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WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM The government

has directed
ONGC to assume
interim ops
control of an oil
& gas block from
Vedanta after
rejecting the co’s
plea to renew the
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 Long Queues at Car Dealerships, Online Carts Piled High on Day 1 of GST 2.0  It’s a Disappearing Act by Magic Price Points in New Tax Reign: P 1

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WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM The ministry of

external affairs
worked over
the weekend to
move the
Trump govt on
the H-1B fee,
after the move
threatened to
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 Time to Decriminalise Offence of Defamation, says Supreme Court  PM Accuses Congress of Ignoring North-East, Abandoning Development: P 2

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WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM Luxe brands are

hoping that their
sales could
benefit indirectly
from a likely
surge in
discretionary
spending in other
sectors despite no
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 Ecomm Platforms See Orders Soar as Annual Sales Events Open  Business as Usual for Electronics Stores as Shoppers Make Enquires for Now: P18

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WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM Govt is setting up a

dedicated platform
focused on
international
mobility of skilled
workers from
India through
mutual recognition
of competencies,
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 At 6.3%, Aug Core Sector Growth Highest in Over 1 Yr  Holistic Checkup of MSMEs On Cards  Nomura sees No Change in Centre’s H2FY26 Borrowing: P 15

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WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM Aided by a surge

in revenue,
PhonePe
narrowed its net
loss by 13.4% to
`1,727.4 cr in
FY25 from
`1,996.1 crore in
FY24, as per RoC
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 AI Framework may Favour Tech Secretariat  NPCI Eyes EMI Pay on UPI in Credit Push  Upskilling Cos may Tweak Courses amid H-1B Hike: P 16

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BENNETT, COLEMAN & CO. LTD. MUMBAI

Govt’s AI Framework may Favour

Tech Secretariat over a Regulator
DISRUPTION: STARTUPS & TECH  16

Trump Ctrl Deletes IT Scrip Gains 35,500

Sept 22, 2025

26,783 26,637
Sept 22, 2022 Apr 20, 2023

45,996
Dec 13, 2024
NIFTY IT
% CHANGE
Company Closing (`) Prev Close Y2D

I
nformation technology stocks took a beating on Monday, Mphasis 2,852 -4.7 0.2
dragging the broader market indices lower, after US
President Donald Trump’s move to raise the one-time cost LTIMindtree 5,260 -4.5 -5.8
of H-1B visas soured sentiment. The Nifty IT index tumbled Coforge 1,717 -4.4 -11.2
nearly 3% against the 0.5% decline in the Nifty. Out of the 10
stocks in the index, nine fell, while one — Oracle Financial Persistent 5,271 -4.3 -18.4
Services — dodged the weak trend. Infosys, Tata Consultancy TechM 1,505 -3.1 -11.8
Services and Wipro declined between 2% and 3%, while
TCS 3,074 -3.0 -24.9
shares of smaller companies in the sector saw deeper cuts.
The Trump administration’s decision to increase the Infosys 1,500 -2.6 -20.2
visa cost has added to concerns over the Wipro 250 -2.2 -17.0
growth prospects of the sector
in the wake of the HCLTech 1,440 -1.9 -24.9
uncertainty over the Oracle FinServ 9,057 0.4 -29.2
impact of AI on the
domestic industry and Nifty 50 25,202 -0.5 6.6
demand slowdown in
Nifty IT 35,500 -3.0 -18.1
the US.
Compiled by ETIG

A READY-TO-DEPLOY TALENT POOL AT DISPOSAL

Door Opens for Laid-off H-1B Techies

Professionals may get rehired, bag competitive offers
In the Firing Line issued by the White House on Sunday.
TECH LAYOFFS IN 2025 Himanshi Lohchab Since the beginning of 2025, 144,926 people
Jan 16,033 have been impacted by the 533 rounds of la-
Mumbai: There may be a silver lining to yoffs at tech companies, according to lay-
Feb 19,029
the H-1B visa rule changes. The $100,000 offs tracker platform Trueup. In 2024, there
Mar 11,003 one-time fee imposed by US President Do- were 1,115 rounds of layoffs at tech compa-
Apr 6,337 nald Trump for new applications under the nies with 238,461 people impacted, the data
May 24,687 skilled worker programme could prompt showed. “For employers that act quickly
recruiters to consider hiring the H-1B visa and navigate compliance effectively, re-
June 8,116 holders who were recently laid off by tech- cently laid-off H-1B professionals repre-
Source: Trueup.io

July 46,506 nology companies such as Microsoft, Ora- sent a ready-to-deploy talent pool,” said Sa-
Aug 5,710 cle, Intel and AWS, said experts. chin Alug, CEO of recruitment company
Total “Some of the ones laid off might be get- NLB Services. “Because they already hold
Sept 7,505 144,926 ting a call back,” said Navneet S Chugh, H-1B status, they can often transition thro-
Laid-off H-1B pros 2026 lottery may attorney at US-based immigration law ugh a transfer petition without re-entering
have 60 days to be less competitive firm Chugh LLC, adding that existing the lottery, making them highly attractive
find new employer as registrations workers under H-1B visa, renewals, re- in terms of speed and cost efficiency.”
entries and employer transfers are not
or leave country could fall by 27%
subject to the fee as per the clarification Lottery Play10

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

Around the World

MUMBAI
TUESDAY | 23 SEPTEMBER 2025
WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM

Nvidia to Invest up to $100B in

OpenAI, Deploy 10GW of Chips
Cos to finalise partnership
details in coming weeks;
first deployment phase to
go live in second half of ’26
Chipmaker Nvidia plans to invest up to
$100 billion in artificial intelligence star-
tup OpenAI under a new agreement, the
companies said on Monday, as competi-
tion intensifies among technology giants
to secure access to energy and chips nee-
ded for AI growth. infrastructure will be the basis for the eco- maker Intel.
The companies unveiled a letter of in- nomy of the future, and we will utilize “We’ve been working closely with Nvi-
tent for a landmark strategic partnership what we're building with Nvidia to both dia since the early days of OpenAI,” said
to deploy at least 10 gigawatts of Nvidia create new AI breakthroughs and empo- Greg Brockman, cofounder and president
chips for OpenAI's AI infrastructure. wer people and businesses at scale." of OpenAI. “We’ve utilised their platform
They aim to finalise partnership details Shares of Oracle, a partner with OpenAI, to create AI systems that hundreds of mil-
in the coming weeks, with the first deploy- SoftBank, and Microsoft on the $500 bil- lions of people use every day. We’re exci-
ment phase targeted to come online in the lion Stargate AI data center project, gai- ted to deploy 10 gigawatts of compute with
second half of 2026. ned nearly 5%. Nvidia to push back the frontier of intelli-
"Everything starts with compute," Sam Nvidia’s investment comes days after it gence and scale the benefits of this techno-
Altman, CEO of OpenAI said. "Compute committed $5 billion to struggling chip- logy to everyone.” Agencies

Oracle Names
Google Faces Fresh Antitrust Co-CEOs With
Focus on Cloud
Trial over Digital Advertising Washington: Oracle on
Monday promoted Clay Ma-
Tech giant may be urged to sell parts of its ad technology gouyrk and Mike Sicilia to
After deflecting the US Justice Depart- Although the judge hasn't set a timetable become co-chief executive of-
ment's attack on its illegal monopoly in onli- for making a decision, it's unlikely to come ficers, signaling the compa-
ne search, tech giant Google is facing anot- down before the end of this year. No matter ny’s focus on its rapidly ex-
her attempt to dismantle its internet empire how the judge rules, Google says it will appe- panding cloud computing bu-
in a trial focused on its abusive tactics in di- al the earlier decision labeling the ad net- siness. The 39-year-old Mago-
gital advertising. work as a monopoly. uyrk was one of Oracle Cloud
The trial scheduled to begin Monday in a fe- The case threatens the complex network Infrastructure’s first emplo-
deral court will revolve around the harmful that Google has spent the past 17 years buil- yees after a stint at Amazon-
conduct that resulted in US District Judge ding to power its dominant digital adverti- .com and rapidly climbed the
Leonie Brinkema declaring parts of Goog- sing business. Besides accoun- ranks at Oracle. Sicilia, 54,
le's digital advertising technology to be an il- ting for most of the $305 billion in was most recently president
legal monopoly. The judge found that Google revenue that Google's services di- of Oracle Industries, where
has been engaging in anti-competitive beha- vision generates for its corporate his experience included over-
vior to the detriment of online publishers parent Alphabet Inc., digital advertising sa- sight of software applica-
that depend on the system for revenue. les provide the lifeblood that keeps thou- tions for specific business
Google and the Justice Department will sands of websites alive. If the Justice De- sectors and the acquisition
spend the next two weeks in court presen- partment gets its way, Brinkema will order of health records business
ting evidence in a “remedy” trial. Google to sell parts of its ad technology. AP Cerner Corp. Bloomberg

Oracle, Silver Lake Among US TikTok Investors

President Donald Trump this week will investors who have no affiliation with new board will also not have a member
declare that a deal to divest TikTok's US ByteDance, the official said. selected by the US government, the offi-
operations from its Chinese owner By- cial said.
teDance will meet requirements set out NO GOLDEN SHARE FOR US The full slate of investors is not yet fi-
in a 2024 law, a White House official said The US will not hold a golden share or eq- nalised. "It's going to be real household
on Monday, adding that investors will uity position in the new entity that will names," the official added, saying that
include Oracle and private equity firm control TikTok’s American operations, Trump will sign an executive order certi-
Silver Lake. according to an official, even as Trump fying that the deal is legal under the law.
ByteDance will own less than 20% has taken steps toward unprecedented The agreement requires that all data on
while TikTok US will be controlled by a government involvement in other busi- American users will be stored on US
mix of its existing US and global firms nesses during his second term. cloud computing infrastructure run by
as well as a significant number of new Under the arrangement for TikTok, the Oracle. Agencies

More Countries to Recognise

Palestine State at UN Summit Britain, Canada, Australia and Portugal
all recognised a Palestinian state on Sun-
Israel and US to boycott day. France and five other states are expec-
ted to also formally do so on Monday at the
meeting; Germany, Italy meeting ahead of the United Nations Ge-
neral Assembly.
unlikely to grant formal While the majority of European countri-
es now recognise a Palestinian state, both
recognition to Palestine Germany and Italy have signalled they
are unlikely to make such a move soon.
United Nations: Several world leaders Germany — long a strong supporter of
are expected to formally recognise a Pa- Israel because of its responsibility for the
lestinian state on Monday at a summit Holocaust — has grown more critical of
convened by France and Saudi Arabia, a Israeli policy, while insisting that recogni-
move Israel says will undermine the pro- tion of a Palestinian state should come at
spects of a peaceful ending to the war in the end of a political process to agree on a
Gaza. While the summit in New York co- two-state solution.
uld boost the morale of Palestinians, it is The German government spokesperson
not expected to deliver change on the gro- by the 1993 Oslo Accords. The process suf- also said on Monday there must be no furt-
und, where the most far-right government fered heavy pushback from both sides and her annexations in Israeli-occupied terri-
in Israel’s history has declared there will has all but died. tory. Italy said recognising a Palestinian
be no Palestinian state as it pushes on with Israel and the United States will boycott state could be “counterproductive”.
its fight against militant group Hamas. the summit, Israel’s UN Ambassador Dan- Russia still believes that a two-state solu-
The two-state solution was the bedrock ny Danon, said, describing the event as a tion is the only way to settle the conflict,
of the US-backed peace process ushered in “circus.” the Kremlin said on Monday. Reuters

Putin Offers to Extend N-Arms China Issues

Control Pact with US by a Year

New Curbs on
Online Content
Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Pu- China's
tin offered his US counterpart Donald internet
Trump a nuclear arms control deal on Mon- regulator
day that would extend the last treaty limi- on Monday
ting both countries’ nuclear weapons by one
year while Moscow and Washington discuss
declared a
what comes next. two-month nationwide
Russia and the US have by far the biggest campaign to curb any
nuclear arsenals in the world. The last rema- online content that
ining treaty between them that limits the promotes violent or
numbers of these weapons is due to expire hostile sentiment. Even
on February 5 next year. The New START
pessimistic comments
Moscow, Kyiv Exchange
treaty covers strategic nuclear weapons -
those designed by each side to hit the ene- about the economy will
my's centres of military, economic and poli- not be spared. The cam-
tical power - and caps the number of deploy-
ed warheads at 1,550 on each side. Both are
Deadly Drone Attacks paign follows recent
actions against major
likely to breach that limit if the treaty is not The head of the Kremlin-backed govern-
platforms including
extended or replaced. ment in annexed Crimea blamed Ukraine
Putin, who said his proposal was in the in- on Monday for a deadly drone strike, while short-video app Kua-
terests of global non-proliferation and co- Kyiv said a Russian attack had killed three ishou, microblogging
uld help spur dialogue with US about arms people in the country’s southeast. site Weibo and Insta-
control, has been under pressure from Sergey Aksyonov said the Ukrainian mili- gram-like Xiaohongshu,
Trump to agree to end the war in Ukraine. tary had targeted the Crimean resort town also known as RedNote,
The offer, made at a time when Ukraine is of Foros, damaging a sanatorium and a
trying to persuade Trump to impose hars- school. “According to updated data, three pe- over content violations.
her sanctions on Russia, was made public by ople were killed and 16 were wounded as a re- Concern over negative
Putin at a meeting of his Security Council. sult of (the) UAV attack,” Aksyonov said. sentiment has deepe-
“Russia is prepared to continue adhering Fragments of the downed drone also cau- ned this year as China's
to the central numerical limits under the sed a fire near the coastal city of Yalta, he sa- economy has struggled,
New START Treaty for one year after 5 Fe- id. Russia’s defence ministry called the stri-
while youth joblessness
bruary 2026,” said the Russian president. ke a “terrorist attack” and initially put the
“Subsequently, based on an analysis,we death toll at two. Ukraine said Moscow had has remained a pressing
will make a decision on whether to maintain carried out 46 air strikes on its territory as issue. Reuters
these voluntary self-imposed restrictions.” of 1900 GMT on Sunday. Agencies

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Ecommerce Orders Luxe Goods Cos Bank on At 6.3%, Core Sector Growth
Shoot Up as Sales Start Discretionary Spending in Aug Highest in Over 1 Year
BRANDS & COMPANIES 18 ECONOMY: MACRO, MICRO & MORE  15

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GST 2.0: ACTION ON GROUND ZERO PLEA FOR CONTRACT RENEWAL REJECTED
PURE
POLITICS
Queues at Car Dealers, Online It’s Time to
ONGC Directed
Decriminalise
to Take Charge of
Carts Piled High on Day 1 Sunday that it would make for a “ba-
Defamation: SC
The Supreme
Court Monday
orally observ- Vedanta Oil Block
ed that it was
Big Splurge…& More to Come Demand accelerates for chat utsav” (savings festival), coinci-
ding with the start of Navratri. The about time
PURSE STRINGS WERE LOOSENED, THOUGH SOME SHOPPING BAGS automakers, electronics spending spike, expected to run thro-
ugh the festive season, is seen bolste- that the offence of defa- Anil Agarwal-led firm No Extension
REMAINED LIGHT ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE NEW TAX REGIME mation is decriminalised. Vedanta
Sectoral Impact Retail & Ecommerce
cos; business as usual at ring India’s growth amid global un-
certainty owing to tariff challenges
contests Centre’s move challenges
Block stakes
The apex court in 2016
fashion, grocery retailers and geopolitical conflict. in HC; another bench denial of 50%
Auto dealerships Flipkart, Amazon had upheld the validity of ONGC
“The response from customers has contract
report reco
record launch festive been phenomenal—something we Section 499 of IPC which set to hear case today renewal in 40%
deliveries, sales early Our Bureaus haven’t seen in the last 35 years,” said dealt with criminalisation Delhi HC Vedanta*
bookings Partho Banerjee, senior executive of-
Mass fashion of defamation. 2 Our Bureau 10%
he launch of the new goods ficer, marketing and sales, Maruti
Electronics
enquiries
increase,
footfall
expected
Fashion
Fashion,
grocery
chains
still
updatin
updating
brands report sharp
demand surge
But premium
apparel now taxed
T and services tax (GST) regime
on Monday saw big crowds at
auto dealerships and a surge
in online sales, as consumers waiting
for a price drop in groceries, electro-
MORE
REPORTS
PAGE 18
Suzuki, India’s lar-
gest carmaker. “On
the very first day
(September 22), we
recorded 80,000 en-
■ K’taka Caste Survey
Battle Shifts to HC;
Hearing Today2
New Delhi: The government
has directed state-run Oil and
Natural Gas Corporation
(ONGC) to assume interim ope-
Tata Petrodyne
*operator

ONGC named interim

operator; block to be
higher systems at 18% GST nics, apparel and other items of daily quiries, and have already delivered rational control of an oil and gas Output awarded afresh

Mixed pricing respon

response Ecommerce brands
consumption got busy spending. over 25,000 cars, with deliveries ex- PM Accuses Cong producing block from Vedanta
3,400 bpd Vedanta earlier
Buyers made a beeline for small pected to touch 30,000 shortly.” after rejecting the latter’s plea
from kiranas, retailers
retailer expect30 % cars, which got the maximum price While automakers and large elec- of Ignoring N-E’s to renew the oilfield contract. Oil fought a
prolonged legal
festive growth cuts in GST 2.0, the first major over- tronics chains saw early signs of de- Vedanta, which produces abo- 340,000
LONG JUMPS
ZAHID
haul of the indirect tax regime since mand, it was business as usual for Development ut a fifth of India’s crude oil out- scm/d battle over Barmer
block extension
its rollout in July 2017. most fashion and grocery retailers. PM Narendra put, challenged the Centre’s move Gas
151% 50% more small 11k record 40% jump Prime Minister Narendra Modi had
announced the “Diwali gift” of the
Companies said there could be a bro-
ader pickup in spending ahead.
Modi Monday in the Delhi High Court on Mon-
day. Justice Sachin Datta recused
Oilfield Extension
traffic surge at car bookings at dealer billings on in online orders, attacked the contracts can terms require
Shadow Etail Maruti Suzuki Mon for Hyundai says Snitch GST revamp during his Independen- himself from hearing its plea, be extended higher profit
ce Day speech on August 15, adding on Specific Segments Gain10 Congress and and the case will be listed before
by mutual share to
said tribal another bench on Tuesday, said
agreement govt
people familiar with the matter.
regions and districts in the This is the first instance of the
with govt

Magic Price Points Do a Disappearing Act northeast suffered the

most, and villages near the
border were dismissed as
government denying an oilfield
operator’s contract renewal requ-
est. Vedanta’s plea for extension
of its Barmer block in Rajasthan
FMCG Inc temporarily cuts prices, abandons round figures amid wait for clarity from govt on grammage hike “last villages” by the earli- had also been held up for years, le-
rence,” said Mayank Shah, vice presi- er dispensations. Bikash ading to multiple court hearings. explorer said in a regulatory fi-
Sagar Malviya Decimal dent at Parle Products, India’s largest Singh reports. 2 While that contract was eventual- ling on Monday. The directive
food manufacturer. “We are still awai- ly renewed, its terms remain un- was a “purely interim measure
Mumbai: After two decades of hol- Points ting clarity and hope to be allowed to der judicial challenge. taken by the government to main-
ding on to the `5 tag for its smallest pass on the tax cut through gramma- ONGC is taking control of the tain continuity of petroleum ope-
pack, Parle-G has stepped off its ‘ma- Revised Consumers Price Cos expect Govt has ge increases.” Mondelez, India's big- SUITS & CB-OS/2 block off India’s west co- rations in public interest,” it said.
gic’ price point perch. The new price?
tags with may use point packs long-term urged firms
gest confectioner, has, SAYINGS ast as a government nominee fol-
`4.45. And Parle isn’t the only one NEXT, EMI in fact, changed pri- lowing the directive, the state-run Safeguarding Reserves10
some paise UPI or buy dominate shift back to pass GST PAYMENTS
shifting to odd prices. The `1 candy? ces of all products, big
Now 88 paise. That `2 shampoo sac- involved multiple sales in key with hike in benefits to ON UPI
and small, to non- Incoming, or Not?
het? `1.77. temporary packs categories grammage consumers PAGE 16 standard ones. For in- All the corporate world’s a ANALYSTS SAY CONTRACTED OILFIELD WAS DECLINING
Fast-moving consumer goods com- stance, it changed Bo- stage. Here, the scene chang-
panies across the board have backed urnvita to `26.69 from `30, Oreo cooki- es at the eleventh hour and at ‘Limited Impact of Non-Renewal’
away from popular price points, as price could be interpreted as a legiti- we expect consumers to either use es from `10 to `8.90 and the `20 pack of Govt declining Vedanta’s request to extend its contract may
they are still seeking clarification mate price cut under the new GST re- UPI (Unified Payments Interface) for Gems and 5Star to `17.80. times, leads to characters’
from the government on whether in- gime that kicked off on Monday. exact payments or opt for larger or ‘exit left.’ See PAGE 18 not have any major impact on the group’s financials, said
creasing product weight at the same “There will be an initial impact, but multiple packs to round off the diffe- Obscure Prices10 analysts. Kalpana Pathak & Nikita Periwal report. 12

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2 } Pure Politics THE ECONOMIC TIMES | MUMBAI | TUESDAY | 23 SEPTEMBER 2025 | WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM

As the prime minister, I have

OTHER NEWS CASE FILED BY PROFESSOR AMITA SINGH OF JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY come to the Northeast more than
OF THE DAY
It’s Time to Decriminalise
70 times. Just last week, I was in Miz-
oram, Manipur and Assam. The north-
east is no longer distant, neither by
road nor by heart. Delhi is no longer

Defamation: Apex Court far from you. We have brought Delhi

to your doorstep
NARENDRA MODI
Prime Minister
In 2016, SC had upheld SC CALLS FOR ‘PERFORMANCE EVALUATION’
validity of Sec 499 of Some High Court Judges Unable to
Lalu’s Daughter:
IPC which dealt with Deliver on Their Tasks, says SC Bench
Rumours About
its criminalisation NEW DELHI: SC lamented that some high court judges are unable to
Me Baseless “deliver on their tasks” as it called for their “performance evaluation”. A
PATNA: RJD chief Lalu Pra- Our Political Bureau bench of justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh said though it did not
PROJECTS WORTH OVER ` 5,100 CRORE INAUGURATED IN ITANAGAR

PM Accuses Cong of Ignoring

sad’s daughter Rohini Acha- want to act like a “school principal”, but there ought to be a self-manage-
New Delhi: The Supreme Court
rya has alleged that “baseless on Monday orally observed that it ment system to ensure “files don’t pile up on their desks”.
rumours” were being spread was about time that the offence of “There are judges who work day and night and are giving

NE, Abandoning Development

against her by “trolls...and defamation is decriminalised. outstanding disposal of cases... There are some judges
The observation came from a
those having the evil in- bench comprising justices MM who unfortunately are unable to deliver...,” the
tention to capture the party”. Sundresh and Satish Chandra bench said, adding, “Suppose a judge is hearing a
In her latest post on X on Sharma while hearing a plea chal- criminal appeal, then we don’t expect him to
lenging the summons issued to an
Sunday night, she asserted, “I online news portal decide 50 cases in a day and deciding one crimi-
never had any political in connection with nal appeal in a day is itself a very big achieve-
2 new power projects to
a defamation case strengthen Arunachal’s
ambitions, I am not inter- ment. But in a bail matter, if a judge says I will
filed by professor
ested in a Rajya Sabha Amita Singh of Ja- decide only one bail matter in a day, that is
waharlal Nehru
position as a power
berth nor in an assembly something which requires introspection.” — PTI
University. producer, says Modi
ticket, nor in backing any Section 356
of Bharatiya The court issued
other aspirant.” She added, Nyaya notice to Singh on a
“I have no rivalry with any Sanhita has plea moved by the provision of Section 499 (of IPC). by Singh in 2016. A magistrate had Bikash Singh

member of my family, nor am replaced the Foundation for In- Several politicians had in 2016 issued summons to the portal in the
earlier prov- dependent Journa- challenged the constitutionality case in February 2017. The SC in Guwahati: Prime minister Narend-
lism. “I think time ra Modi on Monday attacked Cong- Modi interacts with local retailers and traders in Itanagar on Monday — ANI
I interested in getting a post in ision of Sec of Section 499 of IPC but the same 2024 had set aside the summons, as-
any future government. For 499 (of IPC) has come to decri- was upheld by the top court. king the magistrate to take a fresh ress and said that tribal regions and EXHIBITION INTERACTION difficult development tasks, which
minalise all this,” The instant defamation case is call on the issuance of summons af- districts in the northeast suffered the adversely impacted Arunachal and
me, my self-respect, my justice Sundresh orally observed.
The apex court in 2016 had upheld
connected to the online news portal ter examining the news article. most, and villages near the border we-
re dismissed as “last villages” by the
PM visited an the entire northeast. He noted that
dedication towards my report which stated that professor In January this year, the magist- challenging terrains, mountainous
parents and the honour of my the validity of Section 499 of Indian Singh was at the helm of a group of rate again issued summons to the earlier dispensations. This neglect, exhibition regions and forested areas were of-
Penal Code (IPC) which dealt with JNU teachers who had compiled a news portal. The same was up- he said, led to the continuous migra- ten declared backward and neglec-
family are supreme. Baseless criminalisation of defamation. 200-page dossier terming JNU a held by the Delhi High Court in tion from tribal and border areas. organised at ted by the Opposition party.
rumours are being spread Section 356 of the Bharatiya Nyaya “den of organised sex racket”. A May, following which the news The PM said this after laying the fo- Modi said the districts previously
against me...” — PTI Sanhita has replaced the earlier criminal defamation case was filed portal moved the SC. undation stone and inaugurating pro- the venue of his public labelled as “backward” by earlier
jects worth over `5,100 crore in Itana- dispensations have been redefined
gar, Arunachal Pradesh. He announ- meeting in Indira Gandhi as “aspirational districts” and prio-
PLEAS CHALLENGING K’TAKA DECISION TO WITHDRAW CONSENT TO INVESTIGATE DA CASE ced that two new power projects will ritised for growth. Border villages
strengthen Arunachal’s position as a Park & interacted with once dismissed as “last villages” ha-
Justice Kant’s Bench to Hear CBI, BJP MLA Pleas Against K’taka Dy CM: SC power producer, generate employ-
people there: Officials ve now been recognised as the na-
ment, and provide affordable electri- tion’s “first villages,” he added.
NEW DELHI: SC on Monday said a bench led by justice Surya Kant would hear pleas challenging Karna- city for developmental activities. He emphasised that Arunachal’s to-
taka’s decision to withdraw consent to investigate a disproportionate assets case against deputy CM Modi interacted with local entre- Pointing out that while Arunachal urism strength goes beyond nature
DK Shivakumar. A bench comprising CJI BR Gavai and justice K Vinod Chandran noted that the pleas preneurs and members of self-help Pradesh is the first to receive the rays and culture, pointing to the global ri-
groups in Itanagar. He also visited of the sun, he said it was unfortunate se of conference and concert tou-
were earlier dealt by another bench headed by justice Surya Kant. Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, an exhibition that was organised at that the rays of rapid development rism. Modi announced that the upco-
appearing for the Congress leader, said the CJI earlier said that political scores should be settled elsewhere and not in the venue of his public meeting in took several decades to reach the re- ming modern convention centre in
Indira Gandhi Park and interacted gion. The PM criticised Congress for Tawang will add a new dimension to
Govt Extends
courts. The CJI said that it would be in the best interest of justice, if pleas are heard by another bench. — PTI
with the people there, officials said. its longstanding tendency to avoid the state’s tourism landscape.

NSCN (K) Ban

DELHI RIOTS CONSPIRACY CASE UNDER UNLAWFUL ACTIVITIES PREVENTION ACT
for 5 Years MODI INAUGURATED REDEVELOPED TRIPURESWARI TEMPLE IN GOMATI DISTRICT
NEW DELHI: The Centre on
Monday decided to extend SC Issues Notice on Bail Pleas BJP Ally Tipra Motha Upset for Not Being Invited to PM’s Programme
AGARTALA: Tipra Motha Party, a constituent of the BJP-led coalition government in Tripura, has

of Umar Khalid, Imam, Others

the ban imposed on the expressed disappointment for not receiving an invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pro-
National Socialist Council of gramme in the state. Modi inaugurated the redeveloped Tripureswari temple in Gomati district and
Nagaland (Khaplang) [NSCN offered prayers at the shrine. “We are upset for not receiving an invitation to the prime minister’s
(K)] along with all its factions, event. Our party supremo and royal scion Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma, and party MLAs have been depri-
wings and front organisations ved of witnessing the historic event. Rajmata Bibhu Kumari Devi was also not invited to the programme, even
for five more years due to its Bench lists appeals for though the temple was built by Maharaja Dhanya Manikya in 1501,” TMP’s senior MLA Ranjit Debbarma said. — PTI
involvement in activities
prejudicial to the sovereignty
hearing on October 7;
and integrity of India. The accused had been in BATTLE OF POLITICAL ONE-UPMANSHIP
ban will be effective from
September 28 for a period of
jail for over five years
KHALID IMAM
BJP to Launch Campaign; Mamata: Mediclaim Relief
five years, a Ministry of Home
Affairs (MHA) notification
Our Political Bureau
Bihar CM Thanks Modi Happened Because of Me
said. The central government New Delhi: The Supreme Court on KOLKATA’S BOWBAZAR BLAST HAD CLAIMED 70 LIVES
Monday issued notice on appeals filed Kumar Anshuman Jayatri Nag
is of the opinion that NSCN (K) by Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gul- HC Sets Aside Single Bench Order Granting
has declared its aim to create fisha Fatima and Meeran Haider, see- New Delhi: As new GST rates came into effect from Kolkata: Claiming credit for the new GST re-
a sovereign Nagaland in- king bail in the larger conspiracy case Premature Release to 1993 Blast Convict Monday, BJP is planning to launch a nationwide cam- forms, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said it was
under the Unlawful Activities Pre- KOLKATA: A division bench of Calcutta HC has set aside a single paign, taking the reforms to the ground by reaching she who demanded the removal of GST on medicla-
corporating the Naga in- vention Act pertaining to 2020 North out to every section of the society. A team of 10 BJP lea- im, which paved the way for reforms, and not the
bench order that had granted premature release to a life term
habited areas of the Indo- East Delhi riots. ders has been appointed to oversee the campaign. central government. Although West Bengal would
When a counsel ap- convict, who was held guilty in the infamous blast case in Kolkata’s Apart from BJP national general secretaries Arun lose `20,000 crore due to the latest reforms, the
Myanmar region by secession
pearing for the accu- Bowbazar that had claimed 70 lives in 1993. The division bench presided by Singh and Tarun Chugh, eight other leaders chief minister said she is ready to accept it
from the Indian Union and sed highlighted that have been included in the team, and each lea- for the benefit of the common people.
justice Debangsu Basak said the decision-making process of the State Senten-
the accused had been der has been given charge of 3-5 states. “The Central government cannot take
aligned itself with other
unlawful associations. — PTI in jail for over five ye- ce Review Board cannot be faulted in refusing premature release of Md On Sunday, Arun Singh had issued a letter CLAIMING credit for the GST reforms. I wrote a let-
Riots
ars, the bench said it
would hear the appe-
Khalid, who was a close associate of mastermind Rashid Khan. “The review to party MPs, urging them to participate in
the seven-day ‘GST Bachat Utsav’ from Sep-
CREDIT FOR ter demanding that medical insurance
be exempted from GST. Many life-saving
occurred in board has, after considering the antecedents and association of the writ
Feb 2020
following
als and decide the
same. The bench has petitioner and taking into consideration the nature of the crime, unanimously
tember 22-29. The MPs have been asked to
carry out two padayatras every day, covering GST 2.0 drugs and small items had GST. The cen-
tral government has not spent a single
clashes over listed the appeals for decided not to recommend premature release of the writ petitioner,” the two markets in their constituencies. penny on this. It has all come from the sta-
the then- hearing on October 7. division bench, also comprising justice Md Shabbar Rashidi, observed. — PTI In poll-bound Bihar, where 34.13% people co- te’s coffers. They have been taking the credit,
proposed Khalid and others unt as BPL families, the party has crafted a state- but we have to bear the cost,” Banerjee said.
CAA moved the SC aga- specific strategy and formed a team of five leaders Banerjee claimed that no compensation has been gi-
inst the Delhi High then-proposed Citizenship Amend- a larger conspiracy to cause multiple under the leadership of BJP MLA Sajiv Chaurasia ven by the Centre to Bengal or any other state for this
Court’s September order vide which ment Act. As per the Delhi Police, riots. The FIR in this case was registe- as convenor and Suresh Rungta, Amrita Bhushan, loss while compensation will reach in an indirect
the high court denied them bail. the riots caused the death of 53 per- red by a Special Cell of the Delhi Poli- Manan Mishra and Nitin Abhishek as co-convenors. way to the double-engine states. “Bengal is already
The riots occurred in February sons and injured hundreds. ce under various provisions of the In- Thanking the PM for the reforms, CM Nitish Kumar deprived of funds. It is not getting any funds from the
2020 following clashes over the It is alleged the accused had hatched dian Penal Code and the UAPA. said it would benefit all sections of people in Bihar. Centre for MGNREGA and other central schemes...”

