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BENNETT, COLEMAN & CO. LTD. VOL. 50 NO. 167 | KOLKATA | 12 PAGES | ` 5 ONLY THURSDAY, 17 JULY 2025

TCS Employees Tense Brands Wait & Watch as Diageo CEO Steps Down, CFO
over New Bench Policy US Trade Talks Drag On Jhangiani to be Interim Leader
DISRUPTION: STARTUPS & TECH 12 COMPANIES: PURSUIT OF PROFIT 5 BRANDS & COMPANIES 4

PURE LARGEST SUCH EXERCISE BY A DOMESTIC ENTITY

POLITICS
`20kcr Indigenous
AWACS Production
QIP March: SBI
Given Green Light
The government has given
Kicks off `25kcr
Capital Raise
a go-ahead to the produc-
tion of next generation
airborne early warning
and control systems
(AWACS India), reports Manu Pubby. Indicative price at `806.7 to
Under the project, expected to cost Capital Base `831.7; LIC likely big buyer
around `20,000 crore, the Indian Air AS OF MARCH 31
2024 2025
Force will get six large AWACS. 2 Our Bureau
TOTAL CAR 14.28 14.25
CET-1 10.36 10.81 Mumbai: State Bank of India (SBI) be-
■Ashoka Prof Probe: SC Asks Additional tier-I 1.57 1.30 gan its Rs 25,000-crore share sale to in-
SIT to Stay within Scope2 Tier-II 2.35 2.14 stitutional investors at the end of tra-
(Figures in %) Source: SBI Q4 presentation
ding hours on Wednesday in the largest
■Bihar SIR Verification Phase equity capital raise by a domestic entity
to Commence from Aug 13 – and the first in eight years by the most-
valued government asset.
Bidding for the share sale would conti-
TO IMPROVE ADOPTION BY COS nue until the early hours on Thursday.
The indicative offer price is between Rs
UIDAI Working on Simpler 806.75 and Rs 831.70 a share, bankers told
Offline KYC via Aadhaar ET. The indicative price is implied dis-
count — up to 3% in this case — to the
The Unique Identification Author- share’s closing price of Rs 831.7 on the
ity of India is working to strength- NSE on Wednesday.
If the bank raises the entire Rs 25,000
en Aadhar-based offline identity crore, it will be the largest share sale af-
verification to make it more user-friendly ter Coal India's Rs 22,560-crore qualified
and encourage further adoption by financial institutional placement (QIP) to select
bulge bracket buyers in 2015.
services firms, reports Pratik Bhakta.8 The bank’s board approved the place-
ment on Wednesday.
This is the third QIP by SBI. The pre-
SUITS & vious round was concluded in 2017, rai-
SAYINGS HDFC Bank to Take a Call sing Rs15,000 crore.
While state-run Life Insurance Corp

Exit Mapped
on Maiden Bonus Shares (LIC) is expected to bid for a sizeable
chunk, financial institutions and large
HDFC Bank said on Wednesday domestic mutual funds are also expec-
This PE that recently utilised a window of
that its board will convene on ted to participate, said people aware of
opportunity, is closing doors elsewhere. the development.
July 19 to consider a key pro-
More doors are being shut at a lender too, In the previous QIP, LIC had bought ne-
posal, the issuance of bonus shares for
where worries continue. See PAGE 4 arly 40% of the stake on offer. In 2017,
the first time in the lender’s history. 9 SBI’s QIP was priced at 287.25 apiece.

SEVERAL PROVISIONS SIMPLIFIED TO OFFER MORE CLARITY MILITARY BLOC FLAGS RUSSIA TRADE

House Panel on New NATO Warns

India, 2 Others
I-T Bill Adopts Report of Sanctions
with 285 Suggestions few provisions. The committee sat for 36
Asks them to tell Putin to
take peace talks seriously
To introduce report in sittings and dealt with all 536 sections.
“Maximum deliberations and discus- Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury
Lok Sabha on Monday, start sions were on around Section 247(1),
which deals with searches and seizure, but New Delhi: NATO secretary general
of the monsoon session no major changes or amendments in the
section were suggested,” the person said.
Mark Rutte on Wednesday threatened
India, China and Brazil with 100%
At the same time, several witnesses be- secondary sanctions if they continue
Jatin Takkar fore the panel expressed apprehensions doing business with Russia, even as he
about the faceless assessment and so- urged the leaders of these countries to
New Delhi: A parliamentary panel man- ught reduction in the number of slabs press Russian President Vladimir
dated to look at the Income Tax Bill, 2025, for tax deducted at sour- Putin to take peace negotiations with
on Wednesday unanimously adopted its ce and further simplifi- Ukraine seriously.
report recommending over 285 tweaks, Most cation of the regime, the Speaking to media
setting the stage for the revamp of the discussions person said. India persons after a meeting
six-decade-old income tax law, people fa- held on On February 13, finan- displeased with US senators, he
miliar with the development said. Sec 247(1), ce minister Nirmala Sit- with secy said, “If you are the
The Parliamentary Select Committee which deals haraman had introdu- general Rutte’s President of China, the
of Lok Sabha, headed by BJP MP Baijay- with searches ced the Income Tax Bill, remarks as Prime Minister of
ant Panda, will present the report to the & seizure, but 2025, to replace the old NATO has no India, or the President
Lower House on Monday — first day of no major law to make it simpler to such authority of Brazil, and you
the monsoon session of Parliament. tweaks understand with an aim continue to trade with
The government has accepted most of suggested to reduce ambiguity and Russia and buy their oil and gas, then
the changes proposed by the committee, litigation. you know: if the man in Moscow do-
one of the persons told ET. The bill had introduced presumptive esn’t take the peace negotiations serio-
The panel has further simplified the taxation for non-residents, revised tre- usly, I will impose 100% secondary
language of a number of provisions to atment for business and professional in- sanctions.”
remove any ambiguity, one of the per- come, and strengthening of General Secondary sanctions refer to econo-
sons said, adding that no substantive Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR), while mic penalties imposed on third parties
changes had been suggested. It has also streamlining the penalty and complian- that trade with countries subject to
restored the language of the old bill in a ce framework. sanctions.

