COMPANIES | PAGE 4 BACK PAGE | PAGE 14 Pahalgam: Rajnath names Pakistan in call with US INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 7 Zomato pulls the plug on 15-minute food delivery US, Ukraine sign mineral deal sought byTrump HYDERABAD, FRIDAY, MAY 2, 2025 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL. NO. XXI 310, 14 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: 80,242.25* ▼ 46.13 NIFTY: 24,334.20* ▼ 1.75 NIKKEI 225: 36,452.30 ▲ 406.92 HANG SENG: 22,119.41* ▲ 111.30 `/$: 84.50* ▲ 0.76 `/€: 96.01* ▲ 1.01 BRENT: $60.79 ▼ $0.27 GOLD: `93,928* ▼ `1,633 *As on Apr 30 »REPORT CARD« ZOMATO’S PROFIT PLUMMETS 78%, MISSES ESTIMATES P4 COGNIZANT BEATS Q1 REVENUE ESTIMATES P4 FE S P E C I A L S Continued on Page 10 ■ The previous high ■ GST revenues from in monthly GST receipts was in Apr 2024 (`2.1 lakh cr) domestic transactions up 10.7% to `1.9 lakh crore have also been positively influenced by substantial exports to the US market prior to the announcement of reciprocal tariffs,” said Saurabh Agarwal, tax partner at EY. Continued on Page 10 NewlaunchesdriveAprautosales ● Up 5% from a MIXED BAG year ago; M&M regains No.2 spot M&M Maruti Suzuki SWARAJ BAGGONKAR Mumbai, May 1 NEW CAR MODELS which were introducedafewmonthsagohelped the passenger vehicle (PV) industry reportagrowthinsalesinApril.However,poorbuyersentimentcontinued to plague the sector, bringing down newvehicle registrations. Seven companies controlling 95% of the domestic volumes reportedagrowthof5%year-on-year in wholesale volumes to 334,892 unitsinApril.Ofthis,onlytwoplayers — Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) andToyotaKirloskar—recordeddouble-digitgrowthamongthetopfive. Riding high on the Thar,Scorpio anditstwonewelectricvehiclesXEV 9e and BE 6, sports utility vehicle (SUV) heavyweight M&M zoomed to the Number 2 spot once again 1 Hyundai i Motor India 12 50,201 44,374 Toyota Kirloskar 18 19,968 23,623 JSW MG Motor 47,883 45,199 Source: Companies; Domestic wholesale sales only (afterFebruary),selling52,330units to its dealer partners in April, a growth of 28% y-o-y. Maruti Suzuki, the country’s largest carmaker, despatched only 1%morevehiclesthanlastyearduring the month at 138,704 units. Its small cars such as Alto and S-Presso continued to see poordemand. Partho Banerjee,seniorexecutive officer, marketing and sales,Maruti Kia India 33 18,700 24,833 Tata Motors 6 28 5,829 4,725 Apr-24 Apr-25 23 % Chg Create in India,create for the world: PM Slugfest in social commerce Ad spend fragmentation is inevitable if customer interactions shift to chatbots VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO Mumbai, May 1 Why Sebi sounded the alarm on opinion trading apps ■ EXPLAINER, P9 tion of the firstWorld Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES). The four-day event,being organised by the information and broadcasting ministry,will span the media and entertainment sector, aiming to connect content creators across segments from across theworld. 2 0 2 5 PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi on Thursday said India’s creative and cultural industries will play a defining role in powering the country’s future economic growth, and invited global content creators and investors to make India their “content playground”. Hewasspeakingattheinaugura- ■ BRANDWAGON, P9 No protection for those placing bets on opinion trading apps THE NUMBER OF retail shareholders on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) more than doubled (115%) during the January-March quarter. Experts say this is primarily because of two factors. First, there is an anticipation that the country’s biggest stock exchange will be able to resolve teething issues with the markets regulator and be able to launch its initial public offer sooner than later. Second, a lower entry point of `1,200 per share after the NSE declared a bonus issue of four shares for one in the preceding quarter. Consequently, the number of retail shareholders now stands at 33,896 from 15,771 in the earlier quarter. Their shareholding also grew from 8.03% to 9.89% during the same period, according to shareholding pattern data sourced from the NSE’s website. The stake held byhigh networth individuals (HNIs) also increased, rising from 7.6% to 9.64%. Among institutional investors, domestic firms’ holdings declined significantly from 11.25% to 5.44% quarter-on-quarter, while foreign investor holdings (comprising FDI and FPI) rose from 22.48% to 28%. In the first week of November, the share price of the country’s leading stock exchange was adjusted following a bonus issue (4 shares for every 1 held). As a result, the price dropped to onefifth of its earlier value, falling from around `5,400 per share to approximately `1,200 per share. This lower entry point attracted a wave of retail investors looking to accumulate the stock. Deepak Jasani, equity research Continued on Page 10 Media set to growthreefold:Ambani Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis at the Bharat Pavilion during the inauguration of the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025, in Mumbai on Thursday ANI THE COUNTRY’S MEDIA and entertainment sector can grow over threefold to touch $100 billion in a decade from $28 billion now,Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani said on Thursday, delivering his keynote address at the WAVES Summit 2025. ■ REPORT ON PAGE 4 Race for luxury property adds to the downtrend Hyderabadblues:Realestatesalesincityseebiggestdrop RAGHAVENDRA KAMATH Mumbai, May 1 SHEKHAR REDDY, 52, an employee at a multinational IT firm,was looking to sell his three-bedroom apartment in the upscale locality of Kokapet in Hyderabad. Six months later,he has postponed his plan after getting very few enquiries,that,too, at a substantiallylowerprice. Reddy isn’t alone. Property sales in the city have gone down by 3843% in the last three quarters, the highest among the top nine cities, according to data analytics firm PropEquity.Eventheinventoryoverhang,thatis,monthsneededtoclear the inventory is 20 months,which is the longest among all cities. Thecity’sluxurypropertymarket, REALTY CHECK Unsold luxury stock (>`1.5 cr) Hyderabad property market Sale of residential units Chg (%, y-o-y) 2024 2025 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q1 8 Q1 28,681 2024 30,320 2025 41 43 38 70,000-90,000 20 months Source: PropEquity whichis20%ofallpropertysales,has also been hit hard.Unsold inventory of properties priced at over `2 crore rose6%year-on-yearto30,320units in the first quarter of 2025 — the highest in the country, according to Anarock PropertyConsultants. Theofficemarketisn’tanybetter, 6 Source: Anarock units hit the market between 2021 and 2023, up from 20,000-30,000 earlier 19 % Chg reporting 59 million sq ft of new completionsand48.5millionsqftof absorption since 2020.The trend of newcompletionssurpassingabsorp- 28 mn sq ft of office stock vacant in the city as of Q1, highest among top 7 cities Total inventory overhang tionforfiveconsecutiveyearshasled to a significant rise in vacant office stock.AsofQ12025,thecityholds28 millionsqftofvacantstock,thehigh- est among the top seven cities. Despite robust demand,the stock is expected to rise further in 2025 on the back of a strong pipeline of upcomingsupplyinthecity,saidVestian,a real estate solutionsfirm. Accordingtoexperts,thereisasignificant demand-supply mismatch inresidentialproperties,leadingtoan overallslowdown.Between2021and 2023, around 70,000-90000 units hit the market from 20,000-30,000 earlier.This led to significant oversupply.“That’s why sales have been falling,”said Sameer Jasuja, founder and CEO at PropEquity. Industry players said post-pandemic,developersstartedbuildinglarge residentialapartmentsathighprices. Continued on Page 10 HYDERABAD NSE - Number of retail shareholders Mar 2024 10,253 Jun 12,044 Sep 13,808 Dec 15,771 Mar 2025 33,896 NSE - Retail shareholding (in %) 9.89 Continued on Page 10 2025 KISHOR KADAM & ANANYA GROVER Mumbai, May 1 KEY NUMBERS Mar 2025 Suzuki India said, “Despite a challengingmarketenvironmentandno new model launches,we have managed to maintain our performance, with wholesales of around 142,000 units(includingcommercialvehicles) whichisbetterthanApril2024.Retail sales have also kept pace, reaching approximately144,000 units.” TRANSACTIONS ON THE Unified Payments Interface (UPI) rose 34% year-on-year to 17.89 billion in April, reflecting continued momentum in digital payments. The total transaction value also climbed 22% to `23.95 lakh crore, according to data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on Thursday. However, on a sequential basis, the numberof transactions slipped 2.2%, while the transaction value dropped 3.3% compared to March.Industry experts attributed the sequential slowdown to technical glitches. “There were multiple outages in UPIservicesduringMarchandApril, which disrupted customer transactions,”said the digital banking head at a private bank.“Frequent service disruptions can erode user confidence and push some customers back to cash-based transactions.” Headdedthatwhiledigitaladoptionisgrowingrapidly,sustainedoutagesontheNPCI-operatedUPIcould hamper the momentum of digital payments in the country. Due to the outages between March-endandmid-April,manycustomers complained that they were unabletoperformpaymentsthrough apps of Google Pay,PhonePe,Paytm and othersuch companies. InFY25,thevalueoftransactions increased30%to`260.56lakhcrore compared to `199.96 lakh crore FY24. Volume increased 42% to 185.85 billion transactions from 131.14 billionin FY24. The NPCI monthly data showed that the Immediate Payment Service(IMPS)transactionsdeclinedby 3%to449millioninAprilfrom462 million in March. 