Guj HC Grants
Bail to AAP COURTS NEVER GAVE SUCH A STAY TO EARLIER SURVEYS: SIDDA GOVT
MLA Vasava
AHMEDABAD: Gujarat High
Court has granted regular bail
K’taka Caste Survey Battle Shifts to HC;
to AAP MLA Chaitar Vasava,
who has been lodged in jail
since July in an attempt to
CJ-led Bench to Hear Stay Plea Today
murder case, on the condi-
tion that he cannot enter
Caste groups challenge state’s authority to conduct socio-economic & educational survey
Dediapada taluka for a year. citizens violated the provisions of
Our Political Bureau the Aadhaar Act, he added.
Justice MR Mengdey allowed Senior advocate Jayakumar Patil
the plea filed by the AAP Bengaluru: Karnataka’s caste argued that the government was
census battle has shifted to the high trying to conduct census opera-
leader arrested for allegedly
court, with organisations repre- tions throughout Karnataka in the
attacking a taluka panchayat senting Lingayats, Vokkaligas and name of conducting a survey. The
president during an official
meeting at his constituency in
Brahmins, among others, challeng-
ing the state government’s authori-
census operation fell within the do-
main of the Centre and the state 71% Voters Exercise Franchise in
July. HC has granted him bail
ty to conduct the socio-economic
and educational survey.
had no competence to do it, he said.
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Bodoland Territorial Council Polls
on the condition that he Abench of chief justice Vibhu Bakh- Singhvi, appearing for the state, ho-
ru and justice CM Joshi will on Tues- wever, opposed requests for an inte- GUWAHATI: Voting for the 40-member Bodoland Territorial Council took
cannot enter Dediapada in day hear arguments to decide on the rim stay, saying the courts never gave place in Assam on Monday, with 70.53% votes polled till 4.30 pm. Elections
Narmada district for a year. requests for an interim stay to the sur- such a stay to the earlier surveys. The were by and large peaceful. Polling took place at 3,359 polling stations across
Vasava had moved HC for bail vey that began on Monday. government, he said, had already
Senior advocate Prabhuling Na- drafted thousands of people for the five districts — Baksa, Chirang, Kokrajhar, Tamulpur and Udalguri
after a sessions court in Raj-
pipla rejected his plea. He was
vadgi said the government was see-
king to identify people who are soci- Siddaramaiah with International Booker Prize-winning writer Banu Mush-
job and the petitioners cannot seek a
stay at this stage. He also maintained
PHOTO — with around 316 candidates in the fray. BTC is a Sixth Scheduled
taq during the inauguration of Mysuru Dasara at Chamundi Hills on Monday
JUNCTION Council under the Constitution of India. Counting will take place
earlier granted a three-day ally and educationally backward, that the exercise being undertaken
which was contrary to Article 342 was a survey and not a census as was on September 26. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma ran
temporary bail to attend the Mother Goddess Chamundesh- Humans should love, respect
(A) (that deals with the subject of so- being made out, and insisted that the a high-voltage campaign in the area for several days. The council is led by
wari has called me here and I each other & there should be
monsoon session of assembly cially and educationally backward state had the jurisdiction to carry out regional party United Peoples’ Party-Liberal (UPPL) and BJP is a partner.
classes). The government’s method have come before you... no hate based on caste, religion the socio-economic and educational
earlier this month. — PTI Another party, which is in the Opposition in the Council — Bodoland Peoples’
of gathering data by geotagging and BANU MUSHTAQ International SIDDARAMAIAH survey and collect the data as upheld
linking it with the Aadhaar card of Booker Prize-Winning Writer Karnataka Chief Minister in the Indra Sawhney case. Front (BPF) — is supporting the NDA government in Assam. — BIKASH SINGH
PUBLISHED FOR THE PROPRIETORS, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. by R. Krishnamurthy at The Times of India Building, Dr. D. N. Road, Mumbai 400001 Tel. No (022) 6635 3535, 2273 3535, Fax (022) 2273-1144 and printed by him at (1) The Times of India Suburban Press, Akurli Road, Western Express Highway, Kandivli (E), Mumbai - 400 101. Tel. No. (022) 28872324, 28872930, Fax (022) 28874230, (2) Elegant Offset Printers, Shed
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THE ECONOMIC TIMES | MUMBAI | TUESDAY | 23 SEPTEMBER 2025 | WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM

Pure Politics  3
IN THE BACKDROP OF H-1B VISA TENSIONS Afghanistan’s Bagram Base Key
Jaishankar, Rubio Hold First Talks to US Strategy for China, Eurasia
Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury
sia, extending support to US
plans for growing its presen-
gram is the largest air base
in Afghanistan, located

Amid Strain After 50% Tariff by US tional issues of current concern.

New Delhi: US President Do-
nald Trump’s public move to
retake the Bagram airbase in
Afghanistan from the Ta-
ce in the region, said one of
the persons cited above.
Built by the erstwhile Sovi-
et Union in the 1950s, Ba-
north of Kabul, and was the
centre of US operations in
their 20-year war against
the Taliban.

Our Political Bureau Agreed on the importance of sustai- liban is part of his admini-
ned engagement to progress on prio- stration’s strategy to rega-
New Delhi: Jaishankar, Rubio Me- rity areas. We will remain in touch.” in a major foothold for the
et Amid Strain Over Trump’s 50% The talks came on the same day US military in the perip-
Tariff External Affairs Minister S. India and the US launched hery of
Jaishankar met US Secretary of discussions aimed at concluding a China,
State Marco Rubio on Monday on trade agreement. Pakistan Russia,
the sidelines of the 80th United Na- Jaishankar, who arrived in New extends Central
tions General Assembly York on Sunday for the high-level support to US Asia, and
(UNGA) in New York, UNGA week, is scheduled to hold a plans for Iran.
with discussions fo- series of bilateral and multilateral South-Central US pre-
cusing on trade and Good to meet meetings and will deliver India’s Asia sence in
H-1B visa issues. @SecRubio this morning national statement at the General Bagram
This was their in New York. Our Debate on September 27. could make it easy for for-
third in-person conversation covered a On Monday, he also met Philippi- ces to target Iran in any
meeting this ye- range of bilateral and nes Foreign Minister Enrique Ma- future conflict, said peo-
ar, following in- international issues of nalo. “Pleased to meet Secretary of ple familiar with the dy-
teractions in current concern. Agreed Foreign Affairs @SecLazaro of namics of the region.
Washington in on the importance of Philippines at the start of They noted that Pakistan
July during the sustained engagement in. It was, howe- sian oil purchases, taking the total #UNGA80 in New York. We follo- could also be complicit in
Quad Foreign Mi- to progress on priority ver, their first levy to 50%. wed up on the recent State Visit of any American plan to en-
nisters’ Meeting areas. We will remain meeting since Jaishankar later posted on X: “Go- President @bongbongmarcos to In- circle Iran.
and in January soon in touch. Trump imposed an od to meet @SecRubio this morning dia. Also discussed our coopera- Pakistan is emerging as
after US President additional 25% ta- in New York. Our conversation cove- tion in the UN and the Indo-Pacific a lynchpin for the Trump
Donald Trump was sworn riff on India over its Rus- red a range of bilateral and interna- region,” Jaishankar wrote on X. administration’s strategy
in the periphery of Eura-

AFTER INDIA’S STRONG PUSH FOR TECHIES Two Naxals Killed

in Chhattisgarh
MEA Worked Weekend to Win H-1B Relief Police Encounter
Ministry engaged in intense negotiations leading to White House clarification on visa Our Political Bureau
and would apply to people seeking a
Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury new visa as well as renewals, spar- New Delhi: Two Naxals were
king panic among current H1B wor- killed in an encounter with secu-
New Delhi: The ministry of exter- kers worried they would be forced to rity personnel in Chhattisgarh’s
nal affairs has worked over the wee- pay to return. Narayanpur district on Monday,
kend to move the Trump administra- Panic, confusion and concern had police said. A large quantity of ex-
tion on the H-1B fees issue after the gripped Indians in the US on H1B vi- plosive material and some wea-
initial announcement that threate- sas in the hours after the first anno- pons were seized from the enco-
ned to impact the foundation of In- uncement. While American lawma- unter site, they said.
dia-US ties. kers and leaders termed it “reck- The gun battle broke out in the
The clarification issued by the less”, many H1B visa-holders cancel- morning in a forest in Abhuj-
White House that only new H-1B led travel plans at the last minute maad, adjoining
applicants will be charged one-time while waiting to board flights to the Maharashtra,
fees came in the backdrop of these homeland and several others already when a team of
consultations held here and in the in India scrambling to return. security forces
US capital, it has been learnt. The Companies sounded the alarm for was on a search
contribution made to the US econo- H1B visa holders or their family operation follo-
my by H1B visa-holders was high- applicable only for new H1B appli- members currently outside the US wing inputs about the presence
lighted during those consultations, cants, the White House issued a major for work or vacation. of Naxalites in the area, a police
it was learnt. clarification, after the new visa policy “H1B holders have historically be- official said.
The Indian government remains rattled the tech industry. come the architects of innovation, “So far, the bodies of two male
engaged with the Trump administra- Prior to the clarification by White founding companies that generate Naxalites have been recovered
tion on this issue, a source hinted ad- House press secretary Karoline hundreds of thousands of American from the spot. The intermittent
ding, industry bodies also played Leavitt, US commerce secretary Ho- jobs and contribute billions in tax re- exchange of fire and search ope-
their part to appraise the US govern- ward Lutnick, announcing the major venue to federal, state, and local go- ration is still underway,” he said.
ment on the H-1B announcement. fee increase on Friday (September vernments,” nonprofit organisation An AK-47 rifle, along with
The one-time $100,000 payment is 19), said it would be paid annually Indiaspora posted on X. other weapons, a large quantity
India was the largest beneficiary of of explosives, Maoist literatu-
MAY BEAR THE BRUNT IN FUTURE H1B visas last year, accounting for re, propaganda material, and
71% of the approved beneficiaries, daily use items were also reco-
India was the largest beneficiary of H-1B while China was second at 11.7%. The vered from the encounter site,
dangers have been temporarily the official said. With the latest
visas last year, securing 71% of visas; overcome and H1B visa-holders with action, 249 Naxalites have been
lower salaries may bear the brunt in killed in separate encounters in
low-salary holders still risk losing out future. Chhattisgarh so far this year.

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4} EYE ON AI THE ECONOMIC TIMES | MUMBAI

TUESDAY | 23 SEPTEMBER 2025 | WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM

“I feel like if AI can make all of our lives better, why

5
“IF WE END UP MISSPENDING A
COUPLE OF HUNDRED BILLION
% of financial enterprises have their AI DOLLARS ON AI, THAT IS GOING do we need to work for five days a week? Every
investments aligned with their business goals, TO BE VERY UNFORTUNATE. BUT
finds a FICO study based on insights from 254 WHAT I’D SAY IS THE RISK IS company will support three days, four days a week.”
global C-suite leaders in finance firms HIGHER ON THE OTHER SIDE”
MARK ZUCKERBERG, CEO, META ERIC YUAN, CEO, ZOOM

THE TWEAKS IN SILICON SAGA

GOOD Which Wafer
AI Comes Eighth in
Event Forecasting
British AI startup ManticAI
CPU è GPU è XPU Will Propel AI?
“H
A Challenger Chips In
e who controls the spice controls the universe,” wrote
has beaten scores of human Frank Herbert in Dune. And in the world of AI, he who
forecasters in predicting controls the semiconductor chip will reap the benefits
current events, reported of AI. Nvidia’s dominance in AI chips has catapulted it to the
position of world’s most valuable company, with large model
The Guardian. The AI tool
developers paying what’s now dubbed the Nvidia tax. But the
has come in eighth in a com- monopoly is being tested, as hyperscalers and rivals scramble to
petition requiring competi- secure their own silicon and challenge the status quo. Himanshi
tors to predict 60 events Hyperscalers and AI laboratories are racing to reduce reliance on Nvidia with custom Lohchab reports on the progress of these emerging contenders.

T
with the likelihood of occur-
ring till September 1. While
XPUs, opening up a trillion-dollar chip war, writes Himanshi Lohchab Google Trillium & Ironwood TPU
currently humans are doing hree years after Nvidia cemented its However, he cautioned that owning chips alone pany deploying AI at scale as it enables optimum Ü  Custom-design ASIC for 2026 TPU shipment
dominance in AI chips, the company isn’t enough. “Nvidia’s real moat lies not just in performance per watt, he explained. ML workloads forecast: 2.7 million
better than AI at forecasting,
still controls around 80% of the mar- GPUs but in CUDA (their software programming “A customised XPU will also be less expensive Ü  Launched in 2015 to power versus Nvidia GPU:
the CEO of the competition ket, with valuations signaling its grip ecosystem), libraries, and developer tools that than Nvidia GPUs and enables customers to avoid
said it is likely that AI will could last at least another 10 years. Yet form the operating system for AI.” lock-in with Nvidia. It also reduces power con-
search, photos & translate 9.4 million
tech titans like Elon Musk, Sam “So yes, hyperscalers will gain leverage, but it’s sumption, an increasingly important metric for Ü  In 2018, GCP opened TPU
surpass humans by 2029. use for third parties TPU business +
Altman and Sundar Pichai are already showing less about toppling Nvidia and more about secur- data center operators,” Owen said, adding that DeepMind together
early signs of lowering that dependence by build- ing control over cost, supply, and workload-specif- this represents a multi-billion market opportuni- Ü  Launched the Trillium valued at $900 billion
ing their own custom silicon. ic performance,” Mehta said. ty. “Even Nvidia is planning to be involved and will TPU (2024) and Ironwood versus Nvidia at
The market calls these AI chips XPUs – a catch- offer its own custom silicon chips alongside its (2025) for GenAI training
all processor that isn’t just tied to graphics (like THE X FACTOR general-purpose GPUs.” and inference $4 trillion
GPUs) or traditional compute (like CPUs), but can “As AI workloads diversify, so too must the infra-
suit custom needs like training, inference, net- structure, i.e. a one-size-fits-all type of data centre THE NUMBERS ARE MIND BOGGLING
working, gaming, data analytics etc. infrastructure based on general purpose GPUs Lisa Su, chair and CEO of AMD, expects the AI AWS Trainium & Meta MTIA
will not suffice as each workload will have its own chip market to reach $400 billion by 2027. Intel’s Inferentia Ü  Meta Training
DAVID VERSUS GOLIATHS specific requirements,” said Gareth Owen, associ- CEO expects AI chips will become a $1 trillion op-
m ML accelerators for and Inference
Google, the developer of tensor processing units ate research director, Counterpoint Research. portunity by 2030, which is almost twice the size of

THE (TPUs), could be the first to dent Nvidia’s domi- In fact, customisation is becoming strategically the entire chip industry in 2023. Nvidia CEO complex LLM training Accelerator (MTIA)
nance, with shipments projected to hit 2.7 mil- essential for any com- Jensen Huang has projected $1 trillion in global launched in 2024
m Launched in 2019 as low-
lion units by 2026 against Nvidia’s 9.4 million. data centre capex by 2028. In a bullish update, US- Ü  Can cut total cost of

BAD
cost alternatives
Wall Street analysts estimate that if Google ever based research firm 650 Group last week raised its ownership by 44%
spun off its DeepMind research lab along with 2029 forecast for the AI server market from $386 m Two large clusters of AWS
chips are expected to go Ü  Began testing
the TPU business, the com- billion to $581 billion, a 40% jump.
‘Open-source Models WHY THE live in Sep-25 MTIA in March for
bined entity could be val- Progress by companies like Broadcom in the AI-
Vulnerable to Jailbreaks’ MOVE NOW inference
ued at $900 billion, roughly hardware stack is offering hyperscalers a m Anthropic uses AWS chips
Ü  Expected to be
DeepSeek has warned that Customisation atrillion quarter of Nvidia’s $4
market cap.
foundation to focus on their software
stack, said Naresh Singh, senior di-
for training Claude models
deployed in 2026
open-source models were is becoming a m Amazon has invested
This comes as Nvidia is rector analyst at Gartner.
vulnerable to being ‘jailbro- $8 million in
stategic making a $5 billion invest-
ment in Intel to build rack-
“This is very essential to compete
with Nvidia’s well-oiled leading AI Anthropic
ken’ by bad actors, it said in
a peer-reviewed study pub-
essential for scale supercomputing in- stack,” he said. “And while Nvidia
lished in Nature. The Chi- any company frastructure. continues to be ahead of the
Meanwhile, OpenAI has game, it does recognise the in-
nese company published deploying AI reportedly struck a $10 bil- sourcing trend among hyperscal-
that its R1 reasoning model at scale as it lion deal with Broadcom ers and has taken balancing
had slightly higher safety enables for producing its own AI
chip beginning 2026.
steps.”
Moreover, as AI workloads
scores than some other optimum Musk is also racing move from training to inference,
models based on industry performance ahead with chip plans. smaller challengers such as
standards, but it also found Last month, Tesla signed Groq and Sambanova Systems
a $16.5 billion deal with Samsung to produce are also expected to gain mind-
that the model was ‘rela- AI5 chips by the end of 2026. According to share, experts said.
tively unsafe’ once external Musk, the AI5 chip is set to be “epic,” and “As more models move into pro- OpenAI-
‘risk control’ was removed. the upcoming AI6 has a “shot at being the duction, efficiency, latency, and Broadcom
best AI chip by far.” cost per inference matter more

THE
Meanwhile, Amazon, the lead investor in than peak training throughput. m  Designed
by
AI research lab Anthropic, is expected to But adoption remains the bigger Broadcom, TSMC will
build two large gigawatt-scale clusters for hurdle than perfor mance,” start production of new

UGLY
the latter using AWS’ Trainium and Constellation’s Mehta said. “The chip in 2026
Inferentia chips. real breakthrough for challengers m Broadcom already has five XPU Nearly
“What we’re witnessing isn’t a simple won’t be faster chips, it’ll be faster customers: Google, Meta, OpenAI, $10 billion committed
David versus Goliath story,” said Chirag adoption.” Arm/SoftBank and ByteDance orders from OpenAI
Mehta, VP and principal analyst,
IMAGE FOR
Constellation Research. “It’s a recogni-
REPRESENTATION
tion by the largest players that they can-
PURPOSE ONLY
Tesla-Samsung AI5 & AI6 Huawei Ascend NPU
not afford to be wholly dependent on Ü  Tesla signed $16.5 billion m First unveiled in 2018,
Nvidia for their most critical AI workloads. For
deal with Samsung to Ascend series was designed
hyperscalers, custom silicon isn’t a vanity project,
produce the AI5 chips by for low-end devices
it’s supply chain insurance.”
the end of 2026 m By 2024, Huawei has built
Study Warns of Images Ü  Elon Musk says the AI5 complete AI software
Being Used to Hack AI chip is set to be “epic” and stack to enable Chinese
the upcoming AI6 has a self-reliance
A study by Oxford Universi- “shot at being the best AI
ty researchers has shown CANN architecture
m Its
chip by far”
could rival Nvidia’s CUDA
that images can be imprint- Ü  Musk built xAI’s Colossus
ed with hidden instructions m Ascend shipments expected
1 supercomputing cluster
in Memphis from scratch to reach 805,000 in 2025
to AI agents allowing hack-
ers to take control of com- in 122 days m Thenext-gen Ascend
Ü  Colossus 1 hosts Nvidia 910D, which could
puters. The pre-print study outperform Nvidia H100,
H100, H200 and GB200
says sharing of corrupt im- debuts in Q2 2026
GPUs
ages could propagate the
hack. For example, an image Other Challengers
instructing release of pass- Ü  Microsoft Maia Ü  AMD MI3 & MI4 series Ü  Intel Gaudi
words once shared could Ü  Softbank Izanagi Ü  Apple Baltra Ü  Bytedance Ü  Groq LPU
lead to loss of passwords in
SOURCE: SEMIANALYSIS, COMPANY BLOGS, GOLDMAN SACHS, MEDIA REPORTS, FUTURUM GROUP
other systems.

NUETRENDS
Meta to License Content for its AI Tools With self-reliance being the keyword in India’s chip
Meta is reportedly
exploring potential
drive, Swathi Moorthy decodes if local firms will be
able to unseat Nvidia from the GPU perch?
AI.sha
AI companies are capi-

SEMICON SAGA: Can

content licensing
deals with media talising on the virality of
companies such social media with trends
as Axel Springer, like Nano Banana and
Ghibli images. Users are

India Do An NvI(n)DIA?
Fox Corp and
News Corp for amazed at how AI models
its AI products, can unlock imagination
according to a Wall and creativity at scale.

N
Street Journal report. According to the report, discussions have These cultural moments
been around licensing news for its AI products. This comes at a vidia is the dominant player in the KEY SEMICONDUCTOR STARTUPS INVESTMENTS IN 2024-2025 also spread AI literacy and
time when Meta is building Superintelligence Labs after tepid semiconductor space, catapulting it
to the position of most valuable com- Company What they do Investment in 2024-2025 humanise the tech besides
response to its Llama 4 model. Other companies such as ChatGPT,
pany in the world with a market cap of $4 broadening understanding
Perplexity and Amazon had partnered with media organisations. Agrani Labs* AI semiconductors $8 million
trillion. But in recent times, more compa- of how it could im-
According to reports, Google is also exploring AI licensing deals nies have been emerging to challenge its Semiconductors for power manage- pact lives.
C2i Semiconductors $4 million
with news organisations. dominance and push for self-reliance.
The Indian semiconductor industry is
ment in data centers ARE NANO BANANA &
IN FOCUS
having its moment in the sun as invest-
ments from the private sector and govern-
Netrasemi AI optimised system on chips $13.2 million
GHIBLI TRENDS JUST A
System on chips for connected
China Bans its Technology
ment continue to pour in. Can an Indian
semiconductor company however break
Mindgrove
applications and devices
$8 million CREATIVE RETREAT?
the stranglehold of Nvidia and others in Calligo Technologies High performance computing chips $1.2 million
Firms from Using Nvidia Chips
Amid US-China geopolitical tensions, the
this space?
In China, Huawei and Alibaba are devel-
SOURCE: ET RESEARCH; TRACXN | *REPORTED BY ET IN MAY 2025
OR ARE THEY
Cyberspace Administration of China has banned
oping AI chips to rival Nvidia and have boost manufacturing, design and talent in quires deep pockets, a risk private investors
TOO RISKY AND
technology firms in the country like ByteDance
and Alibaba from using Nvidia AI chips made for
stepped up domestic manufacturing in re-
cent years. According to reports, Alibaba’s
the country. Investments will also go into
skilling and partnerships with global play-
such as VCs or private equity players alone
cannot take. The government needs to step Tanm.AI WASTEFUL?
AI chip could rival the performance of ers. India’s chip-making market is expected up investment, which is already happening Without giving explicit,
the Chinese market, according to a Financial Times Nvidia’s H20 chips designed for the Chinese to reach $100-110 billion by 2030. In the past but must happen at scale and fast,” an inves-
report. Reports said that while Nvidia CEO Jensen market. A Reuters report highlighted year, at least two companies--C2i tor who has backed Indian semiconductor
informed consent, us-
Huang was disappointed, he said he would respect Huawei’s rise in the domestic semiconduc- Semiconductors and Agrani Labs--have startups told ET. ers upload pictures
the Chinese government and companies. Alibaba’s tor industry. The firm, which launched its started developing AI computing chips in The second biggest challenge is time. A that may be saved,
semiconductor arm had reportedly developed an first AI chip early this year, plans to release India, drawing investor interest. In the last deeptech investor, speaking on condition of used again or used
AI chip that can match the performance of Nvidia’s its successor in early 2026. five years, $90 million has gone into the sec- anonymity, said, “We are at least seven-
India is driving a big push to be self-reliant tor, according to Venture Intelligence data. eight years away from having our chips.
to train AI. Faces
H20, designed for the Chinese market. and unique traits
amid geopolitical tensions with the US. The Multiple sources told ET that semiconduc- Vikram, the indigenous chip launched re-
technological shift is playing a significant tors are one of the key areas investors are cently by ISRO and the Semiconductor may be consid-
Nvidia, Intel Partner to Develop Chips role, with the government incentivising exploring as interest in the sector grows. Laboratory, is 180 nanometres (nm), while ered sensitive data.
semiconductor manufacturing and design. Five companies have raised $35 million the world has moved to 2 nm. This progress
Chipmaker Nvidia is investing $5 billion in Intel, This includes design-linked incentives un- from investors such as Peak XV, Speciale will take time.”
There’s no clarity on
where they are partnering to develop chips for der the `76,000 crore India Semiconductor Invest and Yali Capital in the past year. While the latest developments have made who owns the edited
custom data centre and PC products. The deal gives Mission. Will that be enough? While these are key developments, buoyed self-reliance a necessity, Nitin Mittal, global output. Millions of us-
the struggling company a new lifeline. This comes Self-reliance is more than a slogan now as by government initiatives such as design- AI leader at Deloitte, noted that achieving ers generating quirky
after the government took a 10% in Intel at an investment of $8.9 central and state governments are invest- linked incentives, the ecosystem is still no- 100% sovereignty is difficult for any coun-
ing significantly in creating a semiconduc- where near China’s, where companies like try, and takes time as AI is an interconnect-
prompts unknowingly
billion. Reuters, quoting experts, said that while the company burn precious GPU
tor ecosystem, said Narendra Bhandari, Alibaba and Huawei already have chips in ed and interdisciplinary field which bene-
might survive, this could also be the first step in an acquisition or partner at Seafund, a deeptech fund. production. fits from research and innovation around resources.
break up of the company among the US chipmakers. The India Semiconductor Mission aims to “Creating a semiconductor ecosystem re- the world.

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 CCI NG 3.7 Product: ETMumbaiBS PubDate: 23-09-2025 Zone: MumbaiCity Edition: 1 Page: ETMCPG5 User: sandesh.pingale Time: 09-22-2025 23:26 Color:

THE ECONOMIC TIMES | MUMBAI | TUESDAY | 23 SEPTEMBER 2025 | WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM

Companies: Pursuit of Profit  5
THE M RNING KL Rahul Buys 10% in PVL’s Goa Guardians
Star cricketer’s investment in volleyball franchise at `50-70 cr valuation
BRIEF PODCAST
Javed Farooqui
empowers athletes. With the right
platform, volleyball can become
India’s next Olympic success sto-
Trump’s $100k H-1B Fee Mumbai: Indian cricketer KL Ra- ry,” said Chekuri.
hul has acquired a 10% stake in KL Rahul’s support adds immen-
and the New Age of Prime Volleyball League’s (PVL) se value to our dream of seeing In-
Goa Guardians at a valuation of dia compete in volleyball at the
Migration Controls about `50–70 crore, according to Olympic Games and will help at-
Host Anirban Chowdhury talks people aware of the matter. tract fans and accelerate the
Goa Guardians, the tenth PVL sport’s growth, said Joy Bhatta-
to ET’s Beena Parmar, Poorvi
franchise, is owned by Netenrich charjya, CEO, PVL.
Chothani of LawQuest and chairman Raju Chekuri. Other PVL franchise owners in-
political scientist Ranabir Launched in 2019, PVL is valued Industry executives said Ra- clude PhonePe co-founders Sam-
Samaddar about the ripples of at around `500 crore and aims to hul’s move underscores the gro- eer Nigam and Rahul Chari (Mum-
popularise volleyball through a wing appetite among top athletes bai), Curefoods founder Ankit Na-
a single policy shock to uncover how business, franchise-based model. and celebrities to back emerging gori (Bengaluru), and Muthoot
law, and politics are redrawing the map of “This feels like a full-circle mo- sports leagues. Pappachan Group (Kochi) and Vi-
global mobility. ment for me. PVL is a turning po- “We are delighted to have KL Ra- jay Deverakonda (Hyderabad).
Tune in to ETPlay.com. Available on int for the sport in India. The goal hul join our ownership group. His All league matches will air on So-
EconomicTimes.com/podcast, Amazon Prime is to give volleyball the spotlight so passion for volleyball and belief in ny Sports Network and stream on
more people watch and love it,” Ra- its potential will help us build a PVL’s YouTube channel from Oc-
Music, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn and Spotify.
hul said. franchise that inspires fans and tober 2 to 26, 2025.