Agri Districts Scheme NTPC can Invest `. 20kcr Trademark Norms

Receives Cabinet Nod in Green Energy Unit Overhaul in Works
The union cabinet approved In a significant push for The government has begun
the Prime Minister Dhan- green energy, the Centre on discussions on revamping
Dhaanya Krishi Yojana, a Wednesday raised the the country’s trademark
scheme to develop 100 agricultural investment limit for state-owned framework, with an aim to simplify
districts through the convergence of NTPC to `. 20,000 crore from `. 7500 the process and reduce the processing
36 schemes of 11 ministries. 7 crore in NTPC Green Energy. 7 time. Kirtika Suneja reports. 7

Maruti’s June Output Slides to 5-yr Low

Cut in production said to avoid overstocking as inventory levels rise for small cars
typically when Maruti undertakes its tric vehicles in its model range. Rivals
Shally Seth Mohile bi-annual plant maintenance shutdown, Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra
but this year’s figure is the lowest for the have a head start in that segment.
Mumbai: Production at Maruti Suzuki month since 2020. Output has fallen 23% to Dealers say inventory levels have been
India Ltd, India’s largest carmaker, fell to 125,392 from 163,037 in June 2021, accor- gradually building up at outlets, particu-
a five-year low in June as demand for its ding to the company’s monthly produc- larly for models such as the Alto, S-Presso,
bread-and-butter small cars and compact tion filing. Dzire and Celerio, forcing the automaker
sedans continued to weaken. The slide is reflective of broader fatigue to regulate output to avoid overstocking.
An email sent to Maruti remained in the small car segment, once Maruti’s “Despite attractive consumer offers,
unanswered as of press mainstay, amid a shift in consumer prefe- demand in the entry-level segment has
time. rences toward sport utility vehicles remained tepid for several quarters,”
June is (SUVs) and premium models. SUVs now said a senior executive at a leading
account for 66% of the total sales mix, as Maruti dealership. “Rising ownership
per the Society of Indian Automobi- costs, changing consumer aspirations,
le Manufacturers (SIAM). and urban market saturation are all
Besides this, Maruti lacks elec- playing a role.”
Maruti car
production Foot Off 140,748 130,930
2024
volumes 2022
for the the Pedal
month 49,476 163,037
of June 2020 2021 133,798
2023 125,392
110,641 2025
2019 Source: Co filings

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2  Pure Politics THE ECONOMIC TIMES | KOLKATA | THURSDAY | 17 JULY 2025 | WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM

` 20,000 CRORE PROJECT OTHER NEWS

OF THE DAY SC asks SIT to Confine Itself to
Indigenous Awacs
gets Go-Ahead, to be Probe Related to Prof’s FB Post
‘WHY IS SIT ON THE FACE OF IT MISDIRECTING ITSELF?’ SIT told to finish probe within four weeks

Developed by DRDO Our Political Bureau

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on

Wednesday questioned the special
Interim protection from
arrest that was granted to
summon Mahmudabad again for
questioning, after noting that he
had already joined the investiga-
tion earlier and that
certain electronic
Move to propel India investigation team (SIT), set up to ex-
amine Facebook posts of Ashoka
Mahmudabad to continue devices owned by
him were also ex-
into a select league Is Pak Political University assistant professor Ali amined. The SC also
Khan Mahmudabad on Operation ordered the SIT to fi-
of nations with such Landscape Set Sindoor, on “misdirecting itself ”. Bench directs nish its probe in four
A bench of justices Surya Kant and SIT to not weeks, making it cle-
indigenous capability to See Change? Joymala Bagchi verbally observed summon ar that its investiga-
Mahmudabad tion must be strictly
that SIT was “unnecessarily expan-
ISLAMABAD The latest mee- ding the scope” of its probe. again for limited to the langu-
Manu Pubby ting of Pakistan’s top civilian The bench reiterated that the SIT questioning age and content of
and military leadership has must confine its investigation to the Mahmudabad) is an opinion and does can always say that there is nothing the two Facebook posts uploaded
New Delhi: The government has gi- two first information reports already not constitute an offence or otherwi- in this FIR. But we are examining by Mahmudabad on the Pahalgam
ven a go-ahead to the production of once again fuelled rumours of filed against Mahmudabad for his two se!” Justice Kant verbally remarked. other issues. Why take two months terror attack.
next generation airborne early war- WORK WITH SEVERAL COS a possible change in the count- “objectionable” Facebook posts. “Why SC also turned down a request made for this? Then this case can be clo- Interim protection from arrest
ning and control systems (AWACS ry’s political landscape amid is SIT on the face of it misdirecting it- by the counsel for SIT for giving it two sed,” the bench orally remarked. that was granted to Mahmudabad
India) which will be a major force
multiplier for the Indian Air Force
DRDO will work speculation of the army
self ? They can say that the article (by months to complete its probe. “SIT The bench directed the SIT to not will also continue, the SC added.

