workers registeredwiththewelfareboardby providingasubsidyof`20,000each to 2,000 internet-based service workers for purchasing a new electric vehicle (e-scooter)." To strengthen the social security of internet-based service workers in Tamil Nadu, a group insurance schemewillbeintroducedtoprovide compensation for accidental death and disability, benefiting approximately150,000workers. Additionally, lounges equipped with essential facilitieswill be established in metropolitan cities,including Chennai and Coimbatore,forthe convenience of theseworkers. Besides,in the budget estimates, a sum of `1,975 crore has been allocated for the labourwelfare and skill development department. Continued on Page 5 FPI outflows second-worst since 2008 financial crisis investors to exit risky emerging market investments. As a result, Nifty fell by 15% during the period. FPIs saw their highest-ever selling of $35 billion between October 2021 and July 2022, driven by post-Covid derisking. During the 2008 financial crisis, FPIs dumped $15 billion worth of Indian equities. —Kishor Kadam FOREIGN PORTFOLIO INVESTORS (FPIs) have offloaded Indian equities worth $27 billion since September, marking the second-worst FPI sell-off since the 2008 global financial crisis, according to Bloomberg Intelligence data. Rising US bond yields and a stronger dollar index prompted many foreign Event FPI outflows (in $ bn) Global financial crisis -4 Election correction Banks' asset clean-up Fed hikes/ demonetisation Cyclical slowdown Slowdown Onset of Covid-19 Post Covid de-risking Current -57 -15 Taper-tantrum NBFC crisis Nifty return (%) Oct ’16 -9 -9 -35 -27 -8 -23 -10 -15 Aug ’17 Oct ’17 Feb ’18 Nov ’18 Sep ’19 May ’20 Oct ’21 Jul ’22 Sep ’24 -2 Jan ’17 Jun ’19 2 Feb ’16 Feb ’20 -4 Oct ’14 Apr ’15 -3 Sep ’13 Sep ’14 -17 -5 Mar ’09 Jun ’13 -5 -5 End date Jan ’08 -9 -1 -8 Start date Mar ’25 Source: Bloomberg Intelligence With volumes falling sharply, NSE and BSE have to slug it out to retain market share Battle of the bourses heats up afterSebi crackdown on F&O ANANYA GROVER Mumbai, March 14 THE DOMESTIC STOCK exchanges haveseldomhaditsogood.Overfour years of a bull market, coupled with investors entering in droves—it's a heady mixture for the bourses.Consequently, their coffers have been flowing over. Sample this: India’s biggest stock exchange — the NSE — reported a 57% and 94% year-onyear growth in profit in the last two quarters of FY25, respectively. Its listed counterpart — the BSE — has doubleditsprofit(y-o-y)everyquarter in the past two years except in the fourth quarter of FY24. But as they say, all good things come to an end. While the sharp decline in the markets since Septemberhasreducedinvestorenthusiasm significantly, the Securities andExchangeBoardofIndia’s(Sebi) strict guidelines on the futures and options(F&O)segmenthastakenits toll as well. Sebi, prompted by the finance ministry and its internal research, moved to curb retail investors’ enthusiasm in F&O, and both brokerages and stock exchanges are nowfeeling the heat.The total F&O volumes in the current quarter stand have fallen to `15,205 lakh crore, which is half of that in the second quarter of FY25, when it had hit `32,734 lakh crore. The total F&O volumes were close to `15,108 lakh crore in the first quarter of FY24. EXCHANGE WARS Market share (%) NSE F&O BSE F&O Q1FY24 Q2FY24 Q3FY24 Q4FY24 Q1FY25 Q2FY25 Q3FY25 Q4FY25* 99.9 95.8 87.9 85.1 78.6 75.1 75.1 63.2 0.1 4.2 12.1 14.9 21.4 24.9 24.9 36.8 With shrinking footfalls at the trading terminals, exchanges are back to slugging it out for fewer customers—much like the old times. Profits (` cr) NSE 1,844 1,999 1,975 2,488 2,567 3,137 3,834 y-o-y (%) Profits (` cr) increase BSE 9.2 12.7 8.2 20.4 39.2 57 94.1 96 121 108 107 265 347 220 y-o-y (%) increase 118.1 256.4 109.5 17.4 176 187.8 103 *up to 12 March An NSE spokesperson said:“The stock exchanges are frontline regulators of stock markets, the notion of competition is not important in such a role.” But the market share does matter, as it impacts profitability as well as valuations. The turnaround story of BSE: The fortunes of the BSE changed remarkably after Sundararaman Ramamurthy took over as its MD and CEO inApril 2023.Electedwith 71% votes, Ramamurthy, who had earlierspentovertwodecadesatthe NSE,made significant changes. One of the key factors was its decisiontochangetheexpiryforthe Sensex F&O contract from Thursdays to Fridays. Following Sensex’s success, the BSE moved the Bankex’s expiry to Mondays from Thursdays.This followed the introduction of single-stock derivatives by the exchange from July 1 and other unique products in the index derivatives. Further, the norms announced bySebi requiring exchanges to have only one index with weekly expiry contracts also aided its market share gain,as this led to the discontinuation of Nifty 50 and Nifty Bank’s weekly contracts. The latter garneredthelargestnumberofcontracts. Since January, the monthly contracts of Sensex, Bankex, and Sensex 50 have been expiring on last Tuesday of each month and weekly contracts everyTuesday. All these factors can be seen working for the BSE as its market share has risen from 4.2% in the second quarter last fiscal to 36.8% in the ongoing quarter in the F&O market.Investors also rewarded it, as its share price from last July to the end of this January jumped by 140%. Continued on Page 2 CHENNAI/KOCHI