BUFFETED BY GLOBAL HEADWINDS, FINDING TAILWINDS AT HOME

For Shell, Global Uncertainty is Pidilite Bets on Rising Income,

the Bigger Threat from Tariffs Growth, Urbanisation Wave Speciality chemicals leader sees strong runway in rural markets
Trump’s moves may disrupt demand-supply balance, investment decisions, says senior exec the areas it is present in, and will ta-
Shell’s three key global R&D hubs. Nikita Periwal ke a call depending on how the mar-
Sanjeev Choudhary “Bangalore for me is probably the Adhesive Edge ket evolves. “In general, strength of
GCCs may have key to commercialisation of tech- Mumbai: Pidilite Industries will Lower tax on the brand is an important aspect for
Rising house-
New Delhi: The real blow from US started off a long nology,” said Mooldijk, who visi- benefit from an uptick in consumer hold incomes art & craft Pidilite,” he said.
President Donald Trump’s tariffs time ago as cost effici- ted the city last week for Shell’s spending as funds find their way in- boost home products Among the newer players in the
is not higher supply chain costs but Changemakers of Tomorrow ini- to home improvement over the next improvement (now 5%) fast-growing paints market, Pidili-
the uncertainty they inject into the ency. We’re so way tiative, which brought together two-three years, said its managing te is focusing on the rural markets,
spending
global economy, disrupting the de- beyond that. We rea- startups, academics, suppliers director Sudhanshu Vats. Focus on which it believes are underserved.
mand-supply balance and weig- ched the point that we and industry executives around “As a discretionary category, premium po- “We will use the strength of our
hing on investment decisions, innovation in energy. Pidilite benefits from rising ho- sitioning; rural distribution and our last mile,”
Shell’s global chief of projects and cannot do without our India’s GCC is no more just a cost usehold incomes, which typi- distribution Vats said, adding that the “urban
technology said. presence in India and arbitrage opportunity. “It may ha- cally drive increased spending push in paints slugfest” is not something that the
“The primary effect is on our the same applies to ve started off a long time ago as cost on home improvement,” he told company is currently considering.
supply chain. It becomes more ex- efficiency. We’re so way beyond ET in an exclusive interview. New segments When rural consumers talk about
pensive and for a company like our IT organisation that. We reached the point that we The government has reduced two or three brands, Pidilite sho-
now contrib-
Shell it’s something that we could ROBIN MOOLDIJK cannot do without our presence in goods and services tax (GST) ra- ute 20% of uld be one of them, Vats said. “As a
actually deal with,” Robin Mool- India and the same applies to our IT tes on a host of products, which company, we are not obsessed abo-
dijk, president, projects & techno-
President, projects & organisation,” Mooldijk added. is expected to spur consumption.
turnover
ut numbers,” he said, adding that
logy at Shell, told ET in an intervi- tech, Shell Shell’s collaboration with Indian While the company will see a di- the company would look at genera-
ew. “But the bigger (effect) is even universities and supply chain equ- rect benefit as some items in its art and rapid urbanisation, we believe ting demand rather than chasing
on the investments. Does it change ipment vendors are helping it focus and crafts portfolio have moved to there’s a strong runway in construc- market share.
the business climate and the supp- NEW TIE-UPS on developing frugal technologies the 5% slab, from 12% earlier, the im- tion, one that will drive a broader po-
ly-demand balance to the extent that can enhance competitiveness, pact will be limited. sitive impact for Pidilite,” Vats said. GROWTH
that—a little bit cheaper or a little
bit more expensive project, do-
Collaboration with Indian universities he said. GST rates have also been cut on se-
veral home improvement products
Pidilite, which describes itself as a Pidilite currently gets about a fifth
Several global oil companies have speciality chemicals company, has a of its turnover from businesses
esn’t really matter—do we want to and supply chain equipment vendors are recently scaled back renewable such as marble, stone and granite, portfolio comprising several popu- which were relatively small five ye-
do it or not.” ambitions amid market challeng- and higher usage of these items co- lar brands such as Fevicol, Dr Fixit, ars ago, including tile adhesives
He pointed to Shell’s global che- helping focus on developing frugal tech- es, even as the US administration uld translate into a proportionate Araldite and Roff, and joint ventu- and wood finishes. “That’s the Pi-
micals business where demand backs fossil fuels. “It's the market increase in items from the Fevicol res such as Grupo Puma, which de- dilite way of doing things, the pio-
has been “impacted”, and the speed nologies that can enhance competitiveness that drives how fast we go. The will maker’s adhesive portfolio. als with construction materials. It is neering we do. So, in five years, I
of recovery remains uncertain. is there and especially on technolo- “If you’re investing in premium also present in the paints business will again have a certain portfolio
Shell, one of the world’s largest shareholders.” de. “(It) allows us to optimise gy development, we will continue furniture, tiles, marbles and stones, through its Haisha brand. from newer products,” said the ma-
integrated energy companies, is al- In India, Shell owns an LNG ter- across different assets. Because ty- to develop, but we still need to have it’s only natural to spend a little mo- naging director.
so contending with another head- minal in Gujarat, a small fuel retail pically if assets are on a different a market,” Mooldijk said. re on specialised Pidilite products to PAINTS While some of these products
wind: low oil prices. Crude has sta- chain and renewable platform continent, they don’t really talk to “If nobody buys it, what are you ensure they’re fixed properly and Pidilite was also one of the compa- may enjoy very high profitability,
yed below $70 a barrel for months, Sprng Energy. But its most conse- each other. But now you see that going to do with it?” He said green last longer,” Vats said. nies which had bid for Akzo Nobel some of it will be in the median
with forecasts of sub-$60 levels quential and expanding role comes there’s similar work done by peo- hydrogen is unlikely to reach price Over the longer run, the company India, which was finally taken over range, while some will be slightly
next year amid a supply glut. “We from its global capability centres ple sitting next to each other for dif- parity with conventional hydrogen expected to benefit from an increase by JSW Paints. “We have to get the lower, which will effectively lead to
have an incredibly resilient upstre- (GCC) in Chennai and Bengaluru, ferent assets,” he said. “Now some this decade, given it currently costs in the total number of households right value and the right price, and an earnings before interest, tax,
am portfolio,” Mooldijk said. “So, where most of its 13,000 Indian of our competitors have observed about five times more and would re- and construction activities playing for us, brand is an important pie- depreciation and amortisation
while (low oil price) hurts, it do- employees are based. that and there’s even a third party quire fundamental technological out, he said. ce,” Vats said. margin band of 20-24% being ma-
esn’t hurt fundamentally at that le- Chennai houses Shell’s global mo- offering it.” breakthroughs to achieve a steep “With initiatives like the Pradhan The company is currently focusing intained over the next five to 10 ye-
vel where we have to disappoint nitoring centre for assets worldwi- Bengaluru is home to one of cost reduction. Mantri Awas Yojana, smart cities on building a market and demand in ars, Vats said.

In a Nutshell
Vi’s 5G Traffic Jumps 30%, Smartphone
Exports to US
Delink Use Cases for 6 GHz
 India, Brazil Join
Delicensed Spectrum: BIF
Hands for Agri Tech
NEW DELHI: India and
Brazil seek to strengthen
Targets Satcom Entry by’ 26 Declining: GTRI
New Delhi: India's smartphone
exports to its largest market, the
Our Bureau
power limits.
“Since these studies would invol-
ve detailed technical and field tri-
their partnership in agricul- US, fell 58% from $2.29 billion in New Delhi: The Broadband India als in live conditions, this process
ture sector with launch of a
Network now covers May to $964.8 million in August, Forum, which represents top tech may also take a lot of time. Also, as
programme that aims to promote 30 cities across 17 think tank GTRI said on Monday.
It said that the development is
companies and telecom equip-
ment providers, has asked the De-
evident from such use cases based
on international best practices,
technological innovation and ex-
changes of best practices. According to circles; telco eyes AST alarming and counter-intuitive
as there are no tariffs on smartp-
partment of Telecommunications
(DoT) to delink indoor and outdo-
Automatic Frequency Coordina-
tion (AFC) techniques will require
an official statement on Monday, Indian
Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)
Spacemobile tie-up hones.
"This demands urgent investi-
or use cases of the delicensed
6GHz spectrum to speed up the rol-
special measures and may take ti-
me,” TV Ramachandran, presi-
has launched a second edition of the gation to uncover the real rea- lout of services based on this dent, BIF, said in a letter to the tele-
Brazil–India Cross-Incubation Pro- Pranav Varshney sons that are driving the fall," the band. com minister, dated
gramme in Agritech (Maitri 2.0) here. Global Trade Research Initiative This comes after the DoT said it September 17.
Pune: Vodafone Idea (Vi) expects (GTRI) said. will be doing feasibility studies for The industry bo-
 an entry into space-based cellular Smartphone exports, India's lar- outdoor use cases. dy has asked to im-
ED Attaches Dubai broadband networks by mid-2026 allocation. 83% per year. And we may be aro- gest export to the US, plunged Despite passing a draft gazette mediately delink
Assets in Betting Case as its partner in the domain awa- The partnered companies have be- und 88% if we take the top 17 circles 58% from $2.29 billion in May 2025 notification, the DoT has delayed the indoor from the
its government licensing, a senior en active in discussions with the De- where our focus is the most. So actu- to $964.8 million in the notification of rules on deli- outdoor use cases
NEW DELHI Land, villas The DoT has
official said. partment of Telecommunication ally this is the area where from 83 to August, it said, ad- censing the lower portion of the constituted a and notify the indo-
and flats in Dubai and Vodafone Idea chief technology (DoT) for licences such as Global maybe, you know like, as the efforts ding the fall was stea- 6GHz band, which has been a de- committee to or use cases based
bank deposits in India officer Jagbir Singh further said Mobile Personal Communication keep coming, we will keep increa- dy month by month. mand from tech companies to de- undertake on the agreed po-
worth `307 crore have that the telco’s 5G deployment by Satellite (GMPC), which authori- sing the new population coverage It was $2 billion in ploy faster Wi-FI services using the co-existence wer levels for
been attached under the anti-money across 29-30 cities in 17 circles has ses the use of satellite technology on 4G,” the CTO added. June and $1.52 billion in July. WiFi 6E and WiFi 7 technologies. studies for which there is a
led to a 25-30% increase in total da- for global mobile satellite commu- The company also plans to streng- In FY2025, the US remained In- The department had earlier de- outdoor use consensus among
laundering law in an online betting
ta traffic volume, helped by gro- nication. then the 5G network wherever it is dia's top smartphone market cided to delicense the lower por- cases with all stakeholders.
and broadcasting case linked to a wing 5G device adoption. “There is a lot of work also happe- required depending on the device with $10.6 billion imports (44% of tion of the 6GHz band and alloca- higher power “This will enable
platform named Fairplay, the ED said In June, the joint venture between ning at the DoT level”, Singh said at penetration. India’s global exports of $24.1 bil- te it without auctions with an the country to utili-
on Monday. The money laundering UK’s Vodafone Group and India’s a briefing. “The satellite provider is Vi is also prepared to launch lion), followed by the EU at $7.1 August 15 deadline to implement se the lower 6GHz spectrum band
case stems from an FIR filed by the Aditya Birla Group (ABG) had tied the entity that needs to seek GMPCS Caller Name Presentation billion (29.5 %). It added that ta- the policy. for the overall benefit of the econo-
Cyber wing of the Mumbai Police. The up with AST Spacemobile, a satelli- licence”. According to him, Vi will (CNAP) but needs government riff-free products, which account The telecom department has said my, growth of GDP and the count-
te communication company, which likely launch its satcom services by KYC clarity. “We are just awai- for 28.5% of India's August ex- it will undertake a technical and fi- ry, and will pave the way for the na-
complaint was registered on the basis
counts Elon Musk’s SpaceX and “mid-fall” of 2026. ting clarity as industry from the ports, posted the sharpest cont- eld study on the feasibility of use tionwide roll out of next-gen/mo-
of a communication sent by Viacom18 Amazon’s Kuiper as rivals. “More data traffic, at least 25 to government on a couple of KYC raction of 41.9%, falling from of delicensed WiFi bands and its dern WiFi and associated consu-
Media against Fairplay and others, SpaceX, a Reliance Jio-SES JV 30% neutralisation happening”, things”, the CTO said. $3.37 billion in May to $1.96 billion potential interference risks with mer- centric services,”
alleging revenue loss of more than and Bharti group-backed Eutel- Singh said. The company awaits approvals in August. incumbent terrestrial and satelli- Ramachandran said.
`100 crore to the former company sat OneWeb have already secu- Vi’s 4G network covers 88% of 17 for the format for display of na- Pharmaceuticals also weake- te bands. The DoT has constituted The delay means the latest WiFi
due to violation of the Information red all necessary permits to priority circles, up from 83% na- mes, limit of names under one ned, with exports dropping 13.3 a committee to undertake the co- technologies and devices based on
launch satcom services in India. tionwide, with plans to expand. user and layouts across different per cent, from $745 million in May existence studies, particularly for them will not receive approval to
Technology (IT) and Copyright Act.
They are now awaiting spectrum “Right now we are sitting around types of devices. to $646.6 million in August. —PTI outdoor use cases with enhanced be sold in India.
 GHV Infra Sets Up
Subsidiary in UAE
NEW DELHI Infrastructure
and construction firm GHV
Infra Projects on Monday
India, US Move Closer to Deal Facilitating Digital Market Access
said it has incorporated a EASE OF BUSINESS New pact to protect IP, cut barriers for US firms and expand cooperation in digital connectivity and communications sector
subsidiary in the United Arab Emira-
other party,” an official said on Sharing proprietary data like Companies also have to share
tes to explore opportunities in inter- Kiran Rathee condition of anonymity. source code and production pro- vulnerabilities in the product and
national markets. The company has Multiple departments and mini- cesses and technology was a key how the same could be tackled.
incorporated a wholly-owned sub- New Delhi: Selling of products and stries are involved in sharing inputs concern raised by But with India agreeing to address
sidiary, GHV Infra FZ-LLC, in Ras Al services by US companies in India for the trade deal. US companies for concerns raised by the US admini-
is likely to get easier with the two “Respective departments will Both securing certifica- stration, there is likely to be close
Khaimah Economic Zone, the UAE, to
countries renegotiating a trade share their viewpoint concerning countries tion in India to sell cooperation in the communications
carry out the business activities and have agreed
deal, with focus on facilitating the US trade,” another official said. their products. sector. Officials said the two count-
explore opportunities overseas, it not to
digital trade. So far, there is general agreement The US admini- ries will pursue commitments that
said in a statement. “With substantial The two countries have agreed not over not seeking proprietary know- demand stration had earlier promote open, interoperable, resili-
investments being made in infra and to demand information concerning ledge, source code, access to a parti- proprietary termed the manda- ent and secure digital connectivity
construction across the Middle East source code or other proprietary cular technology, production pro- knowledge as tory testing pro- and ICT infrastructure, including
and surrounding regions, the in- knowledge, and access to a particu- cess, etc. The move will benefit precondition tocols set by India undersea cables, satellite communi-
lar technology, production process, sectors such as telecom, chemicals, for doing as non-tariff cations, wireless networks and
corporation of GHV Infra FZ-LLC
etc, as a precondition for doing electronics, and medical devices, business in barriers, negative- internet protocol (IP) routers that equipped labs in India. open radio access networks (RAN).
positions us to participate in these India
business in India, officials aware of among others. ly impacting sales have got the security certification As part of the testing process, The government has already given
opportunities,” the filing stated. The the details told ET. Regarding the telecom sector, the of products by US from the government. companies are required to share a permit to Elon Musk-owned
company also announced that its “The US and India will further move will particularly benefit firms companies. Even though the government has data such as internal test reports of a Starlink to offer satcom services in
board has approved the sub-division facilitate digital trade by refraining like Cisco, Ciena, HPE, and Dell, The government has put in a reduced its fee for doing certifica- product for getting the certification. India. A third official said both the
of equity shares as well as a bonus from adopting or maintaining which supply equipment including security mandate, which allows tion, there is no decrease in the fee Companies cite intellectual property US and India agree to the importan-
issue in the ratio of 3:2. – PTI measures that discriminate against hardware, software and servers to selling of only those Wi-Fi customer charged by labs. Also, the industry rights, sensitivity and security ce of a global connected internet for
digital services or products of the the Indian market. premises equipment (CPEs) and feels there are not enough well- constraints to share such data. digital trade.

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6} THE ECONOMIC TIMES The Edit Page THE ECONOMIC TIMES | MUMBAI | TUESDAY | 23 SEPTEMBER 2025 | WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM

So, a GST-Saved Extra STATE OF PLAY Use the new Trumpian construct of the ‘winner-loser’ frame to deal with US

Cash Shopping Spree?

Read the data correctly when the time comes
Now that the hurrah has settled, a bit of tempered reac-
Win Him Over With Wins on several occasions already. It was al-
so seen in trade deal claims with Japan
tion to the GST reset recommended by the GST Council and the EU, where the details were still
on Sept 3 and rolled out yesterday. Changes in consump-
tion will begin registering initially in trade channels
not closed when he announced it. So,
the way forward is to count on the mic- Creative
Power
ro-negotiations that follow, where a lot
and will be corroborated by high-frequency indicators, of ground can possibly be recovered,
such as industrial production numbers and services vo- like the H-1B clarification.
lumes. The critical parameter is capacity utilisation, Pranab Dhal Samanta Saudi Arabia’s nuclear security deal
with Pakistan is a good instance of how
ANANDMURTI GURUMAA
which will indicate whether demand primed through tax

I
countries, despite their overall depen- Creation, sustenance and dissolu-
cuts is translating into a private investment revival. Ef- ndia’s conversations with the US dence, are deploying these methods in tion — the three great processes
fects of festival consumption will also have to be smoot- have been marked by startling tandem to build strategic redundanci- of the universe — are all powered
contradictions of late. While the es. For Riyadh, the problem was whe- by a single force: Prakriti, cosmic
hed out to arrive at a true impact of fiscal stimulus. This tonality has improved amid re- ther it could fully rely on US security creative energy. All knowledge
will involve data over the next few quarters to isolate sea- newed progress on a trade deal, guarantees after Israel’s attacks in Qa- being revealed through scienti-
sonal variation in the base effect. Initial indicators could the policy directive on H-1B visas goes tar. Also, there’s no foolproof evidence fic discovery is simply a glimpse
against the new momentum. And, yet, Mirror, mirror on his wall, just tell him he’s the fairest of them all that Iran’s capabilities to make a nucle- into this one cosmic energy. In a
also be clouded by transmission of tax changes through the US has put a ‘technical hold’ on a ar bomb have been destroyed. seeker’s mind, when the desire
production and distribution chains. China-Pakistan proposal to sanction Trump’s Washington appears to ha- At the same time, there’s room for con- In this backdrop, Saudi Arabia has to resolve life’s mysteries arises,
GoI hopes households will use extra disposable income Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) ve a new construct: the ‘winner-loser’ versation beneath the surface of these invoked a partner in Pakistan, which it eventually leads him back to
in the UN, while at the same time doing frame. Here, it’s vital that the US must victories. This is why trade talks are is significantly dependent on its finan- this very source.
— in official estimation, `2.5 lakh cr away with the waiver to India on Iran not just win, but also be acknowledged still in play and a clarification on the cial support, to extend its nuclear um- Trees, rivers, mountains, stars,
through changes to GST and I-T slabs sanctions for making the Chabahar port. ‘winner’ in every deal. Which means prospective implementation of brella. If nothing, it allows planets, animals, humans — all
— to increase spending. Yet, household Also, having taken the extreme li- that every transaction stands on its own the H-1B order could be made Saudi Arabia to signal are products of this same primal
ne of losing India to China following merit, largely divorced from any big- within 24 hours of the announ- energy. At the core, all are expres-
savings are at historically low levels, the SCO summit, Donald Trump him- ger geopolitical picture, but each add- cement. The US must sions of one cosmic principle. This
and the cash could come in handy in re- self went on to exude newfound ing to a string of wins firmly linked to So, how does one continu- great power is what the sages call-
warmth with Xi Jinping over the pos- Trump’s domestic agenda and politi- ously prise open this space not just win, ed Shakti. Every motion in the
building them. Data for possible chang-
sibility of a TikTok deal. He has been cal projection. for negotiation, while fi- but also be cosmos — song of birds, beating
es to individuals’ propensity to consu- silent on Quad, put AUKUS on review, of the human heart — is Shakti in
Take the decisions on India. The elding political onslau- acknowledged
me and save will be available on a much leaving Australia and Britain on ten- H-1B order caters to a MAGA constitu- ght from Washington? action. This grand play of energy
terhooks over a White House endor- ency that visualises India through the Three elements hold ‘winner’ in is what our rishis revered as Devi.
longer horizon. Policymakers will be concerned with how
sement despite them having met eve- phenomenal success of the Indian dias- the key: every deal When they worshipped Devi, they
the more immediate income effect on consumption plays ry other demand. pora, particularly its tech achievers — u Conveying autono- were in truth bowing to this sup-
out over the next few quarters, and whether it spills over This may all look flummoxing. But and not only as a strategic partner in my It’s important to establish autono- to the Sunni world that its main religi- reme power, this life-force itself.
into creation of additional production capacities. the problem is with the frame through the Indo-Pacific, which would necessi- my of action and decision-making as a ous centre is protected as matters hot Our mind thinks, desires, and
which the world has seen, interpreted tate certain exceptional treatment. Si- strategic player. This essentially trans- up in the region. feels joy, sorrow, anger and love
India may be approaching limits of fiscal intervention and understood the US. And it’s a milarly, the Chabahar project ran into lates into being able to make maximum Trump’s ‘winner-loser’ frame, when — yet, we often remain unaware
to prop up demand. I-T sets in at around 5× per-capita in- frame that the US itself has projected Trump’s domestic positioning on Iran political and economic play with other applied to each transaction, is likely to of the power driving these inner
for decades, which others, in due cour- and its nuclear programme. Just like actors. The SCO summit was one such undermine the US’ traditional role as movements. This very power is
come, and declining marginal gains would be obtained
se, accepted. This rested on a political India’s oil purchases from Russia were occasion, where India conveyed it can guarantor of global commons, its se- Shakti; this very energy is what
from any further relaxation. GST rates have been stabili- understanding of ‘who’s good and built up as a leverage New Delhi shou- work with China and Russia who seek curity, and a willingness to intervene we call God.
sed at 5% and 18% with little room for dips. GoI’s capex cy- who’s bad’ in the world, and that the ld use in influencing Moscow’s actions to challenge US dominance. where necessary. This could impact Most people mistake God to be
US was always the force that ‘stood in the Ukraine conflict. v Demonstrate derisking It’s clear key frameworks of cooperation, from an idol in a temple but fail to see
cle is maturing without the anticipated investment mul-
with the good’. Trump has politically conveyed a that the Trump regime had sought to terrorism to proliferation and mariti- that the very life-force within
tiplier in evidence. It has a lot riding on a consumer de- The ‘good-bad’ frame is domestic win on these fronts by show- exploit dependencies of allies and part- me security. Response of countries not them is Divine. During Navaratri,
mand revival to keep the economy on its growth trajecto- how allies and ad- versa- casing the $100K H-1B visa fee, as well ners to its political advantage. Forcing invested enough in security matters it is important to establish an ex-
ries were sorted. as 50% tariffs on India, besides bring- concessions out of this set of countries will be in the form of increased defen- ternal image of the Divine Moth-
ry. Ensuring tax changes work their way through the
The list had its sha- ing its assets in Chabahar under the is like low-hanging fruits that give qui- ce expenditure, proliferation, weapon er, but equally important is to re-
system and exhorting people to go out and spend their ex- re of regular am- ambit of Iran sanctions. ck wins that can be championed dom- building, and bilateral/regional mili- cognise that until the supreme
tra money are jolly good nudges. Equally important will endments. Later, estically. Hence, substantive outcomes tary guarantees. consciousness within awakens,
with the Cold Count on the for India with other geographies, like But for Trump, that’s a problem for the spiritual secret of Navaratri
be reading the data correctly when the time comes. War’s end, it micro-negotiations remains undiscovered. It is an op-
firming up the trade deal with the EU, another day. Domestic wins are critical
had its own that follow each are critical to building redundancies to sustain and fuel a changing new po- portunity for inner exploration
shades of announcement, — a win-win deal, which gradually re- lity in the US, a shift that informs the and awakening of this energy.
grey. But, bro- where a lot of ground duces dependence on the US. core of the geopolitical upheaval unlea-

Palestine-Israel: Four
adly, the US persisted can possibly be w Negotiating wins Trump’s claims shed by the Trump White House.
with this political recovered, like the on wins, perhaps as a tactic, are mostly
frame. Until now. H-1B clarification premature. He has done so with India [email protected] PARANORMAL
ACTIVITY

More Get It Right Paragraphs From Fiction

Chabahar Wrong Port of Call for US

There’s a Monster
It is the sign of pragmatic wisdom to change one’s opinions when Behind the Door
new facts come to light. This holds as true for countries as it does Gaëlle Bélam
for individuals. So, when on Sunday, Britain, Canada, Australia ‘That’s the way it is and that’s
and Portugal broke ranks with their traditional Big Brother ally, minal. The port offers New Delhi the railway line running east of the Cas- that!’
shortest and fastest route to Eurasia, pian Sea, which became operational While parents usually get car-
the US, and formally recognised the State of Palestine, it was a
including Central Asian Republics in 2014, and is a vital route under the ried away trying to explain the
healthy reckoning. After nearly two years of relentless bom- (CARs), for trade and commerce, and Ashgabat Agreement. great mysteries of life and the
bardment, starvation and displacement in Gaza by the Benja- is considered a golden gateway for Since 2000, China has constructed 38 why and wherefore of every-
min Netanyahu government, the moral bankruptcy of silence landlocked CARs and Afghanistan to ports across the world. Beijing also has thing to their offspring, the
access the Indian Ocean. The revoca- stakes in 78 ports, with a further 43 eith- Dessaintes always proved ex-
became too heavy to bear. Recognition was not a gift to Hamas or tion could pose a setback to New Del- er planned or under construction with- ceptionally mean when it came
terrorism, as Netanyahu chose to describe it, but a CPR to the Harsh V Pant &
hi’s regional connectivity plans with in BRI domains. Some of these ports to explanations.
idea that Palestinians deserve dignity, sovereignty and a future. Ayjaz Wani the International North-South Trans- Houston seems to have a problem in South Asia are part of the string of Of course, they attached a
This move is not merely symbolic. It shifts the diplomatic port Corridor (INSTC). pearls theory, such as Gwadar in Pak- degree of importance to feed-
Removal of sanction waiver will af- Chabahar is also crucial for India to istan. The Gwadar port was transfer- ing and cloth-
centre of gravity somewhat, since Trump Last week, the Trump regime revoked fect India’s access to hydrocarbons- counter China’s influence in Eurasia red to a Chinese operating company ing the only
had noted in his recent London visit that the sanctions exemption for the strate- rich Central Asian region, and under- and limit Beijing’s growing power in in 2013 and has since become the cen- child they had
Keir Starmer’s decision — an important gic Chabahar Port, as part of its ‘maxi- mine critical mineral supplies by limit- the Indian Ocean. After 1991, Beijing tre of the contentious China-Pakistan brought into
one, considering that Britain was one of mum pressure policy’ against Iran. ing rare earth exports for clean energy successfully drew CARs into its econo- Economic Corridor, which has overlo- the world, and
This exemption was granted in 2018 to and defence. Kazakhstan, particular- mic and geopolitical sphere. To rebal- oked New Delhi’s concerns regarding to making her
the prime architects of the creation of Is- promote Indian investment and port ly, has over 5,000 rare earth deposits ance the power equation, India and Cen- sovereignty and integrity in disputed generally pre-
rael in 1948 in the British-administered development for strategic, reliable con- valued at more than $46 tn, currently tral Asia initiated the India-Central POK. Chabahar is about 170 km away sentable, but
League of Nations mandate — was a po- nectivity initiatives with Eurasia and most of which are exported to China. Asia dialogue in 2019. Most CARs have from Gwadar, which can act as a curb never — not
int of difference in the Anglo-American enhance regional trade. The revocation India needs new markets, resilient, shown increased interest in Indian con- to Chinese maritime influence. once — did
will kick in from Sept 29, and Indian in- reliable and diverse supply chains, and nectivity projects, including Chabah- The Chabahar conundrum encap- they show any
friendship. When G7 nations — who helped shape the post- dividuals and companies working at sustainable transport links. Chabah- ar Port, to access the Indian Ocean. sulates a broader dilemma: whether zeal for ins-
WW2 order — acknowledge Palestine, they challenge the mo- the port, or in related activities, could ar is vital for its strategic plan because During the first India-Central Asia great-power rivalries will continue to truction, let alone education.
nopoly of vetoes and ultimatums that have long stalled peace. face sanctions under the US’ Iran Free- it’s located in the open sea beyond the virtual summit in 2022, all countries choke critical connectivity corridors, Their attachment to the most
dom and Counter-Proliferation Act. Strait of Hormuz, one of the three emphasised Chabahar’s inclusion in or pragmatic cooperation can prevail basic platitudes and their in-
Politically, this recognition isolates extremism. It empowers
India has been developing Chabahar ‘choke points’ in the Indian Ocean. Its INSTC. India and CARs have establi- to serve shared interests in stability, nate laziness when it came to
Palestinian Authority, while marginalising Hamas. It joins a since 2018. In May 2024, India Ports Glo- location ensures it remains unaffected shed a working group on Chabahar. security and sustainable growth ac- answering their child’s questi-
comity of nations that has already called out Israel on its bar- bal Ltd (IPGL) and Iran’s Ports and by conflicts in the Gulf or West Asia Once connected to INSTC, it will give ross the region. ons was perhaps a symptom
barism in the name of existential self-protection. Morally, it Maritime Organisation (PMO) enter- and is 550 NM from Mundra and Kand- India direct access to hydrocarbon- of their resignation, of their
ed into a 10-year agreement for India la ports in Gujarat, and 780 NM from rich Central Asia through the 928-km Pant is vice-president, and Wani is fellow for submissive acceptance of real-
was overdue. More than 65,000 Palestinians have died since to manage the Shahid Beheshti ter- JNPT in Maharashtra. Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran (KTI) Eurasia, of a New Delhi-based think tank ities beyond their understand-
October 2023. To recognise their right to statehood is not to ing, of their total lack of edu-
erase Israeli suffering, but to affirm that suffering should not cation. Whatever the reason,
they dismissed all her inquir-

For H-1Bed-Out Talent, What’s Here?

be the currency of statecraft. Well done, London, Canberra,
ies — those questions from a
Ottawa and Lisbon. child mesmerised by the wor-
ld— with the same laconic, fix-
ed response: ‘That’s the way
it is and that’s that!’
to India upsets this equation. A falling Quality of life compounds the chal- fragmented — incubation centres at Farewell science and its com-
JUST IN JEST rupee makes even a $120,000 salary in lenge. Add divisive politics, short-term IITs, scattered corporate initiatives plicated algorithms, farewell
California look attractive. populism and retrogressive research and Nasscom awards. Each is valuab- erudite digressions and their
When the emir of Mar-a-Lago The same skills in India yield higher dressed up as ‘national duty’, and the le, but insufficient without an overar- gang of bearded boffins!
stress, slower growth, weaker safety misalignment between individual am- ching vision and execution.
doesn’t get Bagram Airport… nets and poorer quality of life. Chinese bition and national trajectory becom- The hard truth: India’s brightest, once Translated from French by Karen

Do It, Trumpullah,
students are encouraged to experime- es clear. Brainpower thrives where exposed to global systems, return to Fleetwood & Laetitia Saint-Loubert
M Muneer nt. But Indians, risk-averse by necessi- systems enable it. India’s systems still find little space to apply those lessons.
ty, find reverse migration economical- largely suffocate it. Academic systems remain exams-dri-
ly irrational. India boasts 1,140-plus universities and ven. Labour arbitrage and services,

Tariff the Taliban! Chat Room

Trump’s latest H-1Bomb, after his tar- India’s work culture is also a deter- 45,500-plus colleges, producing over 10 not product innovation, dominate In-
iff missiles, has brought some ‘hope rent. Corporates are marked by arch- mn graduates annually. But quality? dia Inc. Policymakers remain reac-
springs eternal’-walas out of the wood- aic hierarchies, micromanagement, Global rankings elude Indian institu- tive, chasing electoral cycles rather