(IAF) and propel India into a select with a host of chief possibly aspiring to be
league of nations with such indige- the next president. This is the ‘1,000 MIGRANTS ARRESTED IN BJP-RULED STATES... MANY PUSHED TO BANGLADESH’ SESSION AGENDA
nously developed capability. Indian cos, Air- third time this month that
Under the project, expected to cost
around `20,000 crore, the IAF will get
six large AWACS that will be capable
of tracking enemy aircraft, ground
sensors and other equipment at lar-
bus to integrate a complex
antenna & other systems
there have been widespread
speculation about the change
in presidency, with PM Sheh-
Dangerous Than Emergency: CM
onboard A321 aircraft
ge distances, besides acting as a fly-
ing operations control centre.
With the government clearances
in place, the Defence Research and
AWACS India programme — also re-
ferred to as the Netra MkII — has been
baz Sharif himself last week
dismissing rumours that
President Asif Ali Zardari may
on Detention of Bengali Workers
Development Organisation will spearheaded by DRDO, which also re- be forced to step down and migrant workers were targeted in
work with a host of Indian compa- cently got a go-ahead from the govern- the name of NRC and are harassed
I dare you to send me

AICC
nies as well as Airbus to integrate a ment to move into the prototype pro- Field Marshal Asim Munir and tortured. “We, from the West
complex antenna and other sy- duction stage for fifth generation Ad- assume his post. The latest Bengal government, and Trinamool
stems onboard the A321 aircraft. vanced Multirole Combat Aircraft.
to a detention camp, Congress are noticing this every day.
IAF already has six of the aircraft
that were taken from Air India in
This is also the first time that an Air-
bus platform will be used for such an
round of rumours came after
Munir called on Sharif at the I will speak more in We are receiving complaints. I am as-
hamed and pained by the actions of
Bring Bill for
the past. These aircraft will under-
go complex structural modifica-
tions and integration of a range of
application, marking an entry into a
domain that has traditionally been
dominated by Boeing. The project co-
PM House shortly before the
latter met Zardari at the presi-
Bengali: Banerjee the India government and the BJP,”
Banerjee said.
Leader of the Opposition Suvendu
Full Statehood
systems, including a dorsal fin mo-
unted on the top that will enable an
uld also open up export opportunities
for India in the future as well.
dent’s house on Tuesday, The
Express Tribune reported. — PTI
Jayatri Nag Adhikari said, “The Trinamool
Congress is gearing up to craft a poli-
to J&K: Rahul,
all-round radar coverage.
The project is expected to take aro-
und three years for completion and wo-
The air force currently operates the
much smaller 'Netra' early warning
aircraft, which have been successfully Poliloquy R PRASAD
Kolkata: Calling the detention of
Bengali-speaking migrant wor-
kers in BJP-ruled states “illegal”
tical narrative of Bengali identity.
But, in whose interest? In the inter-
est of Bengali-speaking Rohingyas?
Kharge to PM
uld give Indian companies valuable ex- utilised in conflicts with Pakistan. It and “more dangerous than Emer- Or in the interest of illegal Bangla-
pertise in working on complex sy- also has three IL76 ‘Phalcon’ systems gency”, West Bengal CM Mamata deshi Muslim infiltrators? When the
stems from the development stage. It that were jointly developed with Israel Banerjee raised a challenge that
Banerjee and others during a
process of identifying and deporting
‘Include Ladakh
protest march in Kolkata on
includes a fully indigenous mission
control system and AESA radars.
and Russia but the fleet has faced ma-
jor technical and availability issues.
she be kept in a detention camp.
Speaking about a notification in
Wednesday — PTI illegal Bangladeshi and Rohingya in-
filtrators has begun across India, the
under 6th Schedule
BJP-ruled states, where provisions
of illegal detention have been issued,
more dangerous than Emergency.”
Banerjee said Bengali-speaking
Trinamool leader is attempting to be-
come their shield!”
of Constitution’
IMPUNITY UNDERMINES GLOBAL PEACE EFFORTS: INDIA she said: “I dare you to send me to a
detention camp, I will speak more in Our Political Bureau
‘UN Peacekeepers Face Tremendous Obstacles’ Bengali.” “Altogether 1,000 migrant

UNITED NATIONS: India has underscored the urgent need

workers have been arrested and deta-
ined in BJP-ruled states and many
HC Calls for Affidavits New Delhi: Congress presi-
dent and leader of Opposition
for accountability in crimes against UN peacekeepers, asser- have been pushed back to Bangla- Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court tices Tapabrata Chakraborty and in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun
desh. People from Birbhum, Cooch on Wednesday called for affidavits Reetobroto Kumar Mitra called for Kharge and his counterpart in
ting that impunity emboldens perpetrators and undermines Behar, Nadia and other districts are from the West Bengal government affidavits after the bench was told Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on
global peace efforts. “United Nations peacekeepers face being detained in Odisha and BJP- and the Centre over the arrest and that similar pleas had been done Wednesday jointly wrote to Pri-
ruled states,” she said. deportation of a Bengali-migrant before the Delhi High Court and me Minister Narendra Modi,
tremendous obstacles while working in increasingly dangerous areas. But
“On February 2025, a notification family from Birbhum district, in a these parallel proceedings had urging him to bring legisla-
for the most part, these crimes continue to go unpunished,” India’s Perma- was issued in BJP-ruled states where habeas corpus plea filed by their been suppressed from the Calcutta tions in the upcoming budget
nent Representative to the UN, ambassador P Harish, said on Tuesday. — PTI people can be kept in detention for a relatives. A division bench of Jus- High Court.— OPB session of Parliament to grant
month… It is illegal detention and full statehood to the Union Ter-
ritory of Jammu and Kashmir
and to include the Union Terri-
tory of Ladakh under the Sixth
SECURITY FORCES CLASH WITH HASINA SUPPORTERS Schedule of the Constitution.
Terming J&K people’s de-