2024 The gross collection includes central GST receipts of `48,634 crore, state GST receipts of `59,372 crore,and integrated GST (IGST) receipts of `1.15 lakh crore. Cess collection stood at `13,451 crore in April. “The notable GST figures may SACHIN KUMAR Mumbai, May 1 rises to 9.64% from 7.6% in Dec quarter 8.03 Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr 0 ● Stake held by HNIs Dec 2.37 1.96 1.84 1.95 1.77 0.0 1.82 0.5 3 1.87 6 1.73 1.0 1.74 9 1.82 1.5 GROSS GOODS AND services tax (GST) collections grew 12.6% on year to `2.37 lakh crore in April (March transactions). This is the highest ever monthly mop-up, reflecting inpart steadygoodsshipments from factories, but also the usual spurt in receipts at the end of afinancialyearasbusinessesseekto clear their accounts. The previous high in monthly GST receipts was in April 2024 when it had touched `2.1 lakh crore. According to government data, GSTrevenues from domestic transactions rose 10.7% to `1.9 lakh crore,while revenue from imported goods rose at a sharper rate of 20.8% to `46,913 crore. 12 1.74 2.0 FE BUREAU New Delhi, May 1 11.88 15 11.06 12.6 12.4 10.06 2.5 UPItransactions up34%onyear inApril,downa tadfromMarch Sep INDIAAND THE European Union are working to deliver a commercially meaningful trade deal that will open up markets for goods and services to businesses from both sides, Maros Sefcovic of the European Commission said on Thursday, reports fe Bureau. ■ PAGE 2 Growth (% y-o-y, RHS) GST collections (in ` lakh cr, LHS) Jun 'Meaningful' trade deal with India in the works: EU MEGA MOP-UP Retail investors on NSE double in Jan-March qtr Mar 2024 SOFTWARE FIRM ZOHO has suspended its year-long pursuit of a $700 million plan to expand into chip manufacturing, its co-founder said on Thursday, dealing another blow to the Indian government's semiconductor plans, reports Reuters. ■ PAGE 5 year-end compliance boost numbers 41,008 52,330 Zoho scraps $700-mn chipmaking plan in new setback for govt ● Steadyconsumption, 1.73 THE MINISTRY OF CORPORATE affairs is expecting a significant jump in the selection of candidates and acceptance of internship offers in the second round of the pilot phase of the PM Internship scheme (PMIS), said a senior official, reports Manu Kaushik. ■ PAGE 2 Firstday,superhitshowforGST 2.1 Govt sees ‘big jump’ in PM internship offers and intake ATRECORD `2.37 LAKH CRORE,RECEIPTS UP12.6%YEAR-ON-YEAR 137,952 138,704 IN THE NEWS Source: NSE analyst, explained that investors are factoring in two key aspects: the valuation of BSE and the volume trends in the market,particularly in derivatives. According to him,these factors present a strong opportunity for gains once NSE gets listed—an event he expects could happen within the next two or three quarters. NSE command a 74% market share in derivatives turnover in FY25. Continued on Page 10 Pak airspace ban to cost `5,000 cr a yr, saysAir India ADITYA KALRA & ABHIJITH GANAPAVARAM New Delhi, May 1 AIR INDIA EXPECTS to face over `5,000 crore in additional costs if a banfromPakistan’sairspacelastsfor ayear,andhasaskedthegovernment to compensate it for the hit, a companyletterseen byReuters shows. Airlinesarebracingforhigherfuel costs and longer journey times after Pakistan shut its airspace in a tit-fortatretaliationfollowinganattackon touristsin Kashmirlastweek. Air India on April 27 asked the Centre for a“subsidy model’proportionatetotheeconomic hit,estimating a loss of more than `5,000 crore foreachyearthe ban lasts,according toalettersentbytheairlinetothecivil aviation ministry seen by Reuters. “Subsidy for affected international flights is a good,verifiable and fair option...the subsidy can be removed whenthesituationimproves,”itsaid. “TheimpactonAirIndiaismaximum due to airspace closure,due to additional fuel burn...additional crew.” Air India declined to comment. The ministry did not immediately respond to a request forcomment. The letter was sent after the government asked its executives to assesstheimpactoftheairspaceban on Indian carriers,said a source. TheCentreisconsideringoptions to reduce the hit to the airline industry from the closure. A source said Indiancarriersmetwiththeministry toworkonpossiblesolutions,includingflyingoverdifficultterraincloser to China,andsome tax exemptions. In its letter,AI asked the government to liaise with Chinese authorities for certain overflight clearances.Italsosoughtapprovalforthe carrying of extra pilots on flights on the US and Canada to account for longer travel times. —REUTERS