On Sunday, Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban administration re-

work, proclaiming that the US’ result-
ant loss of Indian talent will trigger a
mediocrity, and a 9 am-to-9 pm, six
days-a-week in-office work culture dog-
tions due to poor output standards in
R&D. Last year, 7,50,000-plus students
than long-term vision. Those who do
return often compromise, settling for Unleash Greatest
fused to return, in their words (but, of course, in Pushtu)
‘reverse brain drain’ to India. At first
glance, that seems logical enough.
ma. KPIs show bias towards obedien-
ce and incrementalism. There’s no
went abroad, taking $10 bn with them.
Policymakers should have built com-
lower-quality work, or struggling as
isolated entrepreneurs battling sys-
Human Capitalist
‘even an inch’ of Bagram Airport to the US that the latter had In their article, ‘Atmagarbar Ameri- focus on innovation and new product petitiveness, but preferred regulatory temic inertia. Apropos ‘Atmagarbar America’s
given back to the Afghan state four years ago when US troops ca’s Loss Can Be India’s Gain’ (ET, Sept development. controls and cronyism, resulting in Meanwhile, Canada, Australia, Ger- Loss Can Be India’s Gain’ by T V
decamped the country. Truth is, the person doing the asking 22), former Infosys CFO T V Mohandas Unless risk-taking is rewarded, hie- this poor state. Here’s what other coun- many and the UAE are opening their Mohandas Pai and Nisha Holla
Pai and Nisha Holla argue that India’s rarchies flattened and failure encour- tries did: doors wider. Post-study work visas, (Sep 22), the US’ draconian impo-
— Don-al-Trumpullah — didn’t ask politely. His response to role in the IT services industry won’t aged — as in San Francisco, Tel Aviv u China faced a similar exodus three golden visas, fast-track permanent sition of a $100,000 H-1B visa fee,
Kabul’s ‘Go fly a kite’ was even less polite: ‘If Afghanistan do- be reduced by the US clampdown, but or Helsinki — disruptive innovation decades ago. Beijing committed over residency and progressive talent poli- effectively monetising expertise
esn’t give Bagram Airbase back to those that built it, the Uni- could actually deepen. With nearly will be elusive in India. Add to this $250 bn annually to higher ed. Today, cies make them natural magnets for and constraining avenues for In-
ted States of America, BAD THINGS ARE GOING TO HAP- 4,20,000 Indian students in the US, res- scepticism towards foreign-educated Chinese universities feature in global talent blocked by US immigration. dian talent, manifests an urgent
trictions on work visas and career path- jobless returnees, along with growing rankings, and its R&D ecosystem fuels Rationally, students will choose these strategic imperative: India must
PEN!!!’ (His all-caps and triple exclamation marks.) If buil- ways should, in theory, redirect the domestic unemployment. leadership in AI, semiconductors and destinations over India. pivot from reliance on external
ding a place meant having rights in perpetuity to it, ah, the best minds home. biotech. India can course-correct, maybe in a validation toward endogenous
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City would have continu- But the US’ loss is unlikely to be In- u Singapore created a cos- decade. Silicon Valley teaches risk and capability building. The nation
ed before its closure in 2016 to be Trump Taj Mahal. dia’s gain. Instead, beneficiaries will mopolitan hub with strong capital, China shows the power of pati- can no longer subsist merely as
be Canada, Australia, Singapore, Eu- IP protections, world-class ent state investment, and Israel proves a repository of human capital;
May we suggest Trumpullah show the Taliban their place by rope and West Asian countries, which universities and predict- scarcity can spark ingenuity. For Ind- it must evolve into a springboard
slapping an 80%, no, 180%, tariff on Afghan exports to the US. have built infrastructure and policy able policy. ia, three reforms are non-negotiable: for intellectual enterprise, tech-
That would mean the Afghan carpets, dried fruit and hand- frameworks to welcome global talent. u Israel turned scarcity u Rebuilding universities into global nological innovation and strate-
crafted goat bell industry shuddering. A $20 bag of Herat The British government is reportedly into abundance through contenders. gic investment. Nowhere is this
exploring proposals to do away with heavy investment in res- v Rewiring work culture to reward exigency more pronounced than
kishmish would then cost $56. If the US doesn’t get Bagram — some visa fees to attract top global tal- earch, entrepreneurship risk over obedience. in deeptech spheres, which are
since Greenland seems currently off the table — he’ll make ent — the world’s best scientists, aca- and commercialisation w Reimagining policy with long-term the underpinnings of 21st-c. global
Afghans pay with their pistachios. Heroin, Afghan’s top ex- demics and digital experts. initiatives. vision beyond politics. power. The centuries-long depen-
Unlike Chinese students, funded by These nations aligned Without these, Indian talent will flee dence must now yield to asser-
port to the US, unfortunately isn’t (officially) exported, to
the state, Indian students are self-fund- institutions, incentives to everywhere but ‘home’. tive technological sovereignty
start with, so.… An outright export ban on black turbans and ed, investing over `1 cr of family mon- and mindsets. India either and visionary leadership.
Soviet-era Kalashnikovs on top of tariffs should do the trick. ey or loans. The calculation is clear: a lacked foresight or politi- The writer is co-founder, N Sadhasiva Reddy
US salary offers strong RoI. Returning Let’s just sit back and wait for them to return cal will. Its efforts remain Medici Institute for Innovation Bengaluru

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10 Economy THE ECONOMIC TIMES | MUMBAI | TUESDAY | 23 SEPTEMBER 2025 | WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM

Obscure Prices
IndusInd Case: Ex-CFO Seeks Time to Submit Documents From Page 1

Gobind Jain, who claimed to have written to PMO against bank’s senior management, to appear again before EOW on Thursday In an update for consumers and
trade partners, the chocolate ma-
EOW in the morning, requested ti- lapses, which it believes may date marked to market, creating a mis- crore in “unsubstantiated balan- prepared by GT roped by the bank ker said new stocks with the revi-
Rashmi Rajput me until Thursday to submit addi- back to 2015 but were detected only match. This led to inflated profits in ces” under other assets, and `172.58 will also be studied to understand sed maximum retail price (MRP)
tional documents. “He has also cla- in FY25. Earlier this month, the earlier years and delayed recogni- crore misclassified as fee income, what the forensic auditor has reli- will be inclusive of the commen-
Mumbai: Former IndusInd Bank imed to have recently written to the agency also summoned former tion of losses, which which was later reversed. ed upon to uncover lapses,” anot- surate GST benefits and trade
chief financial officer (CFO) Go- Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) aga- CEO Sumant Kathpalia and ex-de- now stand at nearly So far, statements of seven su- her official said. “…under scruti- partners are required to pass on
bind Jain on Monday sought more inst the bank’s senior management puty CEO Arun Khurana. `2,000 crore. spended employees and staff lin- ny are email chains and other do- full benefits to consumers.
time from the Mumbai Police’s and wishes to make his case on the The alleged irregularities stem In March, IndusInd ked to the finance and accounts de- cuments,” the official added. With most items of daily con-
Economic Offences Wing (EOW), same. He has been asked to return from unhedged Japanese yen cont- disclosed a `1,979-cro- partments have been recorded. Jain has also written to the PMO sumption moving to a lower tax
which is conducting a prelimina- on Thursday,” a senior official said. racts used to manage funding costs. re accounting lapse in “The staff are blaming the erst- seeking the removal of IndusInd slab, the government has been
ry enquiry into alleged financial The Economic Offences Wing Investigators say internal trades its derivatives portfolio. Subsequ- while management, and now the Bank chairman Sunil Mehta, accu- pushing companies to pass on the
irregularities at the Hinduja Gro- launched the enquiry in August af- between the bank’s dollar and yen ent audits uncovered additional is- former CFO is blaming senior offi- sing him of creating an “atmosphe- benefits.
up-promoted private lender. ter IndusInd Bank filed a compla- desks were booked on an accrual sues: `674 crore wrongly booked as cials. The probe will establish re of fear” and shielding those re- ET reported September 11 that
Jain, who appeared before the int flagging suspected accounting basis, while external trades were microfinance interest income, `595 where the buck stops. The report sponsible for the lapses. consumer goods companies may
temporarily move away from po-
pular low price points such as `5
and `10 due to regulatory ambigui-

Specific Segments Gain Big ty over whether companies can

pass on benefits to consumers by
increasing the quantity—rather
than cutting prices—of pre-pack-
tronics stores. “We are expecting ers yet. aged goods manufactured before
From Page 1 footfall to go up significantly in the Dairy brands reported a smooth the deadline. Such packs account
Flipkart and Amazon kicked off coming days,” said a store mana- transition. “We had been prepa- for a large share of sales at grocery
their festive sale events on Monday ger. He said the store is targeting a ring for the past two weeks,” said stores.
for loyalty programme users, with sales increase of more than 20% Manish Bandlish, managing direc- Many companies
sellers and brands reporting over last year’s festival season. tor of Mother Dairy. Amul mana- maintain lower and
strong early traction boosted by the While brands are betting on the ti- ging director Jayen Mehta said in- popular price po-
GST cut. Fashion brand The Pant ming — the festive season traditio- creased sales were driven by seaso- ints even during in-
Project saw a 15-20% jump over last nally sees a sales bump — fashion nal demand due to Navratri, as flation by reducing
year, while Shadow Etail, a seller and grocery chains including milk, curd and buttermilk were not the quantity in packs. In 2017, seve-
on both marketplaces, saw traffic DMart, Pantaloon and Reliance impacted by GST changes. ral FMCG firms were fined by the
in the home essentials segment Smart Bazar were focused on upda- In fashion retail, implementation National Anti-Profiteering Autho-
surge 151% from last week. ting systems and pricing througho- was slower. Zudio outlets in Benga- rity (NAA) for allegedly not pas-
“The revision is very favourable ut the day to account for the new luru had only partially updated sing on benefits to consumers fol-
for mass fashion, which now at- GST rates. pricing. Shoppers Stop put up ban- lowing the rollout of GST.
tracts only 5% GST and is seeing V-Mart, which largely operates in ners to absorb additional costs on “The inconvenience of somet-
strong demand. But premium and small towns, said the full impact of private-label garments priced abo- hing in between magic price po-
occasion wear have moved from the GST cut would become clearer ve `2,500, but other fashion brands ints is just too much for the larger
12% to 18%, which is weighing on as the festive season gets underway. from Mango to Calvin Klein had industry,” said Prashant Peres,
sentiment in that segment,” said “The objective is to drive consump- higher tags than the day before. managing director at Kellanova
Sidhant Keshwani, founder and tion,” said V-Mart chairman Lalit In Chennai’s bustling Pondy Ba- India and South Asia. “So, in the
chief executive of apparel brand zaar, Planet Fashion, which sells short term, there will be some
Libas. the Peter England and Van Heusen slashing of prices that we will do,
The GST revamp involves the brands, marked select apparel with or many others will do, because we
scrapping of the 12% and 28% green dot stickers to indicate GST just can’t turn around the supply
slabs, retaining the 5% and 18% le- rate cuts, drawing Navratri shop- chain fast enough. But in the long
vies. Demerit goods attract 40% pers looking for festive deals. Whi- term, it will be grammage, and we
GST. Most items of daily use are le larger footwear chains such as will go to those price points.”
now at the lowest slab or at zero Mochi and Bata passed on GST be- The share of price-point packs —
GST. nefits on old stock, smaller stores small affordable stock keeping
held firm on pre-revision pricing. units (SKUs) sold at `5, `10 and `20
AUTOS ACCELERATE Smaller players like Dharani Fo- — continues to remain dominant
GST has been cut to 18% from 28% otwear have taken a call to finish in several categories. These low-
plus cess on sub-4-metre cars. selling their old stocks at the pre-re- cost packs contributed 79% of
“Demand for small cars has been vision rate and only the new stocks shampoo sales, 64% in biscuits,
especially strong, with bookings at the revised GST rate. and 58% in chocolates. In categori-
growing by nearly 50%,” Maruti’s “We have already paid the GST on es such as salty snacks and tooth-
Banerjee said. “Enquiries remain those items so how can we sell them paste, they accounted for 44% and
very high, and we may even run out Agarwal. “We are seeing early mo- at the new prices," said a salesman 29%, respectively.
of stock for certain variants.” vement in some categories, but the at the store. “We even had a custo- “At present, for all our existing
The auspicious start of Navratri, real test will come in the weeks ahe- mer come in the morning asking stock, we have reduced the prices
amplified by the momentum from ad as people save on high-ticket for a particular orthopaedic foot- by 13% to establish a clear calcula-
GST 2.0 reforms, has infused items." wear brand for which the price has tion that we have passed on all the
strong positivity into the market, come down but we told her we can- benefits,” said Sushil Kumar Baj-
said Tarun Garg, whole-time direc- PRICE TAGS not give her the GST benefit till we pai, president at RSPL Group,
tor and COO, Hyundai Motor India. Staff at several locations said revi- finish old stocks. We might lose so- which makes Ghadi detergents
“On Day 1 alone, HMIL recorded sed price lists continued to arrive me customers but these are the on- and Venus soap. “Hence, all the
around 11,000 dealer billings, late into the afternoon. Consumer ly products that we earn some mar- price tags will reflect obscure
which is our highest single-day per- awareness of the tax changes also gins from so we have no choice.” numbers and the challenge is now
formance in the last five years,” he appeared limited. to see how we can take a different
said. “This is a clear testament to “I assumed there was a festive of- ECOMMERCE PUSH and more simplified approach on
robust festive sentiment and custo- fer,” said Chandrima Sen, a shop- Direct-to-consumer clothing brand newer stocks.”
mer confidence… Looking ahead, per at Reliance Trends in Kolkata. Campus Sutra saw a 36% sales in-
we anticipate sustained festive de- “I didn’t know this was due to GST crease over the weekend compared
mand.” cuts.” to last year. Men’s clothing startup
Electronic stores posted their Manoj Arora, owner of Samrat Snitch reported a 40% increase in
UNDER SAFEGUARD PACT
usual sales numbers, although en- grocery store in Gurgaon, said it’s orders across ecommerce plat-
quiries went up. Most stores had selling old stock at new GST rates forms, noting a boost in demand India Seeks WTO
AVAILABLE approximate
20,000 Sq. Ft. Open Plot
Near Vivana Mall, Thane
beefed up sales staff in sections
such as televisions and air-condi-
based on updated price lists, but do-
esn’t expect higher demand as es-
due to the GST cut.
“By moving the 5% slab threshold
Consultations with
West on Rental Basis,
Ideal for Second Hand Car
Showroom. Mob. 8451913949.
tioners — GST on them is down to
18% from 28% — expecting increa-
sentials are need-based and com-
pensation from companies will ta-
to `2,500, a wider range of our pro-
ducts now fall under the lower tax
Indonesia over
sed footfall. Stores were also festoo-
ned with GST price cut promotio-
ke months, impacting working ca-
pital.
bracket which has given a notice-
able push to demand,” said Sidd-
Cotton Fabric Duty
nal material. However, several kirana stores in harth Dungarwal, founder and chi-
Kamal Nandi, head of the appli- east Delhi markets said they are ef executive of Snitch. Our Bureau
ance business at Godrej Enterpri- selling at the price printed on the Analysts expect the overall ecom-
ses, said people are expected to vi- packet. “I am selling at MRP (maxi- merce festive sales to grow over
sit shops in the evening and on wee- mum retail price) that is printed on 30% on the back of the GST relief, New Delhi: India on Monday re-
kends, even in the smaller towns. the packet of each SKU (stock kee- ET reported on September 5. Ecom- quested consultations with Indo-
“In fact, we expect this weekend to ping unit),” said a kirana store ow- merce marketplaces and online re- nesia under the World Trade Orga-
be a big one as it is just before Dus- ner in Mayur Vihar Phase 1, reflec- tailers were expected to ship a re- nization’s (WTO) safeguard agree-
sehra,” he said. ting a common trend among small cord `1.2 lakh crore worth of goods ment concerning Jakarta’s pro-
That’s also the expectation at the traders who said they had not recei- this festive season, a 25% increase posal to impose import duties on
Tata-owned Croma consumer elec- ved revised price lists from suppli- from 2024. cotton fabric.
New Delhi told the WTO that it
has a substantial trade interest in
the export of this fabric.

Safeguarding Reserves “India proposes that consulta-

tions take place virtually from 23
to 26 September 2025, or on a mu-
tually convenient date and time,”
than 0.3%” to its overall ebitda, government. The contractors have India said.
From Page 1 downplaying the financial impact to pay an additional 10% share of The Committee on Safeguards
The move is aimed at “safeguar- of the Centre’s move. petroleum profit to the govern- circulated a notification dated 16
ding petroleum reserves until the The consortium comprising Ve- ment during the extended period. September 2025 by Indonesia, cit-
block is awarded to another party,” danta, ONGC and Tata Petrodyne The latest denial comes at a time ing a finding of serious injury or
it said. was awarded the exploration licen- when the government is seeking to threat thereof to its domestic cot-
Vedanta held a 40% participating ce for the CB-OS/2 block in 1998 un- attract greater private and foreign ton fabric industry and proposing
interest in the block, which cur- der the pre-New Ex- investments into India’s explora- a safeguard measure in the form
rently produces 3,400 barrels of oil ploration Licensing tion sector, which has been stagna- of a specific duty on imports of
per day and 340,000 standard cubic Policy (NELP) regi- ting for years. these goods.
metres of gas per day. ONGC and me and a mining lea- A new law has been passed to add- India exported cotton fabrics
Tata Petrodyne which hold 50% se in 2002. The block ress investor concerns over policy worth $8.73 million in 2024, up
and 10% stake each, respectively, consists of the uncertainty, and a fresh explora- from $6.73 million in 2023.
are the other contractors for the Lakshmi and Gauri fields. tion licensing round has been In June, India had also sought
block. Blocks awarded under the pre- launched to draw interest to a sec- consultations with Indonesia un-
Vedanta, which operated the NELP licensing regime can be re- tor that has seen no major discove- der WTO rules regarding the ex-
block until now, said in a statement newed only with mutual consent ries and a sharp decline in oil out- tension of safeguard measures on
that the field contributed “less between the contractors and the put over the past decade. cotton yarn.

It’s A Lottery Play of Sorts

petitions next year, those who survi- loyees on H-1B and the majority of
From Page 1 ve will have a higher chance of get- Big Tech H-1B applicants being re-
Under the H-1B programme, wor- ting picked up in the lottery. newals, Das said, adding, “Micro-
kers who are laid off on an active vi- For instance, in the 2025 lottery, ba- soft, for example, had less than 2,000
sa have 60 days to find a new employ- chelor’s degree holders had just a net new H-1B last year, which is $200
er or leave the country. A product 16.92% chance of getting the visa, million in fees, a 0.6% increase in
manager based in Mountain View, while for those with a master’s deg- annual R&D (research and develop-
California, whose last day at a con- ree the probability was higher at ment) spend of $30 billion for the
sulting firm was September 8, told 33.93%, data from VisaNation Law company. This may not be enough
ET on condition of anonymity, “The Firm showed. This rate could see a for them to significantly reduce
moment I heard the news, I thought sharp jump as overall applications H-1B hiring.”
my days in the US were officially are expected to fall by a staggering However, some experts did not sha-
over. But after the clarification, the- 75%, Chugh LLC estimates. re the view that laid-off workers co-
re is a renewed hope. I am aggressi- In the lottery in March this year, uld become attractive hires. Atal
vely applying and expecting recru- 120,141 of the 358,737 applicants who the top beneficiaries of the H-1B vi- Agarwal, founder of immigration
itment calls over the next week.” had registered were selected to en- sa rule changes as they would be wil- legal tech companies OpenSphere
Sanketh Chengappa KG, director ter the lottery. ling to cough up higher fees for high- and LegalBridge, said, “Labour mar-
and business head-professional “Registrations fell by approxima- ly skilled candidates, according to ket is a different set-up, dependent
staffing at Adecco India, said: “Ma- tely 38% from FY24 to FY25, and pre- some immigration experts. The on the employability of the person.
ny of these individuals may receive liminary estimates suggest a furt- $100,000 fee is equivalent to a one-ye- In fact, it might get harder for them
rehire opportunities or competitive her decline of around 27% from ar salary of an average employee hi- due to confusion in policy and the
offers from other firms, creating a FY25 to FY26, influenced by the new red through this route, they said. $100,000 premium added in the long
selective and immediately deploy- fee and other regulatory factors,” “It’s too early to say how compa- run with incomplete information.”
able talent pool for high-impact ro- said Neeti Sharma, CEO, TeamLea- nies are reacting,” said Debarghya Besides, according to lawyers, Pre-
les, particularly in technology, engi- se Digital, adding that companies Das, partner at US-based Menlo sident Trump’s proclamation impo-
neering and strategic digital func- are proactively reducing petitions Ventures. “People expect the IT sing the fee on companies sponso-
tions.” due to rising costs and policy uncer- services firms and lower wage ring a new H-1B visa is unlikely to
Besides, the upcoming H-1B lottery tainty. employers to be most affected. Col- hold up in courts. “We are pretty
in 2026 will be much less competiti- lectively, this makes up 40-60% of confident that the courts will find
ve for candidates who are worthy of BIG TECH BENEFITS all H-1B petitions.” the new $100,000 fee as not legal and
the new $100,000 fees. As employers Big American firms such as Ama- Most tech companies are not H-1B they will strike down the fee,” said
sharply cut down on the number of zon, Meta, Google are expected to be dependent, with less than 15% emp- Chugh.

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Economy  11

DERC Moves SC to Give More

‘MATTER STILL UNDER CONSIDERATION’

EPFO Puts on Hold Option for

Time to Clear Discom Dues its Employees to Adopt UPS
of trustees of the EPFO, in its 112th meeting in
Commission wants a maximum period of 7 years instead of four to liquidate regulatory assets Our Bureau February, approved the adoption of the UPS for
EPFO employees. It gave all eligible employees
burdensome on the consumers of appeals filed by Reliance Infra-back- New Delhi: The Employees’ Provident Fund Or- three months’ time from April 1 to exercise their
Indu Bhan Delhi if the direction to liquidate the ed power distribution utilites BSES ganisation (EPFO) has put on hold its earlier or- option to be covered under the UPS. “The option
existing regulatory assets were to be Rajdhani Power (BRPL) and BSES der allowing EPFO employees to adopt the Unifi- once exercised shall be final and irrevocable,” it
New Delhi: The Delhi Electricity Re- implemented in four years as against Yamuna Power (BYPL) and Tata Po- ed Pension Scheme, saying the matter is still un- said in the March order.
gulatory Commission (DERC) on seven years permissible under the wer TPDDL seeking amortisation of der consideration. All EPFO employees in service as
Monday moved Supreme Court see- Amended Rules.” their “undisputed” regulatory as- “It is to inform that the matter regarding imple- on April 1, 2025, and covered under
king correction of its August judg- “Further, inasmuch as collections sets, which according to industry es- mentation of the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) the National Pension System
ment that asked all states and Union are to be made prospectively, if the pe- timates, had exceeded over `1.5 lakh for the employees of the Central Board is still un- (NPS) were eligible for benefits un-
Territories (UTs) to clear within four riod for liquidation were to be directed crore across the country. der consideration,” the EPFO said in an office der the UPS.
years the regulatory assets of power to start retrospectively from April 1, Regulatory assets, which are costs in- order issued on Monday. Other eligible employees, included new recru-
distribution companies, including 2024, it would create an undue hard- curred by discoms but recovered or re- “Accordingly, the circular dated 28th March its joining the EPFO on or after April 1 and the
BSES companies and Tata Power Del- ship for the consumers, since a signifi- covered over a period of time, have be- 2025 may be treated as kept in abeyance until employees who superannuated or voluntarily
hi Distribution. cant period of almost 1.5 years has al- en accumulating for decades. further orders,” it said. retired before March 31 but were covered under
The commission wants a maximum ready elapsed and a result, the recove- ars was implemented. As on March 31, 2024, the regulatory The office order was issued to all additional the NPS. The legally wedded spouse of a subscri-
period of seven years, and not four ye- ry would have to be compressed wit- The recovery of dues was necessarily asset including carrying costs for central provident fund commissioners as well ber who had superannuated or retired and died
ars, to liquidate the existing regulato- hin the remaining time, resulting in a to be effected prospectively through BRPL is `12,993.53 crore, `8419.14 crore regional provident fund commissioners. before exercising the option was also eligible to
ry assets. huge burden on consumers,” the app- consumer tariffs, it said, adding that if for BYPL and `5,787.70 crore for The executive committee of the central board adopt the UPS.
It also asked the SC to change the star- lication filed by DERC stated. the period of liquidation were to be TPDDL, totally amounting to
ting date as the date of the judgment on However, senior counsel Kapil Sibal construed as having commenced ret- `27,200.37 crore across all three distri-
August 6 rather than April 1, 2024 as di- and AM Singhvi, appearing for dis- rospectively from April 1, 2024, it wo-
rected by the top court. “Clarity on the coms, opposed the DERC’s plea, saying uld cause grave prejudice and undue
bution companies in Delhi.
The highest court, while issuing no-
BIG ROLE FOR PRIVATE SECTOR
starting date and the time period for li- the Commission is seeking review rat- hardship to consumers, in as much as tice to all states with pending regula-
quidation are necessary for the com-
mission to evolve a roadmap, having re-
her than clarification of the judgment.
Meanwhile, various state state go-
a substantial portion of time had alre-
ady elapsed.
tory assets, had asked their state
electricity regulatory commissions
Redevelopment, Reform Sops at
gard to all aspects,” Solicitor General vernments, including that of Rajast- The counsel also informed the court to submit a time-bound roadmap for
Tushar Mehta, appearing for DERC,
told a bench comprising Justices PS
han, Kerala and Delhi, have also mo-
ved separate applications seeking si-
that APTEL in its September 12 order
had asked state electricity regulatory
recovery of these regulatory assets,
which will include a provision for de-
Core of `1L-Cr New Urban Fund
Narasimha and Atul S Chandurkar. milar reliefs as DERC. The Delhi go- commissions to file affidavits furnis- aling with carrying costs, while also sage freeing up of government land under old
Seeking clarification of the August vernment stated that its consumers hing the trajectory/roadmap for reco- tasking the Appellate Tribunal for Nidhi Sharma prison complexes and abandoned public buil-
6 judgment, DERC submitted that it were going to be badly affected if the very of the regulatory assets. Electricity to supervise the imple- dings and repurpose them to cater to the city's
would be “extremely onerous and direction of paying dues in four ye- The SC had given the judgment on mentation of its directions. New Delhi: Redeveloping abandoned public current needs.
buildings, freeing up and repurposing unutili- Unlike previous missions, the Centre will fund
sed government land, like old prisons and gra- only 25% of the project cost and the remaining
naries, with private sector participation and will need to be borne by the state and the private

Litigations ‘Clogging’ Tribunals, AI 171 Crash SC Seeks incentivising municipal reforms will form the
core of `1 lakh crore Urban Challenge Fund –
partners. A senior government offi-
cial, who did not wish to be identifi-
Govt, DGCA Views the new scheme to fund the transformation of ed, told ET, “There will be emphasis

SC Calls for SARFAESI Act Relook on Independent Probe

cities in India.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has
formulated guidelines for the Urban Challenge
Fund, announced by Union finance minister
on redevelopment of congested are-
as. The city limits have grown and
colonies have come up in a hapha-
zard manner. In several cases, they have come up
Indu Bhan Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech. The around abandoned complexes owned by the go-
Indu Bhan fund, being seen as the next big central assistan- vernment. Since this is prime government land,
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday as- ce for urban transformation of cities, will invol- it has the potential to be monetized. The guideli-
ked the finance ministry to take a serious look at New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday so- ve about 300 cities with a population of 1,00,000 nes include incentives for redevelopment of the-
the provisions of the Securitisation And Re- ught a response from the Centre and the Direc- competing with each other to fund projects. se places by retrofitting them. The private sector
construction of Financial Assets And Enforce- torate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) “for According to highly-placed sources, every ci- will form the core of these proposals and decent
ment Of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act, 2002, the limited purpose of ensuring a fair, imparti- ty will identify projects related to drainage, sa- incentives will be given to the private players for
and rules for injecting “necessary changes, befo- al and expeditious investigation by an expert nitation and other infrastructure-related issu- redevelopment projects.”
re it is too late in the day.” body” into the London-bound Air India plane es and involve the private sector to
The apex court noted that some of the provi- matters of recovery of debt,” the top court said. crash in Ahmedabad on June 12. implement them. The government
sions of the SARFAESI Act, which allows banks The court underlined that various amend- A bench comprising Justices Su- will prioritise proposals which envi-
and financial institutions to recover loans, have ments have been made to the SARFAESI Act over rya Kant and N.K. Singh, however,
“left the interests of secured creditors and auc- the years to ensure it remains potent in bringing clarified that it was not at this sta-
tion purchasers high and dry” and has resulted about meaningful change to the poor credit cul- ge considering the public disclo-
in several legal disputes. ture in the country and curb debt evasive acts of sure of any part of the probe.
A bench led by Justice J B Pardiwala said the “ill- scrupulous borrowers. Safety
Safety Matters Foundation, an
wording” of Section 13(8) of the SARFAESI Act re- However, “it is indeed very sad to note that even Matters aviation safety non-government
lating to resumption of secured assets has resulted after these many years, procedural issues such as Foundation, organisation led by former pilot
in a glaring inconsistency between the provision the one involved in the case at hand, have continu- an aviation Amit Singh, is seeking a court-
and the SARFAESI Rules framed in lieu thereof. ed to plague the legislation,” the SC said, adding safety NGO, monitored independent probe in-
“It is unfortunate that the ambiguities within that “despite a catena of amendments, the glaring is seeking a to the crash that killed 260 people,
the statutory provisions of the SARFAESI Act anomaly that we have come across in respect of court including 19 on the ground.
and Rules thereunder have left the interests of Section 13(8) of the SARFAESI Act and Rule(s) 8 monitored Counsel Prashant Bhushan, ap-
secured creditors and auction purchasers high and 9 of the SARFAESI Rules persists. The same probe pearing for the NGO, told the co-
and dry. The interpretative deadlock between renders the very mandate of the provision otiose.” urt that the preliminary report is-
the provision and the rules has single handedly In this case, M. Rajendran vs M/S KPK Oils and sued by Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau
resulted in a huge mess insofar as enforcement Proteins India, the apex court allowed an auc- was “incomplete, selective, and lacking in
of security interest is concerned, giving birth to tion purchaser to get back the property, as it set transparency, thereby undermining the credi-
an endless pipeline of litigation clogging the spe- aside a Madras High Court order that allowed bility of the investiga-
cialized forums of the DRT (Debts Recovery Tri- the original borrowers, who had mortgaged the tive process and the
bunal) and DRAT(Debts Recovery Appellate Tri- property to a bank, to redeem their land after the trust of the travelling
bunal), that are expected to expeditiously decide loan amount was repaid. public”.

TO INVEST `1,100 CRORE OVER THREE YEARS

Peerless Eyes
A Turnaround
with Healthcare,
Real Estate Push
tribution for about `23 crore.
Atmadip Ray The group’s main focus will
revolve around healthcare, ho-
Kolkata: Peerless, once a tel and real estate, while PGFI
small savings company, is try- will carry out the treasury ope-
ing to script a turnaround af- ration for the group companies.
ter years of stagnation and “We are making our treasu-
pressure on profitability. The ry operations more contem-
Kolkata-based family-owned porary. We were conservative
business conglomerate is ex- even two years back, inves-
panding in healthcare and re- ting 20% in equities and 80%
al estate, besides strengthe- in debt. Today we have a more
ning the treasury operation, balanced investment strate-
while it plans to sell its finan- gy, with nearly 47:53 brea-
cial product distribution sub- kup,” said chairman Partha
sidiary, a “low-scale” business Sarathi Bhattacharya.
in the new scheme of things. PGFI's treasury returns, ho-
The group is in the process wever, got impacted due to vo-
of investing about `1,100 crore latile markets, with its standa-
over three years in expanding lone revenue falling 31% to
its footprint in hospital busi- `238 crore in 2024-25, as against
ness and real estate. `345 crore in the
It has also taken its hospital preceding fi-
business outside West Bengal scal. Profit was
for the first time, through an lower too, at
acquisition of a 250-bed facility `138 crore, aga-
in Guwahati for `150 crore. Last inst `224 crore.
year, it bought out a smaller 120- Meanwhile,
The group
bed hospital in Barasat near also expanded PGFI is in the
Kolkata. Besides, it is spending outside West process of mo-
`450 crore to set up a cancer Bengal for the netising its ex-
wing – Sunil Kanti Roy Institu- first time with isting land
te of Oncology Services – at its a `150 crore bank. It recent-
first hospital in the memory of hospital buy ly launched its
its former managing director. in Guwahati first indepen-
“The investments will acce- dent real estate
lerate profit growth after the development project in Rajar-
build-up phase is over,” said hat, targeting the affluent.
Jayanta Roy, son of SK Roy To be sure, the group’s trans-
and now managing director formation journey started so-
of Peerless General Finance metime in 2021-22, when it bu-
& Investment Company ilt a new team and invited
(PGFI), the holding entity of Bhattacharya, the former Co-
the group. al India chairman and Haldia
Peerless saw an 11% drop in Petrochem director, to guide
consolidated revenue to `675 the team.
in 2024-25 from `758 crore in The group, which saw its
the preceding financial year. profit before tax falling at a
The group’s profit fell 54% to compound annual rate of
`127 crore from `274 crore du- 11% between 2013-14 and 2018-
ring this period. The profit 19, did better between 2021-22
was even below the `139 crore and 2024-25, with a 12% an-
that it recorded in 2020-21 nual growth, said Supriyo
amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Sinha, director PGFI and a
PGFI, which began financial key strategist.
services distribution after it “The current investments
was barred from mobilising will have significant funding
public deposits in 2011, has costs and depreciation, there-
identified Darsh Advisory for by impacting near-term pro-
selling the 100% owned Peer- fits, but will enable future
less Financial Products Dis- growth,” he said.