3 Killed, Many Injured mand for restoration of state-

hood as “both legitimate and
firmly grounded in their
constitutional and democra-

in Bangladesh Clashes
Dhaka: Bangladeshi security forces on Wed- people were brought in dead.
tic rights”, the two leaders al-
so recalled how
Modi and his go-
vernment have
promised to do
nesday clashed with supporters of ousted Pri- Bangladesh has been in political turmoil sin- that at different
me Minister Sheikh Hasina, leaving at least ce Hasina was toppled and fled to India. The in- forums, inclu-
three people dead and scores injured, a hospi- terim leader, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mu- ‘Bring ding Parliament,
tal official said. hammad Yunus, took over three days after her forward a the Supreme Co-
The violence erupted in the morning and ouster and pledged to restore order. He said a legislation in urt and the media.
spread as a new political party formed by stu- new election would be held in April next year. the upcoming “In view of the fo-
dents who led the uprising against Hasina in Gopalganj is a politically sensitive district monsoon regoing and afore-
August last year announced a march toward because Hasina father’s mausoleum is located session of mentioned, we ur-
southwestern Gopalganj district, Hasina’s an- there. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country’s Parliament’ ge upon the go-
cestral home, and her Awami League party’s independence leader, was buried there after he vernment to bring forward a le-
stronghold. TV footage showed pro-Hasina ac- was assassinated along with most of his fami- gislation in the upcoming
tivists armed with sticks attacking police and ly members in a military coup in 1971. monsoon session of Parlia-
setting vehicles on fire as a convoy of about 20 The students' party launched its “July March ment to grant full statehood to
vehicles carrying the leaders of the National to Rebuild the Nation” on July 1 across all dis- the union territory of Jammu
Citizen Party arrived as part of commemora- tricts in Bangladesh as part of its drive to posi- and Kashmir,” they wrote, po-
tions of the uprising. Top leaders of the party tion itself as a new force in Bangladeshi poli- inting out that J&K is the only
took shelter in the office of the local police chi- tics, which as been largely dominated by two instance of a state downgraded
ef as footage showed some of them were being dynastic families. One is Hasina’s Awami Lea- to UT status. The letter also co-
escorted by soldiers to an armored vehicle for gue party, and the other is the Bangladesh Na- incides with J&K Congress
safety. tionalist Party, or BNP, headed by Hasina’s planning intensified campa-
Jibitesh Biswas, a senior official of a state- archrival Khaleda Zia, also a former prime mi- igns for statehood by reaching
run hospital, told reporters that at least three nister. — AP out to like-minded parties.
About Ladakh, they wrote:
“Additionally, we request that
the government bring forward
‘HIS FAMILY WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR CORRUPTION’ legislation to include the
Union Territory of Ladakh un-
Rahul Gandhi Targets Himanta der the Sixth Schedule of the
Constitution. This would be a
significant step towards add-

Biswa Sarma in Assam Rally ressing the cultural, develop-

mental, and political aspira-
tions of the people of Ladakh,
sus the truth and non-violence of the Con- while safeguarding their
Bikash Singh gress,” he said. rights, land, and identity”.
Alleging that the Election Commission of
Guwahati: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi India and the BJP are working together, he
on Wednesday said that Chief minister of said, “Within the span of four months in ‘THIS IS A GOOD THING’
Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma does not con- Maharashtra from Lok Sabha polls to as-
sider himself as chief minister he considers
himself as Raja (King) and Congress party
sembly one Crore voter increased. We
sought a voter list from the Election till now
CM Welcomes
will put him behind bars for the corruption
he has done in Assam.
they are yet to provide the voter list. Give us
the videography of the booths but we were
Congress
Rahul said Sarma and his family will be
held accountable for corruption, Gandhi
not given. The new voters voted for BJP. In
Lok Sabha polls our alliance wins the polls
Letter to PM
said while addressing a party meeting in As- and one Crore voters come and we lose the SRINAGAR: J&K CM
sam’s Chaygaon. assembly polls.” Omar Abdullah on
“Fear is there in CM's face; he knows fear- He claimed that the saffron party won the
less Congress workers will put him in jail. Maharashtra assembly polls by ‘cheating’ Wednesday wel-
Day and night he is engaged in giving land to through voter list revision. “They are trying comed Congress’ letter to the
the chosen industrialists,” the leader of the the same tactics in Bihar where they are re- PM seeking restoration of full
opposition Lok Sabha asserted. moving lakhs of people from the voter list.
He said, “This same media will show to you They are removing workers, poor and farm- statehood to the region. Ab-
how Sarma is being taken to jail and nobody ers. Voters of Congress and RJD are re- dullah asked how long will the
including Narendra Modi and Amit Shah moved. We are agitating and pressurizing .
people of J&K have to wait for
will be able to save him. This will be done by They will repeat the same thing in Assam.
the people of Assam for they know that Sar- We must be careful and ensure that they can- the restoration of statehood.
ma is a corrupt person. This person loots not do the same here.” “This is a good thing. We were
land from Assam twenty-four hours at pre- Gandhi also claimed that there are two
waiting for the day when the
text of a solar park or resort. He looted the Hindustan now: one of a few billionaires
state. who host lavish weddings, and the other of Opposition would raise our
Gandhi claimed that Congress will sweep common people burdened with tax and in- voice in Delhi as well as in
the assembly polls in Assam due next year. flation. “Youths do not get jobs in the coun-
“There is a fight of ideologies in the coun- try. We fight for the poor, farmers and small
Parliament,” he said. — OPB
try; the hatred and violence of the RSS ver- businessmen.”