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12  Companies: Pursuit of Profit THE ECONOMIC TIMES | MUMBAI | TUESDAY | 23 SEPTEMBER 2025 | WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM

Cambay Loss Not to Have Big Impact on Vedanta

Oilfield a laggard accounting for only 5% of oil & gas production, which means group’s broader operations remain resilient, say analysts
103.2 kboepd. listed companies. Of Vedanta’s arm of Vedanta, was the operator
ANALYSIS The company’s oil and gas busi-
ness itself accounted for around
sum of the parts valuation, ana-
lysts typically ascribe around 10%
of the Gujarat offshore block CB-
OS/2 with a 40% stake. State-owned
3% of the company’s revenue in to its oil and gas business. Given Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
Kalpana Pathak & Nikita Periwal the June quarter, up from around that Cambay accounted for only (ONGC) held a 50% interest in the
2% in the same period a year ago. around 5% of the company’s pro- block while Tata Petrodyne origi-
Mumbai: The government tur- Earnings before interest, tax, de- duction, in fiscal 2025, the impact nally held the remaining 10% stake.
ning down Vedanta’s request to preciation, and amortisation from on the share price is expected to be Invenire Energy, a private equity-
extend its contract in the this segment stood at around 12%, negligible, they said. backed oil and gas company, acqui-
Cambay basin (CB-OS/2 block), up from around 10.5% a year ago. In 2023, Vedanta group proposed red Tata Petrodyne from Tata Sons
Gujarat, may not have any major “It’s no surprise that ONGC will splitting the company’s operations in February 2019 for $100 million.
impact on Vedanta Group’s fi- be taking control of the block. Ve- into five separate, publicly listed Anil Agarwal held Vedanta Gro-
nancials, said analysts tracking danta has starved its oil and gas companies—aluminium, oil and up, which acquired Cairn India in
the company. portfolio of investment for years gas, power, iron and steel, and zinc 2011 for $8.67 billion and merged it
“Cambay was, anyway, one of the while diverting focus to delevera- and silver. into Vedanta in 2017. Cairn opera-
declining fields for the company. ging the promoter,” short-seller The CB-OS/2 block has been in ted three assets in India—the Bar-
Even their polymer injections are US-based Viceroy Research told operation for over two decades. It mer oil fields in Rajasthan, the
happening only in Rajasthan,” ET, adding that the timing is tel- holds Lakshmi and Gauri fields Ravva oil and gas fields in the
said an analyst who did not wish to ling, as the petroleum ministry has MATURE FIELDS and currently produces 3,400 bar- Krishna Godavari basin off the
be named. already raised red flags on Vedan- rels of oil per day and 3.4 lakh stan- Andhra coast, and the Cambay
For fiscal 2025, Cambay had an av-
erage daily gross operated produc-
ta’s demerger, warning of insol- The block has been in operation for over two dard cubic metres of gas per day. Basin block.
vency risk in the spun-off entity. These production numbers high- Vedanta's scrip ended at
tion of 5.1 kboepd, which is around Vedanta is headed for a demerger, decades. It holds Lakshmi and Gauri fields and light the continued strategic value ` 458.30, up 0.60% on the BSE, on
5% of the company’s total average with the oil and gas business set to of the block. Monday. ONGC’s scrip ended at
daily gross operated production of be one of the five independently currently produces 3,400 barrels of oil per day. Cairn Oil and Gas, the oil and gas ` 237.65, up 0.42%.

NON-SEQUITUR
Ultra Gas & Energy to Alkem Labs Launches Porsche Shares
Invest `900 crore to Affordable Breast Slump after Co Scales
Expand LNG network Cancer Drug Pertuza Back EV Strategy
Our Bureau Our Bureau Bloomberg

Mumbai: Ultra Gas & Energy (UGEL), an Es- Mumbai: Alkem Laboratories has launched Porsche AG shares fell the most on record after
sar group firm, will invest `900 crore to expand breast cancer drug Pertuza, an affordable bio- the luxury-car maker scaled back its electric-
its network of liquefied natural gas (LNG) re- similar of pertuzumab, a move that would sig- vehicle plans, correcting an expensive strate-
tail outlets to 100 across India, the company sa- nificantly increase access to advanced cancer gy that’s depressed its margins and is dragging
id on Monday. therapies in India. down parent Volkswagen AG.
UGEL currently operates six stations along The drug, to be developed and manufactured The 911 maker shelved a future battery-powered
major freight corridors in Ra- indigenously, offers a more af- luxury SUV and said it would add
jasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, fordable alternative to the inno- more combustion-engine and hy-
Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. vator biologic, which will add- brid models to bolster its portfo-
The outlets are set up in the in- ress a key barrier to patient ac- lio. The pivot is causing a ¤1.8 bil-
dustrial and logistics hubs to cess to cancer treatment, the lion ($2.1 billion) hit to operating
provide reliable access to LNG, a company said in a statement. profit and forced Porsche and
cleaner alternative to diesel, it Pertuza (pertuzumab Volkswagen to slash their outlook
UGEL operates The drug, to The pivot
six stations said in a statement. be developed 420mg/14mL injection), develo- causing a for the year. It’s yet another set-
along major In its energy transition push, indigenously, ped by its biotech subsidiary En- €1.8 b hit to back for Germany’s auto indust-
freight the group is investing in an LNG offers a more zene Biosciences, will be the ne- operating ry, which is contending with high
corridors in fleet for commercial vehicles affordable west addition to Alkem’s expan- profit and costs and muted sales.
Rajasthan, and LNG fuel retail outlets. alternative to ding oncology portfolio. forced co and Porsche’s stock declined as Yesterday’s Answers:
Gujarat, Maha, The company said each of its the innovator “Breast cancer is the most Volkswagen much as 9.3% in Frankfurt, the ste-
K’taka, and TN retail outlets is designed as a biologic common cancer among Indian to cut outlook epest intraday drop since it started
multi-fuel hub, equipped with women, and addressing its gro- trading some three years ago. The
infrastructure for electric vehicle charging in wing burden requires treatments that are ef- shares are down nearly 30% this year. Volkswagen Crossword 9398
addition to LNG dispensing. fective, accessible, and affordable,” said Dr fell as much as 8.4%, the most in more than two ye-
Each outlet has a scalable capacity of 50 ton- Vikas Gupta, CEO of Alkem Laboratories. ars. The Germans — like their European peers
nes of LNG, capable of refuelling up to 600 “The launch of Pertuza reflects our commit- Stellantis and Renault— are grappling with lo- 1 2 3 4 5 6 DOWN
trucks per month. On average, a single outlet ment to scientific excellence and wider ac- wer-than-expected EV demand even after they po- 1 Raise new claim on and off for
7 Tel Aviv native, say (7)
can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 66,000 cess. It strengthens our oncology portfolio ured billions of euros into the technology. Porsche 2 Trampled nectarines have
tonnes annually, with the network collectively and supports thousands of women who wo- has struggled to live up to expectations since its short-lived quality (10)
targeting reductions of around one million uld otherwise be excluded from receiving blockbuster 2022 listing, with a slowdown in Chi- 8 9 10 3 Final opening in European uni-
tonnes, it said. this therapy.” na and US tariffs also taking a toll. versity attended by a liberal
(8)
4 No longer tense, endorsing
11 12 short trip (6)
GQG Sells 13
5 Entrance to field shown in
painting at exhibition (4)
1% in Adani 14 15 16
6 A French material in jeans
held up is not exploited (7)
7 Detect Rex in stages making
Power Unit 17 18 soundbites (12)
10 Having good judgment about
GQG Partners sold
outfit? (7-5)
about 1% equity in 19 20 21 22 13 Hear judge is excited about
Adani Group’s po- grand rural dish (6,4)
wer unit last week 23 15 Lose breath almost getting ox-
in a $250 million de- ygen, perhaps (3)
al, according to pe- 24 25 18 Model before series has trial
ople familiar with (5,3)
the matter. 26 20 Etiquette of French company
linked to drink (7)
SBI Funds Mana- 22 Maybe, English person in a
27 28
gement and Citadel state ruled by a monarch (7)
Securities were 23 Start to joke with second per-
among the buyers son in old society getting elat-
in the open-market ed (6)
29 26 Musical strand, for instance (4)
deals, in which 35
million shares we-
re sold in the range ACROSS leader (3)
of `610 to `625 apie- 1 Being a marathon competitor, ulti- 19 Bring down wine with posh case for SOLUTION TO No. 9397:
ce, one of the peo- mately? (2,3,4,3) champagne (6) ACROSS: 6 Mother Superior.
ple said asking not 8 Note in a confined space showing 21 Advises varied guests to keep good 9 Triple. 10 Laddered. 11 Used cars.
to be identified as area of land (7) drinks, lastly (8) 13 Mock-up. 15 In situ.
the details are pri- 9 Symbolic item in order in bed from 24 Carrying a complaint thus in hear- 17 Scampi. 19 Angora.
vate. The sale re- the East (7) ing? (4) 20 Newlywed. 22 Abu Dhabi.
presents a near 11 Doctor cringes too doing some DIY 25 Wild boar filmed is inspiring fear? 24 Oppose. 26 Vested interest.
work (10) (10) DOWN: 1 Impressionable. 2 Stop.
100% gain on 12 Release some bound objects (4) 27 Product of Spanish pigs? Cook rears 3 Geneva. 4 Epidemic. 5 Brae.
GQG’s average 14 Indication of damage? (5,3) number (7) 7 Splash. 8 Open University.
purchase price 16 Unusually hard-up state of seclu- 28 Authors like to appeal to these aca- 12 Disco. 14 Comfy. 16 Tea caddy.
since it began buy- sion (6) demics (7) 18 Ensign. 21 Wooden. 23 Duty.
ing the shares in 17 Young chap is happy to be without 29 Putting people inside? (12) 25 Pier.
2023. Bloomberg ©The Daily Mail

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SMART
INVESTING

Standalone
PDs Get RBI
Nod to Deal
Hope
Greed in Rupee
Fear
Hope NDFs
Beating Volatility WWW.ETMARKETS.COM
MUMBAI, TUESDAY, 23 SEPTEMBER 2025
Panic

A CALM MESSAGE IN BROKERAGE ADVICE D-Street Diary

H-1B Fallout Likely to be Modest,  Sebi Gives Nod for Canara HSBC Life,
Bharat Coking Coal and Aequs IPOs
Wealthy Indians
India today

Add Large-Cap IT on Weakness MUMBAI Canara HSBC Life Insurance Company, Bharat Coking
Coal and Aequs have received the Securities and Exchange
ranks third
globally in
billionaire
count with
Brokerages said the Board of India’s approval to proceed with their initial public
Brokerage Impact Stock Recommendations 284, trailing
earnings hit for Indian IT offerings (IPOs). The regulator said it has issued ‘observations’ to
 Immediate stock reactions to be closer to the annual EPS Buy: Infosys Reduces three companies for the public issue. When a company receives a final only the US and China. The top 1%
firms on account of Donald impact (2-6% EPS cuts every year) target to `1,780
BofA observation from Sebi, it’s a signal from the regulator to go ahead with the of Indian households control
Trump’s $100,000 H-1B levy Securities  Do not see any ongoing revenue impact for companies or shift Underperform: Wipro, $11.6 trillion in total assets,
IPO process. The IPO of Canara HSBC Life Insurance will entirely consist of an
is likely to be modest and in market shares as majority of the US workforce is already local Reduces target to `218 including $2.7 trillion in liquid
offer for sale of 23.75 crore shares. Bharat Coking Coal will raise capital from
largely offset by higher  Impact of the changes in H-1B visa programme is going to be wealth and $7 trillion parked in
Buy rating on Infosys and an OFS of 46.57 crore shares. Aequs had filed its ‘pre-filed’ Draft Red Herring
offshoring and localisa- negligible over the next one year Cognizant (in large caps), gold and real estate. Currently,
Nomura Prospectus with Sebi in May.
tion. Nomura, Kotak and  Any sharp correction in stock prices could be an Coforge (in midcaps) and wealth advisory penetration in
BofA see the disruption as opportunity to accumulate Firstsource (in small caps)  iValue Info IPO Subscribed 1.82 Times this $2.7 trillion liquid wealth
short-lived and are advising Buy: Coforge, Hexaware pool is just 11%. But specialised
MUMBAI The `560-crore-initial public offering (IPO) of iValue Infosolutions
clients to accumulate large-  Hexaware, Mphasis and LTIM are the most impacted, while the Technologies, Indegene, wealth managers could see their
Kotak impact could be lower for Wipro and Persistent, among others was subscribed 1.82 times on Monday—the final day of the offer. The qualifi-
cap names on weakness, Institutional
Infosys, TCS, Tech Mahindra AUM climb from the current $300
ed institutional buyer (QIB) portion was subscribed 3.18 times, the non-
with Infosys, TCS, HCL Tech Equities  The bigger challenge is on share valuation Sell: KPIT Technologies, billion to $1.6 trillion over the
for a sector facing multiple headwinds Persistent Systems , Tata Elxsi, institutional investors (NII) portion was subscribed 1.26 times and the retail
and Tech Mahindra among next decade.
Tata Technologies, Wipro investor portion was subscribed 1.28 times.
their top picks. Some bro- A deep dive by Pravin Palande
 Wipro and Mphasis appear to have the lowest H-1B Buy: Infosys, KPIT Technologies,
kerages also see selective  TruAlt Bio Prices IPO at `472-496/Share and Varsha Santosh.
dependence. Infosys, LTIM and Persistent appear to have Mphasis, TCS, Tech
opportunities in midcaps the highest dependence relatively
Investec Mahindra , Zensar Technologies MUMBAI Karnataka-based biofuels producer TruAlt Bioenergy has announ-
such as Coforge and First-
source. — Our Bureau
 Higher local hiring and a potentially higher onsite wage inflation Sell: LTTS, LTI Mindtree, ced the price band of its `839.3 crore-IPO at `472-496 per share. The issue will FIIs Matter
is a likely margin headwind going into 2026 Persistent Systems open for subscription on September 25 and close on September 29. Investors In the last one
 US visa move will be a near-term overhang on stock prices can subscribe for a minimum of 30 equity shares and its multiples thereafter. year, the BSE
as investors are likely to price in the increased risks of
Emkay Sensex has
protectionist measures NA  Pace Digitek Offer Opens on Friday
Global fallen 0.7% to
 Do not see any immediate risks to earnings, though a
MUMBAI The `819-crore IPO of telecom infrastructure solutions provide 82,626 points.
potential inch-up in onsite wage inflation
Pace Digitek will open for public subscription on September 26. The compa- From October
 In short term, the move could delay customer decision-making
ny has set the price band for the issue at `208 to `219 per share, and the 2024 to now, FIIs have net-sold
J.P. in an already soft demand environment
NA issue will close on September 30. Investors are required to bid for a mini- Indian stocks worth around `2.4
Morgan  If companies choose to pay up $100K per staff over three years,
mum of 68 shares and in multiples of 68 shares thereafter. — Our Bureau lakh crore. Despite this heavy
the EPS impact will be 2-6% on FY27 earnings
selling, the stock market has
Source: Brokerage notes
barely fallen because of all the
Tech Shares Give Wall Street a Boost; money that is being invested in
Apple Surges 4%, Tesla Gains 3.4% equity MFs. But for the market to
REGULATOR SUGGESTS MODIFYING DEFINITION OF TECHNICAL GLITCH rally again, FIIs will have to return
Market Trends NEW YORK: Wall Street’s main indexes inched higher on as buyers at an aggregate level.

STOCK INDICES
Nifty 50 25202
% CHANGE

0.49
Sebi Moves to Fix ‘Glitches’ in Monday, with technology shares boosting the Nasdaq to a
record, while markets digested comments from numerous
Federal Reserve officials. The S&P 500 information tech-
And for that, several pieces need
to fall into place.
Vivek Kaul analyses.

Online Trading Platform Rules

nology sector was the biggest gainer, lifted by a 4% gain in Apple after
BSE Sensex 82160 0.56 Wedbush raised the stock’s target price on strong demand signs for the
MSCI India 1709 0.70 iPhone 17. It also kept the Dow afloat. Tesla gained 3.4%, boosting
MSCI EM 3651 0.22
consumer discretionary stocks on the S&P 500. Both Apple and Tesla hit Economists Back a
MSCI BRIC 800 0.51 Proposed changes will be Over 450 small
their highest levels in more than eight months. Wall Street had opened
lower on the day, briefly pulling back from its recent rally. The three
Pause on Rates
players will not
MSCI World 20376 0.03 indexes closed at record highs on Friday. At 2330 IST , the Dow Jones Lower inflation print and
Japan[Nikkei] 45494 0.99
applicable to stockbrokers be part of the
Industrial Average rose 94 points, or 0.20%, to 46,409, the S&P 500 strong growth have led
proposed
Hong Kong[HSI] 26344 0.76 offering online platforms framework gained 29 points, or 0.44%, to 6,693 and the Nasdaq Composite was up to a majority of econo-
now, resulting 143 points, or 0.63%, to 22,775. Investors parsed through comments mists proposing a pause on policy
S.Korea[Kospi] 3469 0.68 and having over 10k clients in ease of from Fed policymakers, who cast doubt on the need for further rate cuts
Singapore[STI] 4297 0.12 compliance for rates at a consultative meeting
when inflation was above the central bank's 2% target and the job
them held by the Reserve Bank of India.
Our Bureau market remained near full employment. — Reuters
OIL ($/BRL) On Smart Investing
DUBAI CRUDE Mumbai: The Securities and Exchange services,” it said.
67.84 Board of India (Sebi) has proposed Sebi said a financial disincentive structu-
0.95 changes to the framework covering re would not be applicable for the technical
Absolute Change technical glitches in the online trading glitches which do not affect the broker’s
GOLD RATE Premium/Discount $(-13.95) systems of stockbrokers. ability to provide seamless services to the-
It suggested modifying the definition of ir clients; for instance, a technical glitch
US ($/Oz) India (`/10Gm) technical glitch to exclude problems occur- that has a minor impact on the operations
OPEN 3688.20 110402.00 ring after trading hours and which are not of the stockbrokers.
LAST* under the control of stockbrokers. It suggested that stock exchanges rationa-
3721.20 111570.00
Any malfunction in the electronic sy- lise the current structure of the financial
Prev chg (%) 0.96 1.57 stem of a stockbroker is now termed disincentives and disseminate informa-
FOREX RATE (`-$ Exchange Rate) technical glitch. tion on their websites about instances of
The regulator said the proposed fram- technical glitches occuring in the trading
OPEN LAST*
ework would be made applicable to system of stockbrokers.
88.15 88.28 stockbrokers providing internet-based Growth in the number of investors crea-
trading platforms and having more tes an additional burden on the trading sy-
*At 6 pm IST Source: LSEG, MCX, ETIG than 10,000 clients as on March 31 of the stem of the stockbroker and, hence, adequ-
Market on Twitter@ETMarkets previous financial year. As a result, as ate capacity planning is a prerequisite for
many as 457 small stockbrokers would stockbrokers to provide continuity of ser-
PERFORMANCE-LINKED move out of this framework, Sebi said in vices to their clients, Sebi said.
a discussion paper on Monday. Brokers should do capacity planning
EV BATTERY COVERS “This will result in ease of compliance for the entire trading infrastructure
for such stockbrokers considering their and monitor peak load in their trading
IN THE WORKS low clientele base and relatively less of applications, servers and network ar-
ON SMART INVESTING technology dominance in their trading chitecture, it said.

Rupee Closes 22 Paise Lower at 88.30/Dollar

MUMBAI The rupee closed 22 paise lo- y’s close of `88.09 per $1. that the Indian rupee will underperform
wer on Monday, tracking weakness in Across Asia, India stands Asian FX and core G-10 (currency) cros-
the local equity market following the out as the key country which ses, but we think INR FX volatility should
changes to the H-1B US visa rules that could be negatively affected remain contained with the government
are expected to adversely impact the In- disproportionately by these also taking steps to structurally reform
dian IT sector, dampening remittances visa changes, according to MUFG Bank. the economy, including recent GST chang-
and service exports. The local currency “From an FX perspective, we think this es,” Michael Wan, senior currency ana-
closed at 88.3075 per dollar against Frida- development gives us more confidence lyst at MUFG Bank, said. — Our Bureau

Inflows of `28,067 cr in first 5 mths ● Chance to diversify, tap wider talent pool

A Tax Break or More! Flows into

FoFs Till Aug Treble of FY25 Nos
small-cap scheme to a large-cap is the
Prashant Mahesh tax outgo on account of capital gains,
which leaves them with less money to
Mumbai: Retail investors are piling invest. However, in a FoF structure, the
into fund of funds (FoF) schemes, lured fund manager can move from one sche-
by tax breaks, built-in diversification me to another or alter allocation to
and the ease of tapping multiple fund schemes without tax implications for
managers through a single product. the investors.
Data showed inflows of `28,067 crore in There are pure equity FoFs, thematic
just the first five months of this financi- FoFs that invest in a mix of domestic
al year—nearly three times what came equity fund schemes/themes or domes-
in during the whole of 2024-25. tic ETFs. While some fund houses stick
Investor interest in this category to their own schemes, a few also invest
picked up after the budget, which stipu- in schemes of different fund houses,
lated that investors holding these sche- Fund of Funds (Domestic) thereby helping investors diversify
mes for over two years would be subject fund house risk.
No of Schemes 114
to a long-term capital gains tax (LTCG) Besides equity FoFs, there are asset
of 12.5%, instead of being taxed at their No of Folios (Lakh) 46.1 allocator FoFs that invest in a mix of
income slab rate. Net Assets Under equity, fixed income, and commodities
1.3
“These work well for investors who management (lakh cr) like gold and silver, with the allocation
want tax efficiency, cannot decide on Net inflows (April 25 to each asset decided on the basis of the
which scheme to buy, or when to enter 28,067 fund house’s market view. There are
to August 2025) `cr
and exit,” says Madhu Nair, chief ex- As of Aug 31, ’25 SOURCE: AMFI also debt FoFs, such as the income plus
ecutive officer, Union Mutual Fund. arbitrage FoF, which cater to investors
Unlike a normal scheme that holds in fixed income and arbitrage.
underlying stocks, bonds or commoditi- from a broad range of investment app- While FoFs offer flexibility, they come
es like gold or silver as per its mandate, roaches and expertise,” says Kunal at a cost. Though FoFs invest in direct
a FoF is a strategy of holding a mix of Valia, founder, Statlane — a Sebi-regis- plans of the target mutual fund sche-
mutual fund schemes. tered Research Analyst. mes, there is an additional layer of
“This diversification eliminates the Distributors point out that a very expense for the investor, leading to
need to constantly chase different fund common problem among investors higher costs, than plain vanilla equity
managers, allowing investors to benefit wanting to move from a mid-cap or a schemes.

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14 } Smart Investing THE ECONOMIC TIMES | MUMBAI | TUESDAY | 23 SEPTEMBER 2025 | WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM

HOLD TIGHT OR CUT LOOSE? The RBI’s monetary policy committee is set to meet from Sept 29

Economists Say Pause; Market

FOREX BOOST Day Trading Guide Religare Broking

Standalone Markets started the week on a volatile note, ex-

Dealers Get tending losses and ending nearly 0.5% lower at

Players may Seek Another Cut

25,202.35. Selling in IT stocks on H-1B visa fee con-

Nod to Deal in cerns weighed early on, though GST rate cuts pro-
vided some support before heavyweights dragged

Rupee NDFs the index lower. Sector-wise, IT, Pharma, and FMCG
remained weak, while energy and metals outper-
calibrated communication by the formed. Broader indices also fell 0.5%–1%. Technically, 25,500 remains
a key resistance, with consolidation likely unless crossed decisively,
Rate Watch
Our Bureau Rozebud Gonsalves RBI, as post-June the bar for rate cut
Q1 GDP growth is indeed higher. But there is no point while support lies at 25,150. Traders should focus on selective stock
Mumbai: Standalone primary Mumbai: A lower inflation print August inflation at 2.7%, below was strong in committing a Type-2 error again- opportunities, favoring favorable risk–reward setups amid the ongoing
dealers (PD) have been authori- and strong economic growth have the 4% target for 7 months at 7.8% —no rate cut with a neutral stance- consolidation phase.
sed by the Reserve Bank to deal led to a majority of economists pro- —by not cutting rates in September,”
Economists from SBI, Barclays, Nomura, AJIT MISHRA
in non deliverable rupee deri-
vatives with immediate effect.
posing a pause on policy rates at a
consultative meeting held by the Morgan Stanley forecast a 25 bps cut
SBI group chief economic advisor
Soumya Kanti Ghosh wrote in a re-
Tech Picks SVP - Research
This comes after the RBI allo- Reserve Bank of India governor on RBI cautious on SBI’s Soumya port Monday. “Inflation will conti-
wed PDs to offer foreign ex-
change facilities in August
Monday and Friday.
The RBI regularly holds consultati-
June pause despite
low inflation due
Kanti Ghosh calls
for calibrated
nue to remain benign even in
FY27 and is tracking be-
BHARTIARTL
BUY
2022. The decision aims to soli- ve meetings with economists and low 2% in September Noticeable traction seen in Bharti Airtel with upside.
to sticky core communication Set for fresh breakout from a consolidation range. TARGET
dify the role of PDs as market market participants to gauge their vi- and October without a
makers, provide forex custo- ews on growth and inflation. Another
inflation and
global risks
if rate cut is
announced
GST cut,” Ghosh said.
LAST CLOSE  `1,956.20 STOP LOSS  `1,857
`2,100
mers with a broader range of such meeting with market partici- The RBI kept rates
options for ma- pants like mutual fund managers and unchanged in its Au-
naging curren-
cy risk, and en-
treasury heads of banks will be held
on Wednesday, said people with
The six-member monetary policy
committee will meet for three days
RBI’s 4% target for the seventh conse-
cutive month in August at 2.7%. The
gust meeting after having already de-
livered significant easing—a half-per-
CHOLAFIN
BUY
Cholafin is rebounding after a double bottom
hance the ove- knowledge of the matter. starting September 29 and governor economy grew better than expected centage-point repo cut and one-per- TARGET
formation. Recovery to strengthen further.
rall forex mar-
ket in India.
Most market participants are lik-
ely to pitch for a reduction in policy
Sanjay Malhotra will announce the
rate decision on October 1.
at 7.8% in the April-June quarter.
Economists from State Bank of In-
centage-point reduction in the cash
reserve ratio—while also shifting its
`1,740
LAST CLOSE  `1,630 STOP LOSS  `1,570
The Non-Deli- rate, citing the recent rate cut by the The RBI, which has lowered the poli- dia, Barclays, Nomura and Morgan stance from “accommodative” to “ne-
Unlike
verable For- US Federal Reserve, as it would be cy rate by one percentage point to Stanley are among economists who utral”. Inflation had slowed to 2.1%,
standard
forward ward (NDF)
market is an off-
key in maintaining interest rates
differential between the two
5.5% since February, kept it
unchanged in its last policy in August.
have forecast a quarter-percentage-
point rate cut in the next policy.
well below the 4% target, but the cen-
tral bank remained cautious given
HUDCO
BUY
contracts, Formed a fresh buying pivot while holding above
NDFs are shore market countries, economists said. Retail inflation has been below the “A cut in September will require a sticky core inflation. TARGET
the support zone of short term moving average.
settled in where forward 257
`
cash contracts on LAST CLOSE  `239.96 STOP LOSS  `231
currencies are
BANKS’ EXPANSION A POSITIVE FOR CARD SERVICES CO FIRM GENERATES REVENUE FROM MULTIPLE STREAMS
settled without actual delivery SBIN
BUY
Anand Rathi Share
of the currency. Unlike stan-
dard forward contracts, NDFs
are settled in cash, typically in
a freely convertible currency
Seshaasai may have Banking is trading in sync with the prevailing
uptrend. SBIN is set for next leg of the up move.
TARGET
` 920
like the US dollar.
“PDs have been trying to set
up foreign exchange desk for
a Card Up its Sleeve has Room for Growth LAST CLOSE  ` 855.25

Commodity Calls
STOP LOSS  ` 820
ABHIJEET BANERJEE, Senior
Manager- Commodity Research
some time now after they were
allowed in foreign exchange Ranjit Shinde Sachin Kumar COMMODITY EXCHANGE STRATEGY
trading in August 2022, but the Risk Reward Lasting Play
trading was slow to pick up. ET Intelligence Group: Seshaasai IPO Dates: September 23-25 ET Intelligence Group: Anand IPO Dates: September 23-25 Buy in the range of `1,11,100-`1,11,150
This permission to deal with Technologies, a credit and debit IPO Price: `402-423 Rathi Share & Stock Brokers, a full IPO Price: `393-414
Gold (Oct) MCX SL `1,09,800 Target `1,13,000
NDF rupee derivatives will qu- card fulfilment services provider to services broking firm, plans to ra-
icken that process now,” said a banks, plans to raise `480 crore Issue Size: Upto `813 cr ise `745 crore through fresh equity Issue Size: Upto `745 crore
Sell in the range `5,630-`5,650
currency dealer at a public sec- through fresh equity to repay debt Implied MCap: Upto `6,844 cr to fund long term working capital Implied Mcap: Upto `2,596 cr Crude Oil (Oct) MCX SL `5,760 Target `5,400
tor bank. PDs generally focus and for capital expenditure and requirements. The IPO will dilute
on government bond trading. another `333 crore through an offer Face Value: `10 the promoter stake to 69.9% from Face Value: `5
They are RBI-approved institu- for sale. The promoter stake will fall 98%. Priced higher than peers, the
RATIONALE
Lot Size: 35 shares Lot Size: 36 shares • Gold remains positive amid further rate cut possibility, persistent geo-
tions that support borrowing to 82% after the IPO from 93%. That IPO valuation seems to capture
and ensure liquidity and stabi- necessitates the promoters to sell Retail Portion: 35% the company’s expected growth. Retail Portion: 35% political risk and consistent buying by major Central banks.
lity in the G-Sec market. more shares in the coming years to Given this and robust growth in • Crude outlook negative as a stable demand scenario, outweighed due to
reduce their stake to 75% to meet re- revenue and customer acquisi- improving supply concerns.
gulatory requirement. Rising ex- nue in FY25. The communication tion, the issue appears to be sui- FINANCIALS
Oil Prices Tick Down as pansion of banks beyond metro and and fulfilment services, which table for long-term investors with Revenue nearly doubled to ` 845.7

Iraq Exports Rise Amid

tier-I cities and card renewals are
major growth triggers for the com-
pany notwithstanding the impact
formed nearly 30% of the reve-
nue, consists of providing custo-
mised communication docu-
higher risk appetite.

BUSINESS
crore in FY25 from ` 467.8 crore in
FY23. Within this, revenue from
broking and related services
IndusInd Bank Names
Demand Concerns
Houston: Oil prices fell slightly
of digital payment solutions on the
card transaction volumes. Though
it has diversified into RFID (radio
ments, direct mailers, notices,
utility bills, insurance policy sta-
tements among others. The inter-
The company provides broking
and distribution services across
equities, derivatives, commoditi-
contributed ` 510.3 crore, while
interest income from the margin
trading facility added `114.3 cro-
Viral Damania CFO
on Monday as worries of an over- frequency identification) and NFC net of things (IOT) vertical, es and currency markets toget- re in FY25. Profit after tax rose to
supply outweighed geopolitical (near field communication) related which formed 7% of the her with a margin tra- `103.6 crore from ` 37.7 crore du- Our Bureau
tensions in Russia and the Middle services, their revenue share at revenue, includes RFID ding facility. It also un- ring the period. Operating profit
East. Brent crude oil futures
dipped 25 cents, or 0.4%, to $66.43 a
over one-third in total revenue re-
mains low. In addition, the return
and enabled solutions.
IPO WATCH dertakes distribution
of third-party financi-
before depreciation and amorti-
sation (Ebitda) shot up to ` 311.3
Mumbai: IndusInd Bank on
Monday announced the appoint-
barrel. Brent has traded between on equity at 34.8% in FY25 fell gra- FINANCIALS al products. The num- crore from `115.1 crore in FY23. ment of Viral Damania as its
$65.50 and $69 a barrel since early dually from 37.3% in FY23. Given Revenue fell by 6.1% YoY in FY25 to ber of active clients rose to 2.2 Ebitda margin strengthened to new chief financial officer
August. US West Texas Interme- these factors, investors with high `1,463.1 crore after growing by lakh in FY25 from 1.5 lakh in 36.8% from 24.6% in the said pe- (CFO). The post had been vacant
diate crude contract for October, risk appetite may consider the IPO. 35.9% in the previous year. The FY23. According to the credit ra- riod. However, it remained below since January following the re-
expiring on Monday, was at $62.44 management attributed the drop ting firm CARE, the company several peers including Motilal signation of whistleblower CFO
a barrel, down 24 cents, or 0.4%. BUSINESS to a large one-off card renewal as- has the highest average revenue Oswal’s 54.5%, Geojit’s 38%, IIFL Gobind Jain.
The more actively traded second- Incorporated in 1993, Mumbai ba- signment in FY24. Net profit doub- per client of ` 29,347 among peers Capital’s 41.5% and Angel One’s Damania’s hiring marks one of
month contract was down 27 sed Seshaasai Technologies led to `222.3 crore while operating in FY2025, which increased from 37.8% in FY25. Return on equity the first key appointments un-
cents, or 0.5%, at $62.09. holds around 32% share in the margin before depreciation and ` 26,012 in FY23. The business ope- improved to 23.1% in FY25 from der Rajiv Anand, who stepped
“Traders are back to focusing manufacturing of payment amortisation (Ebitda margin) ex- rates through 90 branches in 54 15.3% in FY23. into the corner office less than a Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, and
on a possibly over-supplied glob- cards in India according to a panded to 25.1% from 18% between cities and also through digital month ago. with PricewaterhouseCoopers.
al oil market that is soon to Frost and Sullivan report. It has FY23 and FY25. platforms. The company genera- VALUATIONS Damania, a finance professio- With his appointment, the ad-
come, unless the US & EU can 24 manufacturing units spread tes revenue from multiple stre- The IPO is priced at a trailing nal with over 27 years of experi- ditional responsibilities assig-
agree on harsher tariffs on across the country. Its deliverab- VALUATION ams, with broking accounting for price-earnings (P/E) multiple of ence in banking and professio- ned to Santosh Kumar as special
countries that purchase Rus- les are broadly divided in three The company demands a trailing 60% of the total revenue. The ste- 25 compared with the P/Es of pe- nal services, was most recently officer – finance & accounts, and
sian crude,” said Dennis Kissler, verticals. The biggest among price-earnings (P/E) multiple of ady share of non-broking reve- ers including 20.9 for Motilal Os- CFO of Bank of America India, his designation as a key manage-
senior vice president of trading them is payment solutions, upto 31. It has not identified any nues helps cushion the business wal and 11.5 for Geojit Financial where he oversaw both the bank rial person, will cease with im-
at BOK Financial. —Reuters which contributed 63% to reve- listed peers. against market volatility. Services. branch entity and BofA Securiti- mediate effect. Kumar will con-
es India. He has also worked tinue as Deputy CFO of the
with Citibank NA in India, bank.

Performance-linked EV Battery Covers in the Works Kirti Doshi Acquires Close to 21% in
Insurers are designing specialised motor vehicle covers to guard owners against battery underperformance Emkay Global via Antique Securities
MUMBAI Dalal Street veteran Kirti Doshi has acquired nearly
linked battery cover, where claims exclusion of the battery. battery protection.
Shilpy Sinha kick in if the battery underper- Insurers are in talks with auto- Extended warranties are being 21% stake in listed financial services firm Emkay Global
forms within its guaranteed life, is makers to design specialised covered with insurers offering Financial Services through his entity, Antique Securities, the
Mumbai: With electric vehicles in the works. covers, including residual char- flexibility that was not seen in company said in an exchange filing on Monday. Doshi, along
(EVs) fast gaining traction, insurers “Today, in IC engines, we do not ging protection and performance conventional auto products. with the Emkay’s promoters, Krishna Kumar Karwa and Prakash Kacho-
are reworking motor insurance talk of a performance but in EVs, if guarantees. “These will become Events such as urban flooding are lia, have pumped `227.5 crore into the company through a warrant issue.
products to address a key risk, the battery performs below a certain bigger covers in EVs, unlike ICE also shaping product design. In The brokerage’s market cap stood at `806.3 crore on Monday. According
battery, which accounts for the bulk threshold, then it can become a vehicles where the engine is rarely case of a flood, hybrid and EV cars
to the exchange disclosure, 75 lakh warrants were issued to Antique,
of an EV’s cost. Unlike in the case of claim, which is generally not cove- excluded or insured separately,” need full battery replacement after
internal combustion engine (ICE) red under motor insurance polici- said an executive, who did not wish being submerged. where Doshi is the ultimate beneficial owner, bringing his individual
vehicles, where claims largely es,” said Amit Ganorkar, managing to be identified. Insurers are also looking at the investment to `179.6 crore. Karwa invested `29.9 crore, while Kacholia
pertain to accidents or damages, director and CEO of Tata AIG Some companies have launched ‘battery-as-a-service’ model that put in `17.9 crore, by subscribing to 12.5 lakh and 7.5 lakh warrants,
performance-linked battery failures General Insurance. “Normally a EV-focused products, while others automakers are experimenting respectively. The firm issued these convertible warrants at a price of
could soon be covered under in- battery starts with 100% SOH (state are studying global models, particu- with, seeing it as a potential way to `239.5 apiece, with the right to convert each warrant into one equity
surance policies for EVs, according of health) which degrades gradual- versations that we are having larly from other Asian markets, lower upfront costs for consumers.
share within 18 months of allotment. On Monday, the stock ended 20%
to industry executives. ly overtime. But if battery starts around residual charging.” before introducing them in India. “These new-age covers will come in
Motor insurance policies for EVs underperforming after significant- There are other options, he said, Most general insurance companies EVs. Battery-related products will higher on BSE at `315.2. As of June 30, Karwa and Kacholia held 19.32%
have already started covering ly shorter use beyond the average such as extended warranty on in India cover mandatory third- become bigger, unlike ICE vehicles and 18.64% stakes in the company, respectively. Shares of Emkay Global
battery warranties and extended degradation of such battery, then battery cover that people are buying party, own damage and comprehen- where the engine is rarely treated have gained nearly 46% over the past month. — Our Bureau
warranties. But a performance- it’s a loss. So there are some con- while some covers come with the sive covers along with add-ons like separately,” the executive said.

Market Intelligence Powered By: ETIG Database www.etintelligence.com

MARKET SNAPSHOT TURNOVER Turnover in ` Crore
Shares & Trades in Lakhs ADVANCE & DECLINE HIGHS & LOWS FII ACTIVITY (` Cr.) MF ACTIVITY (` Cr.) F&O Corner-NSE
SENSEX NIFTY BSE NSE BSE (Number of traded scrips) NSE BSE (Number of scrips) NSE EQUITY DEBT EQUITY DEBT Positive Trend Negative Trend
Open 82151.07 25238.10 Date Turn Shares Trades Turn Shares Trades ‘A’ ‘B ‘ Others Total Total ‘A’ ‘B ‘ Others Total Total Date Buy Sell Net Buy Sell Net Date Buy Sell Net Buy Sell Net
Spot Future % OI Spot Future % OI
High 82583.16 25331.70 22/9 8556 11069 41.50 103101 42623 334.40 Advances 204 493 1010 1707 1003 52WK High 17 47 162 226 116 19/9 37583 36454 1128 808 143 665 16/9 8455 6673 1782 18946 19606 -660 Company Price Price Diff Chg(%) Company Price Price Diff Chg(%)
Low 81997.29 25151.05 Declines 528 936 1140 2604 1861 52WK Low 3 14 47 64 48 18/9 12415 11630 785 1137 473 664 15/9 7337 5120 2217 17859 22134 -4275 AU Small F.B 706.05 709.45 0.48 0.93 Angel One 2248.00 2219.60 -1.26 -1.79
Close 82159.97 25202.35 19/9 9623 13596 45.06 138903 67461 331.34 Marico 716.85 720.20 0.47 -0.12 Chola.Invt. 1630.00 1615.10 -0.91 1.89
Unchanged — 18 136 154 51 All High 13 36 87 136 94 17/9 13185 13465 -280 702 367 335 12/9 8001 6266 1735 23200 29912 -6712 LIC of India 904.50 908.60 0.45 -3.61
Change(Abs) -466.26 -124.70 Godrej Cons. 1232.20 1223.80 -0.68 6.96
18/9 8461 12521 41.75 97995 42768 298.69 Total 732 1447 2286 4465 2915 All Low — 8 12 20 26 16/9 13864 12218 1646 3882 493 3389 11/9 11450 7783 3668 19261 23575 -4314 L&T Finance 248.09 249.21 0.45 1.06
52-Wk High (Sep 27)85978.25 (Sep 27)26277.35 Hind.Zinc 459.25 461.25 0.44 1.14 Tata Elxsi 5607.00 5569.00 -0.68 0.76
52-Wk Low (Apr 7)71425.01 (Apr 7)21743.65 15/9 10330 10667 -336 3 435 -432 10/9 7822 5714 2108 11705 11770 -65 IIFL Finance 450.10 452.10 0.44 -2.00 Voltas 1376.20 1367.70 -0.62 3.97
17/9 8464 14447 41.15 101041 46604 325.83 Max Fin.Serv 1556.70 1563.60 0.44 -0.09
3-Yr High (Sep 27,24)85978.25 (Sep 27,24)26277.35 Turnover Cash Market ET Indices Tot Sep 207100 204933 2167 11588 8114 3474 Tot Sep 104396 83578 20818 180722 220098 -39376
Sh.Cements 29705.00 29835.00 0.44 -1.28
KFin Tech
Blue Star
1093.90
1996.80
1087.30
1987.80
-0.60
-0.45
16.52
-4.12
3-Yr Low (Sep 30,22)56147.23 (Sep 30,22)16747.70 16/9 7680 14018 38.09 91048 42443 296.76 BSE NSE (` Crore) MINDEX ET-100 Total 2025 2724612 2854282 -129863 145664 134973 10691 Total 2025 1959127 1583532 375594 2134425 2587704 -453548 FSN E-Comm. 242.40 243.44 0.43 -1.26
Prestige Est 1617.40 1624.30 0.43 -2.90 Avenue Super 4671.20 4654.90 -0.35 0.07

52 WEEK AT NSE * ALL TIME AT NSE 160000 32400 27600 Spurt in Volumes at BSE Spurt in Volumes at NSE
Days 2 Weeks % Days Days 2 Weeks % Days
Active Calls Active Puts
HIGH *MIRAEGoldETF 109.25 *Polycab 7714.00 *Yash Optics 153.50 Traded Open Chg in Traded Open Chg in
Company Volume Avg. Vol. Chg Close Company Volume Avg. Vol. Chg Close
*Aaradhya Dis 131.50 *Grasim Inds. 2911.00 *Polysil Irri 227.05 LOW 120000 31800 27200 Company Contract Qty Interest OI (%) Company Contract Qty Interest OI (%)
*Aarey Drugs 80.95 *GROWW Gold 110.62 *Pramara Prom 287.00 Abhishek Int 39.00 Thakkers Dev 38173 113 33723.32 150.00 STC India 2361760 14111 16636.66 139.20
Adani Power 170.25 *Groww NNxt50 71.37 *P S Raj Stee 215.00 *Arunaya Orga 22.50 Std.Shoe Sol 70800 250 28220.00 19.46 Control Prin 976481 13916 6916.87 805.05 NIFTY 25300.00-Sep 7081.03 197.24 208.68 NIFTY 25300.00-Sep 7922.56 47.59 -62.51
STC India 271600 1582 17065.97 139.60 Kataria Inds 256200 3867 6525.86 118.70 Vodafone Ide 8.00-Sep 5156.21 2907.60 -15.88 NIFTY 25200.00-Sep 6552.03 135.62 53.65
*Affle 3I 2185.90 *Grow.Bpower 10.54 PSU Bnk BeES 83.20 *Barbeque NH 234.00 80000 31200 26800 NIFTY 25350.00-Sep 5014.13 135.40 109.97 NIFTY 25250.00-Sep 6101.55 45.21 -24.61
*AGI Infra 1210.00 *Guj.Themis.B 424.90 IPruNPSUBank 75.49 Bann.Aman.Sp 27.03 Dynamat.Tech 68888 416 16475.55 7170.90 Tinna Rubber 556788 13184 4123.15 918.95 Vodafone Ide 9.00-Sep 994.93 2118.52 2.92
NIFTY 25400.00-Sep 4744.40 177.91 15.12
*Anlon Health 147.70 *GE Vernova T 3147.00 *Ramco Inds. 398.05 Blue Chip (I 4.14 Vidhi Splty. 57248 821 6874.66 378.35 Pentagon Rub 141000 3664 3748.75 67.90 Vodafone Ide 10.00-Sep 3676.67 4251.33 2.46 Vodafone Ide 8.00-Sep 735.48 3322.87 -0.30
*Aluwind Infr 95.80 HDFC PSU Bk 75.96 *Ravindra Ene 191.77 *Cedaar Texti 102.90 30600 26400 Control Prin 108682 1685 6351.88 807.05 Apex Ecotech 566400 15840 3475.76 164.60 Vodafone Ide 9.00-Sep 2981.94 5937.43 9.27 Yes Bank 21.00-Sep 640.66 440.07 5.36
40000 Yes Bank 22.00-Sep 1234.98 676.74 8.20 Vodafone Ide 7.00-Oct 631.84 812.67 2.34
*Arfin 47.87 *HDFCSILVETF 128.94 *RM Drip & Sp 807.45 De Neers To 171.00 HDFC N100LV 551789 8947 6067.14 21.00 STL Global 294521 10316 2755.13 17.86
*Ashapura Min 666.70 *Hyundai Mot. 2890.00 *RNFI Serv. 404.00 *Dev Accelera 54.90 Yes Bank 21.00-Sep 967.52 543.01 -10.23 Canara Bank 120.00-Sep 239.42 74.52 39.39
Nicco Parks 200928 4417 4449.38 106.50 Touchwood E 312500 11100 2715.34 118.04 Canara Bank 120.00-Sep 796.43 139.93 -10.88 Canara Bank 119.00-Sep 215.12 20.93 37.17
ASL Inds. 58.95 *Indian Metal 1119.00 *Rossell Tech 832.00 Dhruv Consul 54.32 Kapil Raj F. 2474321 63311 3808.20 4.22 Guj.Themis.B 1587957 58254 2625.94 410.95
0 30000 26000 Pun.Nat.Bank 115.00-Sep 635.92 151.52 2.16 Wipro 250.00-Sep 206.85 58.59 1.45
Atal RealTe. 21.48 *Indiqube Spa 243.80 *SBI Silv.ETF 132.00 DIC India 554.90 Square Four 50867 2064 2364.73 8.70 Grow.Bpower 7764712 333849 2225.82 10.42
*Ather Energy 614.40 *Indus Infra 119.25 *NIp.Nif.SDL2 137.34 *Digitide Sol 177.01 SEPT 16 SEPT 22 AUG 25 SEPT 22 Grow.Bpower 835320 39661 2006.14 10.43 Borosil Ren. 7856719 355680 2108.93 619.85 Future OI Gainers Future OI Losers
Avantel Soft 194.40 *Religare Gol 9800.00 *Sheetal Univ 143.75 Donear Inds. 92.43 Chandan Heal 792000 37040 2038.23 236.10
Borosil Ren. 472327 22747 1976.40 620.20
*Axiscades Te 1767.90 *IZMO 1109.65 *Shree Pushka 461.00 *Dreamfolks S 112.36 Open Chg in Future Chg in Open Chg in Future Chg in
*AxisN500V50 29.88 Jakharia Fab 129.65 *Shringar Hou 198.30 *Drone Dest. 79.20 Positive Breakouts Negative Breakouts Best Returns on BSE Worst Returns on BSE Company Interest OI (%) Price Price (%) Company Interest OI (%) Price Price (%)
Bafna Pharma 145.09 *JSW Steel 1126.80 *ABSSILVERETF 133.97 Dynamic Serv 107.30 KFin Tech 21.68 16.52 1087.30 -5.00 Sammaan Cap. 571 22.86 141.36 -1.84
Bajaj Consm. 263.50 Kavveri Defe 115.78 *Kotak Silver 130.10 *Gretex Corp. 252.95 Company Days 20 Days % 50 Days Company Days 20 Days % 50 Days Company Days Prices % Average Company Days Prices % Average Mazagon Dock 33.33 13.99 2977.70 -0.65 HUDCO 254 20.53 240.70 4.98
Balaji Tele. 135.00 *Knowled.Mari 2599.90 *360 One Silv 134.98 *Galaxy Medic 44.05 (BSE) Close Mvg Avg Chg Mvg Avg (BSE) Close Mvg Avg Chg Mvg Avg Close Chg Volume Close Chg Volume Nuvama Wealt 3.45 11.15 6290.00 -2.19 Biocon 347 13.16 362.60 -1.89
*BBNP Nif.Bnk 60.60 *Le Merite Ex 409.00 *DSP SILV ~ET 128.90 *Kaytex Fabri 103.00 Piramal Ph. 141.80 9.82 202.86 -2.97 SBI 810 13.14 857.50 -0.72
Ontic Finser 1.33 0.82 62.20 0.75 Kairosoft AI 52.30 93.23 43.90 118.53 Fortnight Fortnight Dabur (I) 273.08 7.49 522.70 -2.62 RBL Bank 547 12.67 270.35 -0.93
BGR Energy 273.00 MIRAE N1DRL 1051.48 *UTI Silver E 131.03 KHFM Hosp. 70.00 Empower(I) 2.17 1.34 61.94 1.41 Guj. Hy-Spin 14.76 24.79 40.46 24.23 Sh.Krish.Inf 22.04 48.80 -54.8 238875 Godrej Cons. 112.46 6.96 1223.80 -0.80 SAIL 1124 10.39 135.98 -0.34
Newtime Infr 3.74 2.08 79.8 1128700
Canara Bank 119.72 *L&T Finance 252.20 *Nip.Sil.ETF 128.47 Likhitha Inf 236.60 Bharat Globa 280.00 174.65 60.32 133.22 Padam Cotton 4.81 7.78 38.17 7.64 Mphasis 43.72 6.59 2856.30 -4.73 Adani Enterp 136 9.70 2637.80 4.13
Empower(I) 2.17 1.23 76.4 7703111 Guj. Hy-Spin 14.76 26.12 -43.5 180455
*Cool Caps 109.00 *Lumax Ind 4497.60 *MIRAE Silver 130.30 Mangalam Cem 742.00 GDL Leasing 24.19 15.11 60.09 14.80 Zodiac Vent. 3.77 5.86 35.67 7.40 LTIMindtree 24.33 5.29 5244.00 -4.91 NIFTYNXT50 0 8.69 69985.40 0.16
Ontic Finser 1.33 0.76 75.0 494343 Kairosoft AI 52.30 87.05 -39.9 13428 Persistent S 26.27 4.53 5286.00 -4.32 PB Fintech 74 7.56 1799.60 -0.68
*Cash Ur Driv 165.00 *Mirae Fang 169.89 *IPrSilverETF 134.77 Marshall Mac 5.55 CIAN Agro 1585.35 1001.68 58.27 673.15 Supra Trends 13.93 19.92 30.07 27.22 Bharat Globa 280.00 172.05 62.7 37178 Padam Cotton 4.81 7.95 -39.5 725061 Cyient 34.41 4.36 1197.20 -3.83 Ambuja Cemen 356 7.30 592.45 1.52
*Cupid 218.10 *MOST NIMfg 182.16 *SJS Enterp. 1515.60 Mcon Rasayan 70.05 Lakhotia Pol 85.42 54.99 55.34 46.86 Silver Oak 99.75 138.68 28.07 144.98
Dishman Carb 315.45 *MOST NNXT50 70.67 *Smartworks C 557.85 *Medicamen Bi 322.00 Vintron Info 21.58 13.30 62.3 667262 Zodiac Vent. 3.77 6.03 -37.5 6075615
CHPL Inds. 40.22 26.01 54.63 24.86 Uravi Defenc 285.90 392.54 27.17 460.89
*Dhariwalcorp 216.75 *MO Silver ET 140.00 *Swan Defence 577.10 *Mangal Elect 475.30 Intense Tech 139.42 90.37 54.28 87.68 Elitecon Int 195.10 260.93 25.23 228.24
1 Month 1 Month Market-Wide Position Limit Top Sectoral OI Gainers
*DRS Cargo Mo 25.00 MTAR Tech 1888.00 *Tankup Engg. 462.50 *Mahendra Rea 50.00 Bharat Globa 280.00 96.05 191.5 37018 Kairosoft AI 52.30 145.45 -64.0 28820
Wardwizard F 9.92 6.48 53.09 5.07 Healthy Life 40.01 52.30 23.50 57.53 MWPL OI MWP Chg in Open Chg in Trd Chg in
Eastern Silk 40.99 *Muthoot Fin. 3061.90 *Taurian MPS 267.95 *Patel Retail 230.00 CIAN Agro 1585.35 549.70 188.4 73320 Sh.Krish.Inf 22.04 53.30 -58.7 201136
Vintron Info 21.58 14.14 52.62 17.37 Jetking Info 268.40 350.48 23.42 310.73 Company (Lakh) (Lakh) (%) OI (%) Sector Interest OI (%) Qty TQ (%)
*Edel GoldETF 112.65 *MVK Agro 450.00 *Tera Softwar 469.95 Praj Ind. 381.00 Odigma Consu 56.15 37.48 49.81 35.75 IZMO 1111.90 406.70 173.4 69403 Supra Trends 13.93 32.57 -57.2 22674
Vantage Know 3.23 4.19 22.91 4.30 RBL Bank 1218.02 1581.15 129.81 65.49 Consultancy 28.49 37.80 41.46 252.04
*Eternal 343.90 *Natural Caps 276.00 *Travel Food 1394.80 *Rajoo Engin. 92.80 Newtime Infr 3.74 2.55 46.67 2.57 Emergent Ind 432.15 560.45 22.89 723.54 Wardwizard F 9.92 4.09 142.5 898238 Padam Cotton 4.81 9.64 -50.1 555908
Sammaan Cap. 1631.03 1436.03 88.04 -18.80 Pharmaceuticals 1430.26 4.25 377.46 -7.42
*FT SegP.3RDP 71.00 *NDR INVIT Tr 115.00 Univa Foods 12.93 *Regaal Resou 101.55 Hilltone Sof 70.53 49.57 42.28 43.69 Ambo Argitec 39.11 50.67 22.81 62.76 Titan Biotec 980.35 458.95 113.6 34248 Zodiac Vent. 3.77 7.15 -47.3 3060891 Bandhan Bank 1903.37 1594.91 83.79 6.26 Metals 2644.13 4.12 735.34 72.83
Gayatri High 2.97 *Neptune Petr 179.00 *Uno Minda 1348.30 Rudrabhishek 145.00 Integrated I 28.21 19.84 42.19 20.35 Regis Inds. 3.63 4.69 22.60 5.72 3 Months 3 Months HFCL 1973.06 1647.78 83.51 -4.77 Consumer Durables 891.33 3.74 163.89 35.62
Grand Found 10.21 *Netweb Tech. 3559.00 *Urban Compan 201.18 Route Mobile 839.40 IZMO 1111.90 784.16 41.80 554.22 Mauria Udyog 13.20 16.92 21.99 17.28 Colab Platfo 111.15 26.96 312.3 1680004 Spright Agro 1.20 3.62 -66.8 14178732 Titagarh Rai 160.37 132.07 82.35 0.03 FMCG 3118.81 3.41 510.91 24.49
*Globe Intnl 151.20 *Norben Tea 54.80 UTI Nif.Bank 57.52 Share I Secu 141.00 Toyam Sports 1.86 1.32 40.91 1.24 SIEL Financl 28.92 7.34 294.0 39768 Sh.Krish.Inf 22.04 60.50 -63.6 117167 National Alu 1789.68 1413.11 78.96 -2.40 Retail 156.29 3.41 26.62 34.83
Hypersoft Tc 63.38 80.53 21.30 68.45 Infotech 3262.48 2.85 1057.64 70.31
*Guj.Mineral 588.00 *N R Vand.Tex 58.90 *Viviana Pow. 1705.00 *Shivashrit F 126.60 Gayatri High 2.97 2.12 40.09 2.03 Hemant Surg. 352.65 96.00 267.3 40919 Aayush Well. 67.23 173.30 -61.2 414525 PNB Hous.Fin 374.17 295.24 78.91 -3.63
Trans (I) Ho 10.74 13.64 21.26 12.97 LIC Hsg.Fin. 602.44 466.61 77.45 1.90 Telecom Equipments 864.50 2.80 168.06 -25.58
*Gokul Agro R 425.00 *Piccadily Ag 805.50 *Voler Car 230.00 *Shreeji Ship 236.00 Emkay Global 315.20 225.47 39.80 233.60 Bluegod Ente 2.28 2.86 20.28 2.56 Sampre Nutri 107.72 29.42 266.2 134960 KBS (I) 2.43 5.88 -58.7 133729 Cables 29.61 2.64 11.78 25.76
*Gold BeES 93.21 *Pondy Oxides 1360.00 *Indosolar 506.65 *SKIL Infrast 1.55 Prima Ind. 28.08 20.29 38.39 20.34 Esaar (I) 11.86 14.70 19.32 15.83 Elitecon Int 195.10 54.72 256.5 355239 Vantage Know 3.23 7.78 -58.5 1988899 Open Interest & Traded Quantity in Lakhs Automobiles 2833.77 2.60 536.62 -30.01
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THE ECONOMIC TIMES | MUMBAI | TUESDAY | 23 SEPTEMBER 2025 | WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM

Economy: Macro, Micro & More  15

Core Sector Output Hits Focus on Swadeshi in Post-GST Reforms Era: PM

REFORMS KICK IN

15-Month High in August Our Bureau

New Delhi: In an open letter to the

country’s citizens, Prime Minister
eration Goods and Services Tax
(GST) from Monday.
“Our collective goal is Viksit Bharat
by 2047. To achieve it, walking the
Swadeshi. Let us proudly say—what
we sell is Swadeshi.”
Modi urged states to encourage in-
dustry, boost manufacturing and im-
GROWTH DRIVERS Coal, steel & cement drive growth; crude oil, gas drag Narendra Modi urged consumers to path of self-reliance is imperative. prove the investment climate.
buy swadeshi products, saying they These reforms strengthen our local Highlighting the benefits of GST
are made with manufacturing rate cuts and rationalisation of tax
Our Bureau Core Surge Growth rate the sweat and base, paving the slabs to 5% and 18%, he said small in-

GST2.0
(y-o-y, in %) toil of local arti- way towards Aat- dustries, shopkeepers, traders, entre-
Core sector Six out of eight 16
New Delhi: India’s core sector out- sans, workers manirbhar Bha- preneurs and MSMEs will gain
growth at 6.3% sectors recorded
put grew at 6.3% year on year in Au- and industries. rat,” Modi said. through greater ease of doing busi-
in August a positive growth 12
gust, its fastest pace in 15 months, Their consump- The Prime Min- ness and compliance. “Lower taxes,
6.3
aided by a low base effect and Steel recorded the highest 8 tion, he said, ister stressed lower prices, and simpler rules will
strong performance by coal and increase in helps families that Indians mean better sales, reduced compli-
steel sectors, official data released 4 earn a living and creates jobs for the should endorse and promote local ance burden, and growth of opportu-
output
Monday showed. 9.7 youth. He also congratulated citi- products. “Let us resolve to support nities, especially in the MSME sec-
0
The eight infrastructure industri- zens on the rollout of the next-gen- products made in India. This means tor,” he said. He praised shopkeepers
es, which account for 40.27% -4 buying swadeshi products that carry and traders who are displaying “then
weight in the Index of Industrial Jan ’23 Aug ’25 the sweat and toil of Indians in their and now” prices of goods to show the
Production, had grown 3.7% in Ju- making, irrespective of the brand or impact of GST cuts.
ly and had shrunk 1.5% in August, Let us proudly say- company. Every time you buy a prod- “These reforms will boost savings
2024. For the first five months of “Aided by a low base, the year-on- "Although the growth in cement —what we buy is Swa- uct made by our own artisans, work- and directly benefit every section of
FY26, average core sector growth year growth in core output expect- sector output stood relatively bet- deshi. Let us proudly say- ers, and industries, you are helping society—farmers, women, youth,
stood at 2.8%, lower than 4.6% in edly improved in August, with the ter, it remained at a 10-month low families earn their living and creat- poor, middle class, traders, and
the corresponding period last year, uptick particularly driven by in view of the monsoon fury in —what we sell is Swadeshi ing opportunities for our youth,” he MSMEs. They will encourage
data showed. coal,” said Aditi Nayar, chief econ- various parts of the country in NARENDRA MODI said. He also appealed to shopkeepers growth, attract investments, and ac-
Industrial output had risen to a omist at ICRA. Coal output rose by August," said Paras Jasrai, asso- and traders to sell swadeshi products. celerate progress across states and
Prime Minister
four-month high of 3.5% in July 11.4% year-on-year in August after ciate director at India Ratings and “Let us proudly say—what we buy is regions,” Modi said.
and the latest core sector print is recording contractions in the pre- Research (Ind-Ra). On the other
expected to provide a lift. IIP data vious two months. Steel also posted hand, crude oil and natural gas re-
will be released on September 29. robust growth of 14.2%, the highest corded a contraction of 1.2% and
Rating agency ICRA projects IIP
growth at 4.5-5.5% for August, sup-
ported by a turnaround in the per-
among eight industries.
“Core sector growth for August is
encouraging, driven mainly by
2.2%, respectively.