Printed by Arnab Chatterjee and published by him on behalf of Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd and printed at Times House, Plot no.2, Block-EM, Sector-V, Salt Lake City, Kolkata-700 091 and
published at 105/7A, S.N.Banerjee Road, Kolkata – 700 014. Editor : Vinay Pandey
RNI Regn No : 29973/76

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES | KOLKATA | THURSDAY | 17 JULY 2025 | WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM

Pure Politics  3
TWO-MONTH SCRUTINY TO DECIDE VALID VOTERS AMID HIGH POLITICAL STAKES

Bihar Voter List Drive Set To Enter

Crucial Verification Phase From Aug 1
ERO and assistant ERO-led scrutiny to confirm
Electors not found at their addresses
eligibility, deletions and appeals process
Anubhuti Vishnoi
submitted their mandatory Enu-
meration Forms to the Booth Level 35,69,435 (4.5%)
Officer (BLO), it can be safely assu- Probably Deceased
New Delhi: Phase 1 (submission) of med that the bulk of the electorate
electors so far 12,55,620 (1.59%)
the ongoing Special Intensive Revi- in the state will have their names in
sion (SIR) in Bihar is drawing to a clo- the draft electoral roll. However, Probably Permanently
se with over 88% electors submitting the ECI has currently focussed mo- Shifted electors so far 17,37,336 (2.2%)
their Enumeration Forms and the fo- re on submission of forms by July Total Electors (as on 24 th
June 2025)
Electors Enrolled
cus is now set to shift to the more cru- 25 and permitted Bihar’s electors 5,76,479
cial Phase 2 (verification of docu-
ments) which will decide who is not
only a valid Bihar elector but also
whether an Indian citizen or not.
to add the mandatory documents
of their own and parental proof
birth by September 29. As a result,
document verification will become
7,89,69,844 at Multiple places
(identified so far) (0.73%)

This upcoming two-month phase —

from August 1 to September 30 when
the final Bihar roll is out — is bound
a key point from August 1 onward
when sluice gates open for filing
"claims" and "objections"- up to
Received

6,99,92,926
Enumeration Forms
Uploaded

6,47,24,300
Remaining Enumeration
Forms to be received
54,07,483
357 Naxals Killed in
to have significant electoral and poli- September 1. These will be display-
tical implications.
Reason: The next two months will
see the rolling out of the process of
ed on the CEO website as well as in
the Electoral Registration Officer
(ERO) office every day.
(88.65%) (81.96%)

EC TO SHARE MISSING VOTERS’ LIST WITH PARTIES FOR REVERIFICATION

(6.85%)
Year-long Ops, Say
"claims" for inclusion/addition of a Significantly, there will be politi-
name in the electoral roll and "objec-
tions" to the presence of a name in
the roll, besides the critical "suo mo-
cal oversight as well as the ERO
will have to share these lists with
political parties on a weekly basis. 4.5% Not Found at Address; Chhattisgarh Police
tu" enquiry option against suspected Roll observers will also conduct
foreign nationals. It is the latter that "super checking" of additions/de-
In a separate Bokaro
is likely to generate much debate
ahead of the Bihar assembly elec-
tions.
The stage is already set as the Elec-
letions/modification requests.

SIR PHASE 2: VERIFICATION TIME

From August 1, Bihar SIR will en-
6.5% Yet to Submit Forms residence,” 1.59% were “probably booth-level agents. This is aimed
encounter, top Maoist,
CRPF jawan dead
tion Commission of India (ECI) sour- ter Phase 2 and will move from the Our Political Bureau deceased,” and 0.75% (5.76 lakh at confirming the exact status of
ces indicated last week that a "large BLO stage to the ERO/Assistant voters) were iden- such electors ahead of the July 25
number of people from Nepal, Bang- ERO stage. As per the June 24 ECI New Delhi: The Election Com- tified as being en- deadline for form submission. Rahul Tripathi
So far, 6.99
ladesh and Myanmar have been fo- instructions, after publication of mission has, for the first time du- rolled at multiple The EC is also making special ef-
crore voters
und by BLOs" and these people have the draft roll, the ERO will "scruti- ring Bihar’s ongoing Special In- places. forts to reach urban voters and New Delhi: Chhattisgarh police
(88.65%) have
been able to procure "all documents, nise the eligibility of proposed tensive Revision (SIR), disclosed To re-verify the- those temporarily migrated out- on Wednesday stated that CPI
submitted
including Aadhaar, domicile certifi- electors" and come to his "satisfac- that 4.5% of the electorate—abo- se electors—de- side Bihar. (Maoist) has suffered its worst ca- their organisational structure.”
enumeration
cate, ration Card, etc." tion" based on "documents submit- ut 35.6 lakh of the total 7.89 crore spite three visits So far, 6.99 crore voters (88.65%) sualties in 2024-25 with 357 of its “Out of the 357 deceased, 136 were
docs, of which
ET takes a look at the process that ted" and "field reports". He will also voters—were not found at their by Booth Level Of- have submitted enumeration do- cadres killed in various encoun- women cadres, indicating the ex-
6.47 cr
will follow from August 1. address all "claims" and "objec- registered addresses, while anot- ficers (BLOs) cuments, of which 6.47 crore ters with security forces across the tent to which the Maoist leader-
(81.96%) have
tions" by September 25. If the ERO her 6.5% (54 lakh electors) are yet —the Commis- (81.96%) have been uploaded. country. “These facts were dis- ship has used women as human
been
AUGUST 1: DRAFT ELECTORAL ROLL is satisfied and verifies the eligibi- to submit their verification sion will from These verified electors will be in- closed in a 24-page booklet released shields during attacks on security
uploaded
With 88% plus electors, which is lity of an elector, he will upload the forms. Thursday share cluded in the draft electoral roll, by the CPI (Maoist), which con- forces. Significantly, the Dandaka-
about 6.81 crore of total 7.89 crore documents (on ECINET) which Of those missing, 2.2% had the list with district presidents of set to be published on August 1, firms massive losses to their cadre ranya region, which spans parts of
electors in Bihar, already having enables him to conclude so. “probably permanently shifted political parties and their 1.5 lakh 2025. and attributes them to sustained Bastar Range districts and Gadchi-
counter-Maoist operations and in- roli district of Maharashtra, have
creasing public resistance to extre- been identified as the area of maxi-
AFTER DELINKING SIR OBJECTIONS FROM BIHAR CM ALLEGES EC ACTING AS BJP’S ‘AGENT’ Puneet Kumar Goel Named mist violence,” police have said.
The casualties include four Cen-
mum damage, with 281 Maoists
neutralised in the past one year
Chief Secretary of Manipur tral Committee (CC) members and alone,” Bastar police said.

People Should Not Bengal Braces for Row Guwahati: The Appointments Committee of the Ca-
binet (ACC) has appointed Puneet Kumar Goel, a 1991-
15 state committee-level Maoist
leaders, they added.
The Dandakaranya Special Zonal
In another anti-Naxal operation
in Jharkhand, a Maoist, carrying a
bounty of `5 lakh on his head, and a
Over Voters as Mamata, batch IAS officer of the AGMUT cadre, as the new chi- Committee suffered the heaviest CRPF jawan were killed in a gun-

be Made to Run Adhikari Trade Charges

ef secretary of Manipur. Goel succeeds Prashant Ku-
mar Singh a 1993-batch IAS officer of the Manipur cad-
re, who held the post for six months before being reas-
signed. Manipur has been under President’s rule since
losses, with 281 Maoists neutral-
ised during 2024–2025, according to
Chhattisgarh police.
Inspector General of Police, Bas-
fight in Bokaro district on Wednes-
day morning, police said. A civil-
ian was also killed after being
caught in the crossfire. Police had

Around: TDP to ECI

February this year. Goel, who previously served as the tar Range, Sundarraj Pattlingam earlier identified him as a Maoist.
CS of Goa, brings a wealth of administrative experien- said, “The consistent efforts by se- The gunfight broke out between
LoP claims Mamata govt issued ce across Union territories and northeastern states.
His posting to Manipur was facilitated through an in-
curity forces, combined with in-
creasing cooperation from local
the security forces and the Maoists
in the Birhordera forest in Gomia
asked Election Commission that
if SIR is initiated the verification
fake IDs to migrants, seeks ter-cadre deputation from AGMUT to the Manipur
cadre, as per a ministry of home affairs order. His ap-
communities, have pushed the CPI
(Maoist) into its weakest phase in
police station area around 5.30 am,
they said. DGP Anurag Gupta said
TDP’s nuanced stand process should be seamless.” deletion of ‘Rohingya voters’ pointment comes at a time when the state is grappling recent history. The loss of senior that acting on specific inputs,
On Tuesday, TDP had made a fo- with ongoing ethnic unrest and complex rehabilita- leadership and active cadre CRPF and the district police con-
balances coalition ur-page submission to Election tion efforts. — Bikash Singh strength has severely crippled ducted a raid in the forest.
Commission where it clearly said Jayatri Nag
dharma with has said purpose of SIR should be
clearly defined and delinked from Kolkata:West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
pro-people messaging citizenship verification, wrapped came down heavily on the ongoing Special intensive Re-
up at least six months before an vision (SIR) in Bihar being conducted by the Election
Nidhi Sharma election and the burden of proof Commission of India (ECI) and said that Bengal will be
should not be on the voter. While it targeted next with the aim of deleting names, except tho-
New Delhi: A day after Telugu De- clearly took a pro-people appro- se of BJP supporters.
sam Party (TDP) punched holes in ach, it has delicately tried to ba- Banerjee warned the existing voters of the state to be
Election Commission’s Special lance coalition dharma indica- cautious during the voter list revision in August and ur-
Intensive Revision (SIR), the key ting that it isn’t going to upset the ged new voters to enrol their names in Bengal. “When
NDA ally delinked its objections alliance dynamics yet. The timing the voter list-revision work starts, be very careful. Take
from the on-going exercise in Bi- of the nuanced strategy is also im- leave if needed, but make sure your name is there on the
har but underlined the voter sho- portant as this comes right ahead list. Some agencies are striking out names while sitting
uld not be made to run around for of the monsoon session of Parlia- in other states. People from outside are voting here. I ha-
inclusion in electoral rolls. ment. By delinking it from Bihar, ve caught their duplicity. They are mixing names from
TDP, which provides crucial sup- TDP does not want to give a stick other states,” Banerjee said.
port to BJP-led NDA with its 16 to the Congress to beat the govern- She called the ECI an “agent” of the BJP, which was
members of Parliament, followed ment with. working to help the party win the polls.
a nuanced strategy on SIR. The re- TDP national spokesperson Jy- She pointed out that Muslims were being targeted. “We
gional ally said that its submis- othsna Tirunagari, who was also have learnt that around 31 lakh voters have been remo-
sion to Election Commission on a part of the TDP delegation that ved in Bihar. If they are planning such things here as in
SIR was not linked to Bihar and met Election Commission, told Bihar, we will fight,” Banerjee said.
was restricted to Andhra Pra- ET, “Our submission before EC Meanwhile, leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the as-
desh. Speaking exclusively to ET, had nothing to do with Bihar. Our sembly, Suvendu Adhiakri went to West Bengal CEO’s
TDP MP Lavu Srikrishna Devara- concerns were largely on duplica- office with 50 MLAs to demand the deletion of the names
yulu, who led the party’s delega- tion of voters in electoral rolls, of Rohingyas from Bengal’s voter list. “Full-fledged pre-
tion to Election Commission on use of technology to weed out du- parations are going on. But WB-CEO’s office cannot say
Tuesday, said, “Our meeting with plication, biometrics in voter before the final notification by ECI. Training of block le-
Election Commission should not identity cards, ensuring migrant vel officers is happening. We have time in Bengal. The
be linked to Bihar SIR. We met EC labourers get adequate opportu- names of Rohingya Muslims should be deleted. We will
officials as a part of an on-going nity to enrol and involvement of not allow Rohingyas here,” Adhikari said.
exercise to take the views of poli- political workers in electoral roll “The Mamata Banerjee government distributed fake
tical parties on electoral roll revi- revision. Our discussion was li- birth certificates, Aadhaar cards and fake voter ID cards
sion.” While following coalition mited to Andhra Pradesh.” With in lieu of money. The Rohingyas first came from Myan-
dharma, TDP also took a pro-peo- Bihar SIR clearly weighing on its mar and then took refuge in Bangladesh and came to
ple stand and said, “Election Com- mind, TDP asked EC to delink SIR Bengal from there as land for fencing was not given to the
mission has been doing exempla- from citizenship question. With Central government from 2016. Around 540 km border is
ry work. But voter is the focal po- this, TDP has also tried to assure unfenced. Banerjee is in a state of fear psychosis. One
int. He should not run from pillar its minority votebase, which is crore Rohingya Muslims have learnt Bengali and are
to post to ensure his inclusion. We crucial for the regional party. spread out in Bengal and other states,” Adhikari said.