OUTLOOK
CBIC Asks Staff to Track Prices Before, After GST Cut
formance of mining output, which high growth in steel, followed by ce- Looking ahead, Sabnavis expects on to the final consumer,” the official
has seen a contraction in every ment, indicative of heightened ac- construction activity to pick up as Anuradha Shukla added.
month during April-July 2025. tivity in the infrastructure space,” the monsoon retreats, providing a In a letter dated September 9, the
Bank of Baroda expects 4.5-5%, said Madan Sabnavis, chief econo- boost to cement demand, while New Delhi: The Central Board of In- CBIC had asked field officials to give a
while Ind-Ra estimates 5.5%. mist at Bank of Baroda. fertiliser output is likely to in- direct Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has report on the 20th day of each month
Coal, steel and cement sectors Cement sector recorded 6.1% crease as stocks are built up for ra- asked its field officials across the co- on about 54 commodities, including
drove up the core sector output, growth, followed by fertilisers bi sowing. Ind-Ra expects core untry to collect information from de- toiletries, consumer durable items,
while crude oil and natural gas (4.6%), electricity (3.1%), and refin- sector output growth of around alers and retailers on brand-wise pri- medicine, toys and stationery items
dragged it down. ery products (3%). 5% in September. ces of goods such as food, toiletries, among others. This price tracking
stationeries, consumer durables and will continue for at least six months.
medicines before and after Septem- Experts say the GST rate rationali-
GST Cut on Renewables to Save `1.5 L Cr by 2030: Joshi ber 22. The exercise is to check whet-
her they are passing on the benefits
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman addresses consumers and shopkeepers in
East Delhi, after the rollout of GST reforms on Monday. Also seen is Harsh Malhotra
sation is a direct and meaningful bo-
ost for every Indian family, will incre-
New Delhi: GST reduction on re- said, “I thank Prime Minister Na- for investors till 2030. of the cut in goods and services tax (third from right), MoS for road transport & highways and corporate affairs ase savings and spending power and
newable energy will save up to rendra Modi for According to the Ministry of that came into effect Monday (Sep- strengthen household budgets and
`1.5 lakh crore for investors till cutting GST on New & Renewable Energy, given tember 22). GST rates. The deadline for submit- assured that they will pass on the fuel the consumption story of India.
2030, Union Minister Pralhad renewable that India plans to add around 300 They need to collect details such as ting this information is September GST benefits, this exercise will ensu- “Taking the example of a person ear-
Joshi said on Monday. equipment from GW of renewable energy capacity brand names, size or weight of the 28. The field officials have to send the re that the benefit is reaching to end ning `50,000 monthly, the price cuts
The GST cut will give a signifi- 18% to 5%, espe- by 2030, even a modest 2-3 % cost re- products and copies of receipt with details to the designated email assig- customers and is not lost between the on daily essentials (say spending of
cant boost to India's ambitious cially on the oc- duction can free up `1–1.5 lakh maximum retail price and tax brea- ned by each regional office. factory and the retail shop,” a senior `25,000 of which there is a rate cut on
target of having 500 GW of re- casion of the crore in investment capacity. kup before and after the new GST ra- The officials will also monitor popu- official told ET. “While the govern- spending worth `15,000) from food to
newable energy by 2030. Navratri festiv- Rooftop Solar under PM Surya tes took effect. While fast-moving lar ecommerce sites and portals, in- ment is showing trust by not admini- personal care to medical bills are ex-
Talking to reporters on the al.” He further Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana will be- consumer goods and medicines are cluding Zepto, Instamart, Blinkit, stering strict anti-profiteering mea- pected to help save approximately
sidelines of the CII 6th Interna- said this will come cheaper by ` 9,000–10,500 per given time till December for relabel- Flipkart and Amazon. “While the big sures, we are told to ensure the bene- `1,275 a month,” said Saurabh Agar-
tional Energy Conference, Joshi save `1 lakh crore to `1.5 lakh crore 3 kW System. —PTI ling, the receipts must reflect the new companies and brands have already fits are immediately and fully passed wal, tax partner at EY India.

SECTOR CONTRIBUTES 30% TO GDP

‘Govt’s Mkt Borrowings for H2 to Remain Unchanged from BE’
Survey to Assess Health of Our Bureau
event that the borrowing for
H2FY26 will remain unchanged.
lakh crore.
Net direct tax collections increa-
pected increases. "While not our ba-
se case, we see a risk of a borrowing

MSMEs Likely Next Year New Delhi: Nomura Monday said

it expects the government’s market
borrowing for the second half of
“We maintain our view of no addi-
tional borrowing from the GoI (go-
vernment of India) to meet any fi-
scal shortfall,” said Nomura.
sed by 9.2% to `10.8 lakh crore in
H1FY26 (as of September 17) compa-
red to `9.9 lakh crore in the same pe-
riod last year. For FY26, the budget
cut from `6.8 lakh crore to around
Rs 6 lakh crore, with the delta being
issued in T-bills."
Nomura expects the RBI to put the
FY26 to remain unchanged from While it does not expect any incre- estimates direct tax collection at delta on issuing more 5-, 7- and 15-ye-
MSME Checkup Share of MSMEs in India's exports (in %) budgeted estimates.
The central government’s borro-
ase or decrease from the implied
budget number, Nomura expects a
`25.20 lakh crore compared to the re-
vised estimates of `22.37 lakh crore
ar bonds instead of the 10-year, to bo-
ost trading in other segments.
Survey aims to cover enter- wing calendar is expected to be an- reduction in the share of the long for last fiscal year. "However, as noted, it could cut
prise and worker conditions, 43.59 45.73 45.79 nounced early next week after dis- end, it added. The government an- According to Nomura, the T-bill li- long-end issuance and issue T-bills
financial inclusion cussions with the Reserve Bank. nounced gross bond issuance of (April-September), leaving `6.82 ne gives the government room to instead of shorter-tenor bonds.
2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 Chief economic advisor V Anan- `14.82 lakh crore for FY26, with `8 lakh crore for the second half. In borrow more, as it plans flat issuan- This would be bond positive," it ad-
MSMEs contribute tha Nageswaran Monday said at an lakh crore planned for the first half FY25, gross borrowing was `14.01 ce unlike previous years when it ex- ded.
around 30% to
India's GDP

Survey on request from ministry of MSME Copper Data Cable

Over 6 crore MSMEs registered on the
Udyam Registration Portal, as of latest data
Note: Data for FY25
as of May 2024 Imports from China
Anoushka Sawhney
re the needed information. Only
when these options are insufficient
Under Scanner
do we agree to launch a new survey,” the inclusion of
New Delhi: For the first time, India the official explained. Our Bureau braiding, drain wire,
is considering undertaking a com- At present, medium enterprises individual and/or ove-
prehensive check-up of its micro, are covered under the Annual Sur- New Delhi: The Di- rall foil shield and a se-
small and medium enterprises vey of Industries (ASI) and Annual rectorate General of parator.
(MSMEs), a sector that contributes Survey of Services Sector Enterpri- Trade Remedies The investigation
about 30 % of India’s GDP. ses (ASSSE) by the ministry of sta- (DGTR) has initiated will examine imports
The statistics ministry is planning tistics and programme implemen- an anti-dumping in- during 2024-25. Injury
a nationwide survey in 2026, aiming tation (MoSPI), while small and mi- vestigation on im- period for the investi-
to cover a wide range of indicators cro enterprises are included in the ports of copper data gation covers fiscal
such as enterprise and worker con- Annual Survey of Unincorporated cables from China. 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-
ditions, financial inclusion, credit Sector Enterprises (ASUSE). The probe follows an 2024 and 2024-25.
access, and online sales patterns, if These existing surveys primarily application by Birla DGTR said appli-
any, in both business-to-consumer measure gross value added (GVA) Cable and Sterlite cants have also provi-
(B2C) and business-to-business and employment. Technologies. ded prima facie infor-
(B2B) formats. MSMEs are crucial “We have asked the MSME mini- DGTR said there is mation regarding the
for the Indian economy and contri- stry to provide the survey frame,” prima facie evidence injury suffered by do-
bute around 30% to India’s gross do- the official said. that the product un- mestic in-
mestic product (GDP). In addition, MoSPI will conduct der consideration is dustry be-
“It will be a year-long survey to eli- the All-India Debt & Investment being dumped into cause of
minate the impact of seasonality,” Survey (AIDIS) and Situation As- the Indian market by dumped im-
said a government official, adding sessment Survey (SAS) of Agricul- Chinese exporters. ports.
that the survey is being carried out tural Households from July 2026 to Copper data cables “The applicants
at the behest of the ministry of June 2027, ET reported earlier. are used for transmis- have claimed that the
MSME. An expert committee will Currently, the Domestic Tourism sion of data and imports have supp-
also be set up to review MSME sug- Expenditure Survey (DTES) and the signals over local area ressed and depressed
gestions and recommend what else National Household Travel Survey networks (LAN). They the prices of the do-
can be done, another official said. (NHTS) are underway. A health sur- usually comprise mestic industry,” the
“We first assess their (ministry's) vey, part of the 80th round of the Na- twisted pairs of copper trade remediation
requirements, check what admini- tional Sample Survey (NSS), is also conductors, insulated body said in the
strative data is already available, underway, capturing information with polyethylene or dumping investiga-
and review our existing surveys to on healthcare spending and types of other sheathing mate- tion initiation notifi-
see if minor adjustments can captu- ailments among others. rial, with or without cation.

Govt to Set Up Platform to Track Global

Mobility of Skilled Workers from India
ved will be orchestrated with
Yogima Seth
Skilling For key countries, supported by
partnerships and mobility ag-
New Delhi: The government
is setting up a dedicated plat-
The World reements between India and
the identified countries.
India eyes Green Skills
form focused on international The government is of the vi-
mobility of skilled workers Channel to fast-track ew that India is uniquely posi-
from India through mutual re- international mobility tioned to meet emerging global
cognition of competencies, for workers India wants to seize the labour shortages with its yo-
skills, qualifications and certi- To include Preset guide- opportunity to supply ung, diverse and skilled work-
fications with key countries. skilling, visa lines to be in skilled workers to the world force. PM Narendra Modi has
Under this exercise, apart and mobility place for called for making India the
from skilling to meet interna- arrangements work- FICCI-KPMG report pegs skills capital of the world, pro-
tional standards, relevant visa with key force labour shortage at mpting the MSDE to focus on
and mobility arrangements countries mobility 85 million by 2030 and prioritise international
will be made in coordination mobility of workers from In-
with the external affairs mini- dia. A recent Ficci-KPMG re-
stry or through multilateral riences from existing program- hip (MSDE), in association port on global mobility of India
agreements based on preset mes such as the technical in- with other stakeholder mini- workforce projected a global
guidelines to facilitate the tern training programme with stries, will strengthen the glo- shortage of more than 85 mil-
smooth mobility of skilled ta- Japan and bilateral pacts with bal skills demand forecasting lion skilled workers by 2030,
lent, a senior government offi- Gulf countries to scale up in- to allow data-driven planning driven largely by demographic
cial told ET. ternational skilling efforts. of globally oriented skilling shifts, technological advance-
The ‘Green Skills Channel’ The Ministry of Skill Deve- initiatives. Recognition of ments and economic restructu-
plan is to leverage India’s expe- lopment and Entrepreneurs- skill certifications thus recei- ring in many regions.

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16} Disruption: Startups & Tech THE ECONOMIC TIMES | MUMBAI | TUESDAY | 23 SEPTEMBER 2025 | WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM

For comprehensive and Govt’s AI Framework may Favour Upskilling Cos Tailor
Tech Secretariat over a Regulator Courses as H-1B Fee
insightful stories about all
things startups and technology,
log on to www.ettech.com

ET Ecommerce Tracker
Returns Comparison (%)
ET Ecommerce Index
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Nifty 50
Govt plans interministerial group for policy direction on credible, realistic AI development
Subhayan Chakraborty
Electronics and Information Tech-
nology (MeitY). It will act as a tech- Secretariat may serve as a coordi-
sumers and society across cross-
cutting issues like antitrust, online
Hike Upends Plans
Hike to lead to a jump in interest in STEM courses
60
Compiled by ETIG Database nical advisory body, without the in- nation focal point to an intermin- safety, security, data governance
50
New Delhi: The upcoming govern- herent enforcement or regulatory isterial group which includes offi- and employment. It would also
40 ance framework on artificial intelli- mandate of a traditional sectoral cials from MeitY, Department of work with the industry on labelling
and a drop in non-STEM enrollments, says expert
gence may feature a "technical secre- regulator. Science and Technology, Niti Aay- AI-generated media and establish
Keeping All
30
tariat" to coordinate AI policies Last week, electronics and infor- og, RBI an AI-incident database as a reposi- Jessica Rajan
20
across government departments, mation technology minister Ash- and Sebi tory of problems experienced in
10

0
connect stakeholders and establish
common guidelines, people in the
wani Vaishnaw said the frame-
work would be released before
the real world, the committee had
suggested.
New Delhi: The steep increase in
H-1B visa fee is expected to drive
Options Open
-10 know of the matter told ET. September 28. He said it would The people ET spoke with in- students and professionals to reth- Sectors like digital finance,
1 Day 1 Month 3 Months 6 Months This is a departure from the earli- aim to clearly define the bounda- dicated that the proposed secre- ink their academic programmes, semiconductors, renewable
er idea of having a regulator for the ries of AI safety, response mecha- tariat would focus on each of choice of universities and career energy and AI are creating
Tweet OF THE DAY AI domain.
Many government bodies includ-
nisms in cases where AI poten-
tially harms humans, and ensure
these areas. They hinted the
secretariat may serve as a coor-
paths, impacting how upskilling
startups offer courses to align
new roles locally
ing the Telecom Regulatory Au- how checks and balances should dination focal point to a larger them with changing industry Courses aligned Stricter H-1B
thority of India, the Economic Ad- be placed on the rapid adoption permanent inter-ministerial needs and visa requirements. to these do- regimes also
visory Council to the Prime Minis- of AI going forward. group, which includes officials The change is mains are see- nudging
ter (EAC-PM) and the Niti Aayog A secretariat was first pro- from MeitY, the Department of likely to cause a ing higher students
had earlier pushed for setting up a posed in January. A report Science and Technology, NITI significant drop enrol- to ex-
statutory authority. brought out by a Aayog, regulators like the Re- in enrolments for ments, plore
The secretariat is planned to be Meity committee serve Bank of India and the non-STEM say ex- Europe,
housed within the Ministry of then had suggested the Securities and Exchange courses, while perts Asia
secretariat to develop Board of India, among interest in STEM
SHIFT IN STANCE metrics and common others. The group's main courses is likely to
This is a departure from frameworks such as
measurement stan-
role will be to ensure a
credible understanding
grow, said Praneet
Singh, asso-
ANTHONY POMPLIANO
@APOMPLIANO the earlier idea of having dards for environmen-
tal impact, data prove-
of the AI ecosystem in
the country, and take out
ciate vice-
president

Pessimists are aregulator for the nance and security,

while also assessing
AI regulatory efforts from
their current silos in var-
for study
abroad at
drastically under- AI domain risks to con- ious sectors. higher educa-
tion and profes-
estimating the eco-

NPCI Eyes EMI Payments on

sional skilling
nomic boom that is platform Up- “Peo-
grad. ple in
underway in the At non-
United States. pre-
sent, about 80% of students on the
STEM
fields may no longer choose the US

UPI in Fresh Credit Play Push

Build. Deregulate. Mumbai-based platform pursuing because their work rights will be
Empower entre- studies in the US are enrolled in reduced to one year of OPT (op-
STEM (science, technology, engi- tional practical training), and
preneurs. The neering and mathematics) fields. many non-STEM employers may
score will take care “Students who choose the US for a not be willing to invest as much,”
long-term career prospect will be he added.
of itself. Set to enable fintechs to add an option to convert UPI payments into EMIs on the fly much more careful, thinking, ‘if According to Singh, the number
I’m choosing the US and spending of H-1B petitions is likely to de-
followed by credit lines opening up Rajiv Naresh. While Navi is not help generate revenue unlike sa- `60-70 lakh, what return on invest- cline over the next year, as employ-
Tech Buzz Pratik Bhakta on the UPI networks. Some banks ha- live with the feature yet, the vings account-based payments, whe- ment can I expect’,” said Singh. ers become more selective and fo-
ve already gone live with fintechs Sachin Bansal-promoted re no charge can be levied on the mer- The H-1B work permit, which pre- cus on candidates with exception-
New MediaTek Bengaluru: The National Pay-
ments Corporation of India (NPCI)
like Navi, Paytm to offer credit lines
to UPI users.
company is focusing major-
ly on UPI with the sole pur-
chant—the government has a zero-
fee mandate on RuPay debit cards
viously cost only a few thousand
dollars, will now cost $100,000
al skills, professionalism and qual-
ifications.
AI Chip to Take is focusing majorly on credit pro-
ducts on the Unified Payments In-
“Today, we are not yet live with
EMI, but the next version—which
pose of leveraging the credit
features on the payments
and UPI payments.
The founder of a Gurugram-based
(around `88 lakh) for new appli-
cants. For first-time applicants,
Executives said companies will
now seek H-1B visas only for busi-
on Qualcomm terface network, as it scouts for the
next round of growth around retail
NPCI has permitted via its product
guidelines—will allow the consu-
mo- de, which will
help build susta-
fintech startup told ET that NPCI has
decided on levying an around 1.5% in-
the global annual quota is set at
65,000, with an additional 20,000 re-
ness-critical positions. This will
make the selection of candidates
MediaTek is digital payments. mer, at the point of scanning the inable businesses terchange fee on credit line on UPI, served for international students for the visa even more competitive,
After RuPay credit cards and cre- QR code (subject to certain for UPI apps. which means there is definitely an op- already in the US. Of the Indian ap- as companies will become highly
launching a dit lines on UPI, the next product terms and conditions), to split Fintech founders are portunity to generate revenue. plicants, roughly 65% specialise in selective about the talent they
processor update around credit on the net- payments into EMIs,” said driven by the fact that cre- Speaking with ET last week, PayU computer science, STEM and re- sponsor.
more capable work would be to enable conver- Navi chief executive officer dit payments on UPI can CEO Anirban Mukherjee pointed out lated fields. While existing H-1B holders or lo-
of handling sion of UPI payments into EMIs. that opportunity opening up around cal hires in the US will continue to
According to two people in the instant credit on UPI. fill business-critical positions,
PRANEET SINGH
agentic AI tasks on devic-
es, positioning to better
know, NPCI is set to enable fintech
firms to integrate an EMI payment
On the Money Some banks have
already gone live
UPI is becoming more than just a pa-
yment method, it is becoming a full
associate VP for study abroad,
Upgrad
other roles left vacant due to fewer
H-1B approvals will face height-
compete with Qualcomm. feature that allows consumers to Move would be similar to card payments payment system, he said. ened pressure to be replaced by au-
Dimensity 9500 will offer convert their UPI payments into at point of sales terminals, where users are with fintechs like
Just like the card ecosystem has eve- People in non-STEM fields tomation and AI, they said.
allowed to convert a Navi, Paytm to offer
better summaries, im- EMIs on the fly. While fintechs are
card swipe into EMIs credit lines to UPI users
rything from credit cards, may no longer “Overall, as a percentage, the
not live with this product yet, it is debit cards to EMI pay- H-1B visa restrictions impact a
proved output from AI something NPCI could leverage to ments on cards, UPI will choose the US small number of the tech employ-
models and superior 4K push credit transactions on UPI. also have its own comple- because their ee base in India. This is keeping
photos, it said. The chip is This experience would be similar te credit suite which will aside the other macroeconomic
made using an advanced to card payments at point of sales encourage many consu- work rights will and geopolitical impacts of the on-
3-nanometer process, ac-
terminals (PoS), where a customer mers who do not have a cre- be reduced to one year of going discussions,” said Kashyap
is allowed to convert a card swipe dit card to get access to check Dalal, cofounder and chief operat-
cording to MediaTek, and into EMI on the terminal itself. out financing. optional practical training ing officer at Simplilearn.
handsets carrying new NPCI is considering introducing

UK’s NatWest to Invest

chip will become available the new feature after RuPay credit FOR FULL REPORT, GO TO
cards on UPI became mainstream, www.economictimes.com
in fourth quarter.—Bloomberg
.

$964.8m
India’s smartphone ex-
ports to US, it’s largest ex-
Deal Corner
Chakr has $23m from in Indian Startups to
Funding tap is open as
VCs eye bright spots
port market in Aug. —GTRI

US Agencies UK Fintech Tide Turns Iron Pillar and Others Boost Talent Footprint
Get Nod to Unicorn, Lands $120m AT HAND
LE CORBUSIER, La Main Ouverte (The open hand), 1950

Our Bureau take small stakes and then work

closely with those companies to
UK bank scouts for
Use Meta AI luation bump up for the 2017-foun-
Mumbai | Bengaluru: Deep
tech startup Chakr Innovation
help them scale,” he told ET in an
interview.
WASHINGTON: ded startup. It last raised a major has raised $23 million (` `193.5
early-stage startups The group recently inaugurated its
US government
TPG leads round, with equity funding round in 2021, crore) in a funding round led by expanded global capability centre
from private equity firm Apax, growth stage investor Iron Pillar.
to invest up to (GCC) in Bengaluru, shifting to a
agencies will existing backer Apax when it was valued at around $650 Founded in 2016 at IIT-Delhi, the new space, where it will develop cus-
be able to use million, data from Tracxn show. Gurugram-based company devel-
$2 million per deal tomer-facing solutions by leverag-
Meta’s AI sys- and others chipping in The fintech firm, which focuses ops materials science-led solu- ing digital and AI capabilities.
tem Llama, a senior ad- on providing financial services tions focussed on clean technolo- Shristi Achar & Beena Parmar The bank already has three cen-
ministration official said, Pratik Bhakta such as payments, credit and in- gy and sustainability. It has devel- tres in India—in Gurugram and
surance to small and medium en- oped a proprietary catalyst tech- Co to expand manufacturing Bengaluru: The NatWest Group Chennai, besides Bengalu-
as the Trump administra- nology that can be retrofitted into and R&D, eyes new science
Bengaluru: UK-headquartered terprises, has a sizable presence is scouting for early-stage startups ru—where it employs around
tion pushes to integrate fintech startup Tide, which has in India. “Out of the 1.6 million diesel generators to cut emis- centre for critical materials in India to invest in, as the UK- 17,000 people.
commercial AI tools into around half of its customers in customers that Tide has globally, sions. Chark Innovation plans to based bank is intensifying its focus It plans to hire an additional
government operations. India, has secured $120 we have around 800,000 in India, use the capital to expand manufac- ments, including setting up a dedi- on technology innovation and ex- 3,000 people at its GCCs, Marcar
The General Services Ad- million in a fresh fun- which is even larger than the UK. turing capacity, enter internation- cated materials science centre fo- panding its engineering talent said. “In terms of engineering, In-
ding round led by glo- Around 50% of our employees al markets, and step up R&D invest- cused on critical materials. footprint here as part of its growth dia is our biggest centre—more of
ministration, the govern- bal alternative asset are based in India,” Prill said. strategy, a senior executive our engineering is here than
ment’s purchasing arm, management compa- Tide plans to invest the fresh said. in the UK, with over 50%
will add Llama to its list of ny TPG, with exis-
ting investor Apax
funds in expanding its business
operations in India and conti-
Strive Buys Bitcoin Hoarder Semler The bank’s focus areas for
startup investment include
of our engineering talent
based here.” In India, it
approved AI tools for fed-
also participating. nental Europe, including Strive, co-founded by former US presidential candidate Vivek payment solutions, agentic hires primarily from
eral agencies, said Josh
The round has valu- Germany and France Ramaswamy, agreed to acquire Semler Scientific in an all- artificial intelligence and banks, GCCs as well as
Gruenbaum, GSA’s pro- ed Tide at around where its stock deal, marking a new stage of consolidation among Bit- control frameworks, as it fintech, product and
curement lead, in an inter- $1.5 billion, chief ex- products coin accumulators. The transaction values Semler at $90.52 a seeks to form tech partner- tech companies. It of-
view ahead of announcing ecutive officer Oli- have be- share, a 210% premium to its Friday closing price of $29.18. The combined ships and build digital capa- fers 15-30% pay hikes to
the initiative. —Reuters ver Prill said. en laun- company will hold nearly 11,000 Bitcoin. —Bloomberg bilities. It is planning invest- attract talent at the inter-
This is a major va- ched. ments from $250,000 up to $2 section of engineer-
million per deal, group chief ing, AI and data

PhonePe Cuts FY25 Losses, Rental Co Rentomojo

information officer expertise,

Vaishnaw Moves Scott Marcar said.

“Typically, we
said Ru-
chika Pa-

Revenue Up 40% to `7kcr+ Picks Bankers for IPO

look at early-stage nesar,
to Zoho Software companies, usu-
ally Series A or
India
country
Series B, some- head at
Our Bureau
during the period.
Though the company has diver- mated to have recorded a net pro-
in Swadeshi Bid times even earli-
er. We tend to Scott Marcar
Nat-
West.
sified into a full-stack financial Pranav Mukul fit of `40 crore in 2024-25, up from New Delhi: In a bid to
Mumbai: Aided by a surge in reve- services platform, offering cred- `22.1 crore in the previous fiscal. promote homegrown
products and services,
nue, Walmart-backed PhonePe
narrowed its net loss by 13.4% to
`1,727.4 crore in 2024-25, from
Fintech firm’s
it, insurance and
stockbroking, it
remains anchored
New Delhi: Bengaluru-based
furniture and appliances rental
startup Rentomojo has picked
Operating reve-
nue is estimated
Picks IIFL and to have increased
electronics and infor-
mation technology minister Ash-
Agnikul Opens a Large-format
net loss wani Vaishnaw on Monday said
`1,996.1 crore in 2023-24, according
to financial statements sourced
from the Registrar of Companies.
narrows by
13.4% to
to its core busi-
ness of payments.
In 2024-25, reve-
bankers IIFL and Motilal Oswal
for its initial public offering (IPO)
next year, according to people fa-
Motilal Oswal about 40% year-
as bankers
for planned
on-year to `260-270
crore. The compa-
he is switching to using Zoho’s of-
fice suite software. In a post on so-
Additive Manufacturing Facility
`1,727 crore cial media platform X, Vaishnaw
The operating revenue of the Ben- nue from payment miliar with the matter. FY27 IPO ny hasn’t yet filed Plant to enable 3D printing of aerospace, rocket parts
galuru-based fintech compa- services stood at `6,299.7 The company is planning to its 2024-25 financi- said he will be using Chennai-
based Zoho's online office plat- Chennai: Spacetech The company said that for the first
ny surged 40.4% to `7,114.8 crore, accounting for 85% go public in 2026-27, one of als with the Registrar of player Agnikul Cosmos time in India, the facility also en-
crore from `5,064.1 crore of total operating reve- the persons said, adding that Companies. Operationally, form for documents, spread-
sheets & presentations from now. on Monday said it has ables 3D printing of aerospace and
during this period. nue. Revenue from in- 2024-25 was its fourth con- the omnichannel compa- commissioned an addi- rocket components up to one metre
Total expenses, howev- surance and lending secutive profitable ny improved its profita- The minister also called upon
others to follow Prime Minister tive manufacturing facility dedicat- in height.
er, shot up 21.1% to `9,394 distribution services year. bility and recorded ed to aerospace and rocket systems. “Agnikul was started with the goal
crore in 2024-25. Pay- came in at `557.6 crore, Rentomojo, earnings before in- Narendra Modi’s call for choos-
ing Indian products and servic- The facility will introduce a fully in- of making space available to every-
ment processing charg- contributing around which won the Co- terest, taxes, depre- tegrated ecosystem —covering de- one. One way to do that is build capa-
es, the fees borne by pay- 8%. Revenue from oth- meback Kid award ciation and amorti- es over foreign ones. Vaish-
naw’s statement coincided with sign, simulation, printing, post- bility that allows us to advance rock-
ment companies for set- er services, including at the ET Startup sation of `92 crore processing, and finishing to en- et manufacturing with precision
tling transactions with stockbroking, mutual Awards 2024, did in 2024-25, from `66 a renewed push by the govern-
ment on buying ‘swadeshi’ and hance quality, reliability, and supply while also focusing on quality,” Sri-
banks, soared 44.7% to fund distribution and not comment on the crore in 2023-24 and chain resilience, while lowering the nath Ravichandran, CEO of Agni-
`1,688.1 crore, while employee marketplace platform services, development. `27 crore in 2022-23, ac- making India self-reliant.
—Our Bureau cost of building for space by 50%. kul Cosmos, said. —Our Bureau
benefit expenses increased 13.6% was `57.2 crore. The company is esti- cording to the person.