PM’S 53RD VISIT TO BIHAR SEEN AS A PRE-POLL PUSH

Bihar NDA Leaders Gear Up for PM

Modi’s Motihari Rally Tomorrow
Prime Minister to inaugurate `7,217-crore projects spanning infrastructure, housing & Infotech
Kumar Anshuman

New Delhi: NDA leaders in Bihar are in

full swing preparing for Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s visit to Motihari in
Champaran on Friday. With assembly
elections on the horizon, Modi has been
touring various regions of the state, un-
veiling a slew of development and in-
frastructure projects.
Bihar deputy chief minister and BJP le-
ader Samrat Choudhary, state party pre-
sident Dilip Jaiswal, JD(U) working pre-
sident Sanjay Jha and other NDA leaders
have been camping in Champaran, mobi-
lising workers and urging people to at-
tend the public meeting in large num-
bers. BJP leader Jivesh Mishra noted that this and financial assistance for self-help gro-
“It will be a historic day for Bihar. The would be Modi’s 53rd visit to Bihar and ups. “Bihar is receiving special attention
prime minister will inaugurate projects his sixth trip to Motihari. from the Centre under the leadership of
worth `7,217 crore, giving fresh momen- “No other PM has visited Bihar as often PM Modi and CM Nitish Kumar. Every ti-
tum to the state’s development story,” as Modi. This reflects his commitment to me the PM visits, he brings new projects
Choudhary told ET. “People from across the state’s development and welfare,” and a fresh vision for the state. Before Mo-
the Champaran region are expected to jo- Mishra said. The announcements are ex- tihari, he announced several initiatives
in what will be a massive rally with the pected to span railway, highway, software in other parts of Bihar. This will be anot-
PM and all NDA leaders present.” and IT projects, along with housing un- her landmark day for us,” JD(U) spoke-
State urban development minister and der the PM Awas Yojana in rural areas sperson Rajeev Ranjan told ET.

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4  Brands & Companies THE ECONOMIC TIMES | KOLKATA | THURSDAY | 17 JULY 2025 | WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM

WATCHING THE DRAGON

THE M RNING VOLUMES GROW 53% YOY TO 23.9 M UNITS IN JANUARY-JUNE: CANALYS
BRIEF PODCAST The matter was discussed during a recent
Why Global Fashion Apple Harvests Record iPhone meeting with commerce minister Piyush Goyal
Still Doesn’t Credit
Domestic Med-tech Cos
Indian Craft
Fashion scholar
Phyllida Jay
Output from its India Orchard Ram, VP - Industry Research Gro-
Flag Security Threat
joins Host US giant exported over Speed Dial up (IRG), CMR.
Apoorva Mittal
to trace the roots $22b worth of phones in Growth driven by
fear of higher US
Peak exports
occurred in US
Foxconn (Hon Hai) and Tata Elec-
tronics are the major manufactu-
rer of iPhones in India, after Tata
from Chinese Devices
of early proliferation of Indian now takes
H1 2025 against $14.7 b tariffs on China March Electronics took over operations
Teena Thacker
aesthetics to the current Kol-
hapuri conundrum in year-ago period: CMR Annual production may beat 2024’s
78% of Wistron and Pegatron’s plants
in India. In H1 2025, Foxconn led