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MUMBAI
Spidey tense TUESDAY
23 SEPTEMBER 2025
Actor Tom Holland
was hospitalised for www.etpanache.com
a concussion after a
stunt went wrong on ADVERTORIAL &
PROMOTIONAL FEATURE
the sets of his new film

LVMH’s Arnault
The man spearheading Mexico’s slams billionaire tax;
‘fashion police’ for politicians
There’s a social media wave
Orozco too, though he declined
economist hits back
An economist behind a wealth
tax plan embraced by the French
left has urged France’s richest

PICS: NYT, INSTAGRAM, X

to say how much. He insisted his person, Bernard Arnault, to show
main goal is to show the public “respect for the truth” after the
hunting down political leaders how politicians are behaving,
sayi ng, “You have to ke ep
luxury goods tycoon described
him as a “pseudo-academic” who
who flaunt luxury items questioning the powerful.” wanted to “destroy the French

M
Orozco rose to prominence economy”.
exican politicians enemies. Gerardo Fernández a f t e r h e s h owc a s e d wh at With France under pressure

PICS: GETTY IMAGES, AFP

have reasons to Noroña, a senator who was appeared to be the luxurious to erode its growing debt pile
be cautious. The featured on Orozco’s X handle, l ive s o f S e r g io G ut i é r r e z and budget deficit, economist
fashion police is called his work “despicable” Luna, then the president of the Gabriel Zucman, 3 8, had
watching. and accused him of working for Mexican Chamber of Deputies, suggested that the ultra-rich pay Bernard Arnault has long
Ex-footballer-turned-government employee, Germán Villa Castañeda trumpeted the taxes
Over the past few months, social the government’s opponents. (right), was spotted with a five-million peso McLaren 720
and his wife, Diana Karina at least a two-per cent tax on their
he pays personally and
media users have been hunting O r o z c o , 3 7, d e n i e d t h a t Barreras, also a lawmaker. fortune. through his companies
for signs of designer labels, accusation and said he was He posted screenshots of them
luxury watches and other signs actually inspired by Noroña’s wearing what he claimed were Opposing sides of the taxes he pays personally
of wealth on Mexican politicians, party’s founder, the former Hublot or Car tier watches, The idea has been and that his companies pay to the
asking how — even in a country Mexic a n president A nd rés Moncler jacket s, Ch a nel enthusiastically taken up by French state.
that’s no stranger to corruption Manuel López Obrador. Obrador sunglasses and Dolce & the French left, including the But t he t a x , ac c or d i n g to
— could public servants afford h ad m ade a nt i- c or r upt ion Gabbana shoes. He also Socialist Party, whose support Zucman, could raise around
such apparent luxuries? his plank and rode a wave of raised questions about new Prime Minister Sebastien 20 billion euros ($27 billion) per
“There’s a disconnect between populist energy to expensive paintings seen at Lecornu would need to ensure year from just 1,800 households.
the official discourse and the t h e p r e sid e nc y. their home and VIP Formula t h e s u r v iv a l o f h i s “We can have fundamental
politicians’ lifestyles,” said Jorge “He [Obrador] One tickets. government. disag reements, and
García Orozco, a high school s a i d t h a t Orozco acknowledged that he But it has been Arnault is entitled, like all
teacher and journalist, who has Mexicans are fed cannot know for sure the origin denounced by the right, citizens, to his opinions.
built a growing social media up with braggart of items worn by politicians. who fear that such a But this debate must take
A post showing The post highlights a controversy
following by questioning how politicians But he said most scenarios scheme would drive the place wit h respect for
Cynthia Mont, a involving Paula García Yves, the
officials can afford a luxurious who earned Morena party deputy, wife of Santa Catarina mayor
were a bad look. If the opulent wealthy to flee France. the truth and the facts,”
lifestyle on government salaries. a l o t o f m o n e y, posing with an $1,800 Gucci Jesús Nava, wearing a Cartier accessories are real, he said, “This is clearly not a Zucman said.
Many of his posts now come were ostentatious, had a lot handbag outside the Louvre in Ballon watch valued at 1,88,000 they are incongruous with the technical or economic
thanks to online tips from people of advisers, wore desig ner Paris — a stark contrast to the pesos ($9,000), raising questions typical salary of lawmakers debate, but rat her a ‘The rise of Trumpism’
whom he calls “the fashion watches and shoes. And what party’s anti-luxury, austere image about the couple's wealth in Mexico’s lower house, about clearly stated desire to destroy the Zucman, who has held academic
police for politicians”. people want is good public $56,000 a year. And if they are French economy,” said Arnault in posts in London, the United
“Many citizens were fed services,” Orozco said. Tools of the trade senator was wearing a Cartier fakes, it raises a different set of a statement to The Sunday Times. States and Paris, said, “Mr
up with the ruling political He said he remembered Orozco, who teaches at a high watch after she clarified that uncomfortable questions. A r nau lt, 76, whose fa mi ly Arnault is wrong to question my
class,” he said. thinking then: “That’s school in Guadalajara, has spent it was a cheaper Anne Klein. “They are politicians who are fortune is currently estimated at professional qualifications by
what I wa nt for my years digging up public records “Because I don’t have an agenda, supposed to be examples and $157 billion by Forbes, described referring to me as having ‘pseudo-
Unwanted country.” He added, and investigating officials. I gave her a space to reply,” he piracy here is a crime,” he said, Zucman as “first and foremost academic competence’.”
attention
But this work has
also made him
Jorge
García Orozco
“Maybe they changed,
but not me.”
He admits that he has made
some i naccu rate posts. He
recently deleted a claim that a
said.
The surge of interest in his
work is ma ki ng money for
adding, “This type of person
doesn’t wear knockoffs.” .
— The New York Times
a far-left activist... who puts at
the service of his ideology... a
pseudo-academic competence
He compared such statements
to the lang uage used by US
President Donald Trump and
that is itself widely debated”. his allies in the United States
“How could he directly involve where concern is growing over
“I love my country, but I don’t, at this
time, recognise my country. Anything, quote unquote $50 billion me when I am certainly the
largest individual taxpayer and
one of the largest professional
academic freedoms. “With the
rise of Trumpism, I have seen this
rhetoric f lourish, denigrating
anywhere, that divides or limits personal The amount that Egypt’s richest taxpayers through the companies knowledge and research in the
expressions and freedoms, I think is very dangerous. These are very, m a n Na ssef S awi r i s s aid he I run?” added Arnault. United States,” warned Zucman.
PIC: GETTY IMAGES

was planning to invest in US A r n a u l t , w h o s e LV M H Zucman earlier said on X that

very heavy times we’re all living in together.” in frastr ucture projects a fter conglomerate includes brands he had never been an activist in

.
PIC: AFP

— ANGELINA JOLIE, actress, when asked if she feared for freedom of speech in the consolidating his publicly-traded such as Louis Vuitton, Dior any movement nor a member of
United States after President Donald Trump’s crackdown on critical media holding companies in Abu Dhabi,
according to a recent interview . and Moët Hennessy, has long
t r u mp et e d t he i mp or t a nc e
any party
— AFP

VITALS
Bolt to Play Exhibition
mered a 39-ball 74. “The way they
were coming at us without any
reason, I didn’t like it at all. And I
Manchester City’s Silva Fumes Over
Football Match in
Mumbai on Oct 1
thought that this is the only [an-
swer] that I could give with my Fixture Fairness After Arsenal Draw
bat and obviously [contribute] We can’t play one
Mumbai: Sprint legend Usain Bolt with the win towards my team. Manchester City captain warns tight turnarounds
will swap his spikes for football That’s all that was going through risk player fitness, performance, and fairness of the season’s

India v Pak:
boots when he visits India for an my mind. I just wanted to deliver biggest games with so
exhibition match in Mumbai on for my team.” London: Manchester City cap- into one of the most important
October 1. The eight-time Olympic little rest. They had five
On the morning after, the Gill- tain Ber nardo Silva has games of the season with such a

Rivalry in
gold medallist will headline a Abhishek combine was at it on slammed football’s schedule disadvantage in rest. It’s not fair,” days, we had two and a
unique football showcase featuring
professional players, Bollywood
social media. “Game speaks, not makers for “lack of respect” af- Silva said. “They had five days, half. People who haven’t
words,” Gill posted, while ter his side were given little time we had two and a half. People who played at this level don’t
stars and other celebrities. In a
Abhishek had: “You talk, we to prepare for their clash with haven’t played at the

Name Only
rare twist, Bolt will represent both
win.” If this were merely cheeky Arsenal. highest level don’t know how it feels.
Bengaluru FC and Mumbai City FC,
banter, it would be most enter- City played their 1-1 draw know how it BERNARDO SILVA
playing one half for each side as
taining; however, watching at the Emirates Stadium feels. You need to
part of PUMA’s two-day celebration
India and Pakistan on a cricket on Sunday just 66 hours be at your best.” Manchester City captain
beginning September 30. The
field now, it feels like there is after their Champions Highlighting
match will be ticketed, organisers
genuine bad blood between the League win over Napoli, the risk of inju- mand a lot. It’s frustrating that
confirmed. Away from the track,
players. while Arsenal had five ries, Silva add- we couldn’t perform at our best
Bolt has long been passionate
On the field, India dropped far days’ rest following their ed: “Khusanov simply due to someone’s schedul-
about football. He grew up playing
when he was merely asked if If India’s players can shake the too many catches; Pakistan bat- UEFA opener at Athletic got injured be- ing decision.”
the sport, and after retiring from
Pakistan had improved since the hands of the umpires after a ted with much-improved intent Bilbao. cause these Echoing wider concerns about
athletics, trained seriously, played
trials and even found the net in
last encounter. “Standards and game, surely they can do the and purpose. Jasprit Bumrah Silva felt the short turna- games fixture congestion, Silva said:
competitive matches. PTI
rivalry are the same. According same with their compatriots had someone go after him, and round affected City’s de- “The schedule is the sched-
to me, if two teams play 15-20 from across the border? Shivam Dube showed the value performance, as ule, I get it—different compe-
KL Rahul Becomes matches and if it is 7-7 or 8-7, then The needle was evident when of real depth. But, hardly any- Arsenal domi- titions, UEFA, Premier
that is called a rivalry. But 13-0, the bowlers kept saying things to one is talking about any of that, nated after League, broadcasters. But
Co-owner of PVL 10-1….I don’t know what the stats Shubman Gill and Abhishek because, well, there’s so much E r l i n g common sense is needed.
Anand Vasu

T
Team Goa Guardians are. But this is not a rivalry any- Sharma, but just how big a mis- more to any India-Pakistan Haaland’s ear- Players should be on equal phys-
Panaji: India cricketer KL Rahul more.” judgment that was became obvi- match. ly strike before ical footing for the biggest games
has acquired co-ownership of the his is not a rivalry any- Surya is right, but he is also ous when the two childhood Normal service will resume G a b r i e l of the season.”
Goa Guardians franchise ahead more. wrong, and he knows this. friends and fellow travellers in when India take on Bangladesh Martinelli On attempts to address the is-
of the fourth season of the Prime Suryakumar Yadav Otherwise, he would not have cricket from Punjab stamped the next, but, as long as the two old snatched a sue, Silva said: “They don’t lis-
Volleyball League (PVL), scheduled said it out loud. This is urged his teammates to delete life out of the game in the first 10 foes are in with a chance of stoppage-time ten. We would like change, but
in Hyderabad from October 2 to 26. something that most of their social media apps and overs of the chase. meeting again in the final, con- equaliser. it never comes. For fans,
Calling it a “full circle moment,” Rahul Bernardo
the cricket world has been build- cloister themselves in their ho- “It was pretty simple,” versations will circle back to “The reality is clubs, and fairness, what hap-
said he hopes to give volleyball Silva
ing up to, but was likely too polite tel rooms ahead of the Abhishek said, having ham- this — rivalry or not. we cannot come pened was not good.” AFP
the recognition it deserves. “PVL to say in so many words. Pakistan match.
is a turning point for the sport in India v Pakistan, one of the most If this were not a rivalry,
India. The bigger picture is to give
volleyball the spotlight and screen
storied rivalries in cricket, has Pakistan’s batsmen would not ‘I Don’t Care’: Farhan on Gun Gesture BAVUMA OUT OF PAK TESTS Rawalpindi on October 20. Off-

De Kock Returns for ODIs

currently run out of steam. A day celebrate a half-century by mim- spinner Simon Harmer re-
time so more people can watch and Dubai: Playing the pantomime He insisted it was about intent,
may well come, somewhere down ing the action of a machine gun turns to the Test squad for the
love it. Volleyball has always been villain, Pakistan opener not the opposition. “You
the road, when Pakistan lift their firing into the air, or wander first time in two years, joined
a sport I enjoyed, and I’m excited to Sahibzada Farhan said he should play aggressive cricket
standards dramatically — but this around the outfield showing against every team, like we De Kock returns to white-ball cricket for South by Prenelan Subrayen and left-
lend my voice and play my part in doesn’t “care what people
requires structural reform in the crowds hand gestures suggest- arm Senuran Muthusamy.
growing it in the country,” Rahul said way they run their cricket — or ing an aeroplane had fallen out
think” about the gun-firing played today,” he said. Africa, signalling T20 World Cup campaign The Test series will be fol-
in a statement. PTI celebration he unveiled after Farhan’s 58 off 45 balls
India’s fall. Right now it’s hard to of the sky. In doing so, Pakistan’s helped Pakistan post 171/5, Johannesburg: Captain Temba sence. Selection lowed by three T20s and three
reaching his half-century
see how that will happen. But until players remind us that Artificial Bavuma has been ruled out of convener Patrick ODIs. De Kock, 32, retired from
Christian Horner then, Surya is right; this is not a Intelligence is no match for real
against India in the Asia Cup but India chased it down
South Africa’s Test se- Moroney said ODIs in 2023 and has not
Officially Steps Down here. in the penultimate over,
real rivalry. stupidity when it comes to India went on to win the Super powered by Abhishek ries in Pakistan next the calf strain, played T20s since topping the
from Red Bull F1 Team In a sporting rivalry, opponents threatening the fabric of the so- 4s match by six wickets, Sharma and Shubman Gill’s month due to a calf sustained during run charts in the 2024 T20
London: Christian Horner and Red make each other better by push- ciety we live in. extending their dominance blistering knocks. The injury, but Quinton de a recent one-day World Cup. His return signals
Bull say they have finalized the ing hard, forcing the other to im- If this were a real rivalry, there in multilateral tournaments, 29-year-old admitted his Kock has made himself series in likely involvement in South
process of Horner leaving the team prove constantly. Think of Borg would be respect between oppo- even as Farhan’s gesture — innings would have mattered available for the up- England, will Africa’s T20 World Cup cam-
he led to eight Formula 1 drivers’ v McEnroe, Celtic v Rangers, nents — and this has always raising his bat like a rifle and more in victory. “If I had coming one-day inter- sideline paign in India and Sri Lanka
titles, two months after he was Prost v Senna, Navratilova v been traditionally true of India firing into the air — triggered won this match, it would nationals. next year.
removed as team principal. The Evert, Ali v Frazier … Now those v Pakistan — and while blood controversy on social media. have been very Cricket South “Quinton’s return to white-
team issued a statement saying were rivalries worthy of the would be spilled on the pitch, “That celebration was just important. Africa confirmed ball cricket is a major boost. He
that Horner would leave Monday, name, gifts that kept giving and there would be admiration, a moment. I don’t usually Bavuma, who led still has a strong ambition to
without giving details of any giving. however grudging, and even Sahibzada the Proteas to the Bavuma for s i x t o represent his country,” said
celebrate after Farhan Performing
agreement. “Leading Red Bull Racing India have now beaten Pakistan warmth and affection when the 50, but it against Wo rl d Te s t eight weeks. “The focus is head coach Shukri Conrad.
has been an honour and privilege,” in seven consecutive matches in cameras were switched off. suddenly came India is rated Championship on giving him the best Most all-format players will
Horner said in the statement. senior men’s cricket, with None of this exists at the mo- to mind. I did it. I highly. Winning at L o rd ’s i n chance to be fully ready be rested for the white-ball
Horner had been away from the F1 Pakistan last winning at the Asia ment. don’t know how would have made June, will miss for the India tour in games. David Miller will cap-
paddock since July, when the Red Cup back in 2022. The Pakistan Cricket Board is people will take it special,” he said. the two-Test se- November,” he added. t a i n t h e T 2 0 s, M a t t h e w
Bull parent company said it had “I would like to say one thing on even more blatant in its use of its it, and I don’t The defeat left Pakistan ries starting South Africa will also be Breetzke the ODIs, while
“released Christian Horner from his this question. I feel that you players as pawns, instructing care,” Farhan in a must-win clash against October 12 in without leading spinner Donovan Ferreira leads South
operational duties with immediate should stop asking this question them to boycott press conferenc- told reporters Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi on Lahore. Aiden Keshav Maharaj for the Africa in a one-off T20 against
effect” and appointed Laurent on the rivalry,” Surya said, after es and threaten to pull out of after the match. Tuesday. PTI Markram will first Test but hope he re- Namibia in Windhoek on
Mekies in his place. AP India won by six wickets, even matches, but India too are guilty. captain in his ab- covers for the second in October 11. AFP

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18 } Brands & Companies THE ECONOMIC TIMES | MUMBAI | TUESDAY | 23 SEPTEMBER 2025 | WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM

Online sales rose across categories including Sales of electronics goods from companies
kitchenware, electronics and footwear to trade surged about 20-30% on Monday

LOOK MA, NO BRAKES! Business

SALES EXPECTED TO PICK UP LATER THIS WEEK

as Usual for
Electronics Stores as
Festive Auto Rush Starts With Record Deliveries
Sharmistha Mukherjee,
kings, with Nexon and Punch see-
ing strong traction,” said Amit Ka-
Shoppers Just Browse
Shally Seth Mohile & Dia Rekhi REVVED UP Interest heavily skewed toward
SUVs despite uptick across segments
mat, chief commercial officer, Ta-

New Delhi| Mumbai|Chen-

ta Motors Passenger Vehicles. ”We
are witnessing higher showroom
Writankar Mukherjee
Warming Up...
nai: Car and two-wheeler retai- walk-ins and conversions and ex- Kolkata: Consumer electronics sa- Retailers report Prebookings
lers are set for a record festive pect record activity this season.” les started on a lukewarm note on increased enquir- have started,
season this year, going by the In Chennai, a Hyundai dealer re- the first day of GST 2.0 with retai- ies for ACs, large but not
first-day sales of the Navratri ported a 50% jump in bookings, whi- lers and brands saying they screen TVs only enough to off-
festival which also coincides le a Maruti Suzuki showroom has handled increased enquiries set Sept loss
with the roll out of the reduced been clocking steady orders since for air conditioners and lar-
goods and services (GST) rates. the weekend. "We've had 12 bookings ge-screen televisions, but it Consumers wait
Leading automakers such as at our showroom alone on Saturday was mostly business as usual for deals in
Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata because we had a fair idea of how without any major surge in sales. e-marketplaces
Motors, and Hero MotoCorp, much the reduction would bring Companies are however optimis- before making
who have sweetened the GST bene- Dealership deliveries in Two-wheeler down prices," said V Dinesh, team tic that sales would start reboun- big purchases
fits with their own price incentives Delhi, Gurugram, Mumbai sales remain leader at the Maruti Suzuki showro- ding from later this week after con-
to customers, are seeing strong de- 3-5 times higher healthy, say sales om in Chennai’s T Nagar locality. sumers compare product prices on
mand traction, said dealers and than normal representatives The two-wheeler segment is also e-commerce marketplaces Amazon
company executives. seeing robust demand. and Flipkart which will start their
Vehicle deliveries planned on GST cut to Sudhar Mehta, general manager annual festive sales from Tuesday.
Sharp
Monday at most dealerships ET
rise in
Some dealers 18% from (sales) at Globe Enterprises, which Notably, primary sales—from
visited across Delhi, Gurugram,
and Mumbai are 3-5 times higher enquiries
fear losses from 28-31% runs 30 outlets of Hero MotoCorp
in Gurugram, said the company is
companies to trade—surged by a
record 20-30% on Monday com-
old inventory on small cars,
than normal. and expecting to deliver 1,000-1,200 mo- pared to an usual day before the Online marketplaces
due to cess from
More than 150 deliveries are sche- footfalls in bikes; To give torcycles on Monday itself. festive season last year, with top ex- Amazon, Flipkart festive
previous GST
duled—five times more than the da- smaller
regime 8.5-9.9% “We usually do 10 units per outlet ecutives saying they expect to make sales expected to boost demand
ily average—across three Maruti cities too price benefit a day. But this time, we are seeing a up for the sales lost in the past
Suzuki Arena outlets of Pasco Gro- 4X jump,” said Mehta. “Usually, for month during the GST transition
up in Gurugram on the first day of PHOTOS: ASHWANI NAGPAL, SHRIYA PATIL two-wheelers, customers do not period, based on the orders received the tax on products like refrigera-
Navratri. “The GST cut has been a year’s Navratri,” said the sales-in- mand has risen across the passeng- make bookings. They come in with so far. “It was business as usual on tors, washing machines, and
big boost,” said Sanjay Passi, Cha- charge of the dealership. er vehicle spectrum. cash and ride out on a motorcycle. Monday and no major rush as con- smartphones remained unchanged
irman, Pasco Group. “We are see- Partho Banerjee, senior executive A Kia India dealership in South Prices are in the similar range as sumers know low prices are here to at 18%, sales for these too had dipped
ing huge demand for small cars.” officer (marketing and sales) at Ma- Mumbai said it is expecting a 10- mobile phones these days.” stay. So, Monday being a working in the last month as consumers ex-
Smaller cities and towns are also ruti Suzuki said the response from 12% rise in festive sales leading up Demand remains robust even at day, people will come at their own pected that the price cut would be
experiencing the upswing. customers has been phenomenal—t- to Diwali. the premium end of the market with convenience,” said Nilesh Gupta, across categories.
“There is a huge rush at our sho- he company is expecting to retail Tarun Garg, whole-time director Lamba Enterprises, one of the lar- director at Vijay Sales, one of the East India-focused electronics re-
wrooms; footfalls and enquiries 30,000 cars on Monday itself. He said and chief operating officer at Hyun- gest dealers for Royal Enfield motor- largest electronics retail chains tail chain Great Eastern Retail di-
for both two-wheelers and cars ha- Maruti secured 75,000 bookings since dai Motor India said the company re- cycles in Delhi, set to deliver 180 mo- with presence in Delhi-NCR, Mum- rector Pulkit Baid said enquiries ha-
ve gone up. We expect sales to be do- September 18 when it had announced corded around 11,000 dealer billings, torcycles on Monday, almost double bai, and Hyderabad. ve started with some conversions in
uble this Navratri compared to additional price incentives beyond its highest single-day performance of the 100 units delivered per day du- Gupta said some brands, who had West Bengal and Odisha due to the
other years,” said an automobile the GST cuts, with nearly 15,000 boo- in the last five years. “This is a clear ring festive periods previously. started pre-bookings, got a good re- Durga Puja festival. “Sales spikes
dealer in Rajasthan. kings daily—about 50% higher than testament to robust festive sentiment “Usually, we do about 300 deliveri- sponse though it is unlikely to are always deadline oriented. This
In Navi Mumbai, several prospec- usual. “Demand for small cars has be- and customer confidence,” he said. es a month at this outlet. But this ti- compensate for the 50% on-year GST reduction does not have an end
tive buyers were seen visiting a en especially strong, with bookings Tata Motors is also facing a simi- me with the GST cut, prices have co- drop in sales this month. date so customers will take their ti-
Maruti Arena outlet. “We are tar- growing by nearly 50%,” he said. lar experience. “The GST rate cuts me down by `14,000-15,000. We are se- Raj Kumar Pai, managing director me to step out,” he said.
geting 40 bookings today—four ti- Notably, SUVs continued to rule and festive offers have led to a eing a huge spike in demand,” said a at South India-focused retail chain AC manufacturer Blue Star mana-
mes a normal day and double last customer bookings though de- sharp surge in enquiries and boo- senior executive at Lamba Enfield. Pai International Electronics, also ging director B Thiagarajan said so-
confirmed subdued footfalls and sa- me consumers are probably waiting
les on Monday. to see the deals in online marketpla-

Ecomm Orders Shoot Up as

The Modi government lowered the ces before deciding on their purcha-
Hotel Chains goods and services tax (GST) rate on
large-screen TVs above 32-inches,
ses. “However, primary sales are up
by 20% from Monday. Whatever sa-
Keep Room dishwashers, air conditioners, and les we have lost in the last one month

Annual Sale Events Open

monitors to 18% from 28%. While will be made up,” he said.
Rates Stable
Anumeha Chaturvedi

New Delhi: Hyatt, ITC Hotels, Ra-

Brands, sellers report 20% rise on first-day aided by tax-cut sentiment Luxury Goods Cos Bank
disson Hotel Group, and Sarovar
Hotels are among hotel chains
choosing to keep their room ta-
riffs unchanged and instead pass
Jessica Rajan & Disha Acharya

New Delhi| Bengaluru: Ecom-

ready-to-wear pants, said it posted
three to five times higher sales on
online marketplaces Monday com-
pared with a typical day’s business.
sion wear like heavy suits, sarees le-
hengas were moved from 12% to
18%, which puts pressure on custo-
mer sentiment in that price band,
on Buyers’ Discretion
on the benefits of the reduced go- merce majors Amazon and Flip- “We are projecting a 15-20% increa- he said. “To protect value percep- mers, consumption should go up.”
ods and services tax (GST) rate to kart opened their annual sale se in sales in this festive season com- tion, we are consciously absorbing Anumeha Chaturvedi He said US President Donald
travellers, according to hoteliers, events—Great Indian Festival pared to last year’s festive period,” part of this cost rather than passing Trump’s move to levy 50% tariffs on
and tariffs on booking and travel and The Big Billion Days—for the- driven by the recent 7-percentage- it entirely on to the consumer,” New Delhi: Luxury goods consu- Indian imports have also hit the
platforms on Monday. ir loyalty programme users on point cut in GST rates, said cofoun- Keshwani told ET, noting that the mers are making enquiries at retail company’s business with most of its
The Centre has cut the GST rate Monday. Despite being a working der Udit Toshniwal. “While we have brand is anticipating 20-30% sales stores about any change in prices un- shipments currently stuck. “The US
on rooms costing up day, brands and sellers said they passed on the benefit to customers growth this festive season. der GST 2.0, said sales representati- is our number one export market for
to `7,500 per night to noted a more than 20% increase in in some of our key categories, the The improved consumer senti- ves of luxury brands and industry pre-loved luxury goods,” he said.
5% (without input demand on the first day. resulting competitive pricing has ment was reflected across categori- insiders. They however noted that Akash Awana, a sales associate at
tax credit) with ef- Demand this festive season is ex- already translated into higher volu- es such as home and kitchenware, while the goods and services tax a Rado store in Delhi NCR said sin-
fect from Monday, pected to get a boost from the cut in mes,” Toshniwal claimed. footwear, beauty and personal care (GST) rates on luxury items such as ce Monday morning, customers
from 12% with input GST rates on most products that ca- Sidhant Keshwani, founder and and electronics where the tax rates premium watches, apparel, and ac- have been enquiring
tax credit earlier. A me into effect Monday. The past few chief executive of fashion Indian- have mostly come down. cessories have not been lowered, about the GST im-
Rooms up to
`7,500 are room at the Hyatt weeks had seen a slowdown in spen- wear brand Libas, said the GST re- Santhosh Balasundaram, chief their sales could benefit indirectly pact on watches.
now taxed at Centric Candolim in ding as consumers waited for the vision has been favourable for mass executive and founder of Shadow from a likely surge in discretionary “We have been get-
5% without Goa will cost `5,670 new GST rates to become effective fashion (items priced up to Rs 2,500), Etail, a D2C seller on ecommerce spending in other sectors. ting queries and we
input tax on Tuesday, after ad- and prices to come down. which now attracts only 5% GST platforms, said early demand for Most industry insiders affirmed are conveying to cus-
credit, down ding 5% GST rate, The Pant Project, a fashion brand compared with 12% earlier. the home essential category around that luxury brands have not made Most industry tomers that there are
from 12% per rates published specialising in custom-made and However, the premium and occa- 10 am Monday was about 150% com- any change in their pricing strategi- insiders no changes to the
on a popular travel pared with last week. Personal care es after the government’s move to cut affirmed that GST rate of 18% on
platform, while Fortune Resort, Be- brand Pilgrim saw 50-100% sales GST rates on a host of consumer go- luxe brands luxury watches. We
naulim, Goa is charging `4,463, af- Off to a Flying Start Campus growth on the first day on ecommer- ods ranging from air conditioners to have not made sense a feelgood fac-
any change in tor among consu-
ter adding 5% GST for same date. Sutra, Snitch ce compared to business-as-usual. biscuits with effect from Monday.
AMAZON, FLIPKART KICKOFF FESTIVE SALES report 36-40% their pricing
“There is no change in our room Ergonomic accessories maker “Monday was a pretty good day mers and this should
higher strategies
rates, and we have applied the 5% GST cut and Pilgrim sees Frido said it posted four to 10 times for us with the Pitru Paksha ending help boost interest
GST rate on rooms priced up to Rs slowing spending 50% to 100% sales over growth on ecommerce marketpla- on Sunday. Customers had been and sales,” he said.
7,500 from Monday,” said Ajay Bak- boost shopper ecommerce weekend ces compared with a typical day. holding off on purchases and they Sanskriti Gupta, spokesperson for
aya, chairman of Sarovar Hotels sentiment growth Consumer appliances maker Atom- started making the payments from luxury chocolate brand Läderach
and director at Louvre Hotels India. this season first day berg Technologies expects sales to Monday,” said Vijay KG, founder of India said it has cut prices in line
“Out of 140 hotels, about 80 hotels grow more than 20%. D2C clothing Luxepolis, an online marketplace with the reduced taxes. “We are pas-
spanning over 5,000 rooms would be Mass fashion brand Campus Sutra said its sales for certified pre-owned and discoun- sing on the benefit to the consumers.
priced in this category in our port- benefits rose 36% over the weekend versus ted luxury goods. “I think more dis- This timely reduction not only ma-
folio. I think it’s a good move, and we from first two days of the sale event last cretionary income should benefit kes Läderach more accessible but
need to look at the benefits from a 5% GST year. Men’s clothing brand Snitch the luxury sector indirectly. With also comes at the perfect moment,
customers’ perspective as well.” reported a 40% increase in orders. more money in the hands of consu- the festive seasoN ,” she added.
ZAHID

INDIANS STEP INTO COMMAND

SUITS & EYES HOUSING REDEVELOPMENTS IN MUMBAI, PUNE ET GRAPHICS
Molson Coors Srini Gopalan to
SAYINGS
ET’s roundup of the wackiest
Arnya, Supreme Launch Real Estate Hits a Dull Promotes Rahul Succeed Sievert
whispers in corporate corridors
`1k-cr Realty Platform Patch in H1 Goyal as CEO as T-Mobile CEO
Plot Twist with the balance to be raised
Real estate investment across
This top executive at this Kailash Babar from other investors. nine key APAC markets including
storied business house was “This partnership aligns India fell 6% year-on-year to Reuters Bloomberg
all set for the big boardroom Mumbai: Arnya Real Estate with the need for professional APAC $71.9 billion in the first half of
upgrade. Briefings were Fund and Mumbai-based de- and structured capital in the REAL ESTATE Bengaluru: Molson Coors na- T-Mobile US will elevate its chi-
veloper Supreme Universal redevelopment segment. Re- 2025 amid global headwinds med insider Rahul Goyal as its ef operating officer, Srini Go-
done, confidants were Investments expected
quietly brought into the
have formed a platform for a development is not just about to remain strong in H2
and trade uncertainties CEO on Monday, to succeed Ga- palan, to the chief executive of-
`1,000 crore real estate equity creating new homes, but abo- across core segments – vin Hattersley who retires this ficer spot on November 1, repla-
loop. But just as the cham-
fund that will focus on resi- ut uplifting entire communi- office & residential year, as the beer maker battles cing Mike Sievert, who has
pagne was about to be uncorked, a sudden INDIA RISES AS GLOBAL INVESTMENT MAGNET
dential redevelopment oppor- ties. This partnership repre- weakening demand and tariffs held the job for nearly six years.
swirl of developments in the inner circles Resilient Stabilising Ranked Attracted Foreign
tunities in Mumbai and Pune. sents the future of real estate in the United Sievert, 56,
has put everything on ice. Will the long- The fund will have a base investing—professional, domestic interest 4th $3 billion share States. will become vi-
expected elevation still happen, or has this corpus of `500 crore and a transparent capital rates globally inflows 52% Goyal, cur- ce chairman, a
power play changed the script entirely? green-shoe option of an addi- and perfor- rently chief new position in
Meanwhile, boardroom watchers promise tional `500 crore. It is desig- mance-dri- LANDMARK DEALS IN INDIA strategy officer which he’ll con-
this isn’t the last twist we’ll see. Steel your- The Welspun One: HDFC- Eldeco: CapitaLand & Brookfield:
ned to support scalable and ven,” said at the Coors tinue to advise
companies
selves to watch the twists and turns unfold. structured redevelopment
projects in two of India’s will jointly
Sunny Bijla-
ni, joint MD,
$229 million $175 million $186 million Light maker, is
set to assume Goyal has Sievert will
management
on strategy, the
invest 20% of in warehousing in residential in offices
the role on Octo- spent over 2 become vice telecom carrier
Quiet Storm most active housing markets.
“The strategy is to build an the capital;
Supreme
Universal. SECTORAL PREFERENCE ber 1. He has be- decades with chairman, a
said in a state-
the balance the brewer, new position
A silent storm is brewing at investment platform giving The projects £ Office £ Retail £ Logistics en with the com- including as ment Monday.
will be raised in which he’ll
this NBFC, part of a global investors access to opportu- to be suppor- pany for more finance chief continue to Gopalan, 55,
from other
financial powerhouse, over nities in the redevelopment ted will be than two deca- for its India advise co on joined T-Mobi-
investors
its new CEO appointee who segment. We believe Mumba- owned by the des, having ser- operations strategy le in March. He
replaced a veteran. Rumour i’s redevelopment repre- fund, while Supreme Univer- ved in roles in- was previously
has it that our man was sents the most scalable and sal will take charge of execu- cluding finance chief for the CEO of the German unit of
originally brought in by the resilient business model wit- tion. The fund has been struc- company in India. Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobi-
parent company as a consultant on a bank- hin Indian real estate, and tured with a seven-year tenu- The new CEO will be tasked le’s controlling shareholder.
ing acquisition and was subsequently through this fund we are cre- re, with individual projects with steering the company at a German media reported in
offered the corner office. The move blind- ating a disciplined and struc- expected to follow a four-to- tough time for the industry, June that Sievert may be step-
sided internal contenders who had been tured way to participate in six-year development cycle. with alcohol consumption ping aside. “When I recruited
it,” Sharad Mittal, founder The targeted return profile is among American adults falling Srini to be our COO, I knew he
grooming themselves for the role. Adding to
of Arnya Real Estate Fund, in the mid-20% range. to its lowest level on record. had the skills, experience and
the intrigue is the fact that the new CEO had
told ET. The partners have already Demand for alcohol in the US ‘un-carrier’ mindset to lead
exited his previous stint abruptly.
Arnya Real Estate Fund and shortlisted three projects in also remains uncertain, as dis- our company into the future,”
OUTLOOK Renewed Momen- Yield spreads Core assets:
Privy to the whispers in power corridors or juicy Supreme Universal will joint- Mumbai and will initially fo- tum in H2 2025 improving residential & office cretionary spending among Sievert said in the statement.
tips on India Inc? Do share with us at ly invest 20% of the capital in cus only on the city before ex- consumers is pressured due to T-Mobile shares were little
[email protected] the newly created platform, panding into Pune. inflation, tariff-driven turmoil. changed.

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