Tune in to ETPlay.com.
Subhrojit Mallick
42 million mark
of iPhones
exported
with over half the volume of iPho-
ne exports, but Tata Electronics is
fast catching up, contributing 4 out
New Delhi: India’s medical tech lea-
ders have urged the government to
scrutinise imports of Chinese he-
Available on Domestic value from
India of every 10 iPhones exported from althcare devices, citing security thre-
EconomicTimes.com/podcast, addition now at
New Delhi: The first half of 2025 India, Canalys said. at as these modern machines can be
Amazon Prime Music, Apple
Podcasts, JioSaavn and
Spotify.
saw the fastest ramp up in iPhone
production and export volumes by
Apple from India ever since it star-
15–20% “This shift reflects improving
yield rates, line maturity, and
Apple’s growing confidence in
potentially misused for surveillance,
cyberattacks and data breach.
At a recent meeting with commer-
ted assembling iPhones from 2017, India as a core manufacturing ce and industry minister Piyush
driven by the threat of higher ta- half of 2025 crossed 30 million than the Rs 9,808 crore achieved in base,” said Sanyam Chaurasia, Goyal, domestic manufacturers rai-
riffs on Chinese imports. units, which includes exports as June 2024. analyst at Canalys. sed concerns over increasing deplo-
SUITS & iPhone volumes grew 53% on-ye-
ar, surging to 23.9 million units, ac-
well as domestic consumption.
Production volumes are expected
Apple’s growth came amidst con-
tinued diversification of its supply
Apple is now planning to under-
take simultaneous day-one manu-
yment of Chinese imagining and
monitoring equipment in healthca-
SAYINGS cording to research firm Canalys to cross the 42 million achieved in chain away from China amidst the facturing of the upcoming iPhone re facilities across the country.
in the January-June period, with 2024, much fas- threat of higher tariffs on the co- 17 in China and India, which is due “Chinese products are everywhere
ET’s roundup of the volumes peaking in March when ter this year, untry by the US administration. to launch in the market in Septem- in the market and data is going to the
wackiest whispers in Apple rushed to export the majori- the research According to government offici- ber. ET reported July 12 that com- Chinese companies,” an industry
corporate corridors ty of the units made in India to the firm said. als, the growth also underpins en- ponents for the iPhone 17, albeit in executive who attended the meeting
US to avoid paying higher tariffs Financial ser- hanced domestic value addition, small quantities, have started arri- told ET. “Today, medical devices are GETTY IMAGES
from April. vices firm ranging from 15-20% depending on ving at the Foxconn plant in Tamil not just medical devices, they can be an estimated 18% share (shipping
Exit Cue Another research firm Cyberme-
dia Research (CMR) said iPhone
iPhone 17 is likely
entering into trial
Phillip Capital
said overall
the model.
“The sharp rise in iPhone ex-
Nadu, indicating the start of trial
production of the upcoming iPho-
means of military defence.”
Keeping in view the gravity of the
devices worth `12,552 crore in 2023-
24), China is a close second with
A private equity export volumes hit 22.88 million production in July production ports in H1 2025 highlights India’s nes. “While not officially confir- situation, the government has ag- 16.4% share (``11,506 crore in FY24).
firm that recent- units in H1 2025, from 15.05 million with components crossed Rs rapid emergence as a leading glo- med, the volume and type of these reed to take up the matter at the hig- In the meeting held early this
ly acquired a in H1 2024, marking a 52% on-year starting to get 94,643 crore in bal manufacturing and export imports make it highly likely that hest level, industry executives said. month, Indian medical device ma-
majority stake imported to India,
rise in export volumes. In value H1 2025, as com- hub for Apple. This double-digit trial production or early-stage as- Modern medical equipment such nufacturers and exporters also
in a newly as per Customs data
terms, Apple exported $22.56 bil- pared to Rs growth in both volume and value sembly has commenced, months as MRI machines, pacemakers, highlighted challenges they face, in-
licensed general lion worth of iPhones from India 57,328 crore in H1 2024, and Rs is emblematic of the success of ahead of Apple’s typical Septem- and diagnostic devices often come cluding high regulatory costs, long
insurer is now in H1 2025, as compared to $14.71 1,38,200 crore in 2024. Production, India’s Production Linked Incen- ber launch window. This would with internet connectivity and clo- approval timelines, and a lack of fo-
reportedly planning to exit its billion in H1 2024, CMR said. after peaking in March (Rs 19,630 tive (PLI) schemes and Apple’s mark a new benchmark with the ud-based data storage. They can be cused product strategy.
other investment — a standa- According to Canalys, overall crore), has slowed down to Rs ongoing successful supply chain earliest ever flagship ramp-up used as tools in grey zone warfare. “Streamlining regulatory proces-
lone health insurer where it production of iPhones in the first 11,267 crore, which is still higher diversification,” said Prabhu from India,” Chaurasia said. Hence, it is important not to source ses and enhancing policy support
holds a controlling stake. While these products from hostile na- are seen as essenti-
holding stakes in both is legally tions, manufacturers said. al steps to revive
permissible given their distinct DURABILITY, LONGEVITY KEY CONCERNS FOR CONSUMERS They also urged the government
to put in place necessary checks
growth and move
towards a self-reli-
segments, rising customer

Flip Phones Turn Out to be a Flop

complaints at the health insurer and balances to ensure there is no ant Atmanirbhar
have raised eyebrows. Industry re-routing of Chinese devices via Bharat,” said an ex-
insiders believe the PE firm may
other countries. ecutive who atten-
Given the
“Without firing a single bullet, a gravity of the ded the meeting.
already be plotting its way out.
hostile nation can rig the devices situation, govt Rajiv Nath, forum
2024, and a sharper 36% fall in the mistic, forecasting a turnaround India is not an outlier. Even in de- (with bugs or malware) and use has agreed to coordinator at Asso-
Subhrojit Mallick quarter ended March. with about 20% growth this calen- veloped markets like Europe and them as secret weapons,” a second ciation of Indian Me-
Hiring Hurdles Analysts expect foldables to re- dar year, driven by Samsung’s la- the US, foldable smartphone ship- executive said.
address the
matter at the dical Device Indust-
Meanwhile, the New Delhi: It flips, it folds, and main a niche segment for the fore- test foldables and fresh launches ments have remained flattish, de- “Population health data can be mi- highest level, ry (AiMeD), urged
search for a new now it flops. Foldable smartpho- seeable future as consumers lar- from Vivo and Motorola. spite increased competition dri- sused by Chinese firms using Chine- industry execs the government to
CEO at this nes—hailed as the future of mobi- gely consider the devices fragi- Yet, the segment is ex- ving prices downwards, according se-owned medical devices, especially said act on the six strate-
troubled bank
le handsets when they debuted se- le, pricey—notwithstanding pected to to multiple analysts. IoT (internet of things)-enabled ima- gy frameworks an-
ven years ago—are now seeing the- recent price cuts—and lack- For overall global shipments gining and monitoring equipment,” nounced in the National Medical De-
continues — but
ir sales charts do some folding of ing attractive use-cases. of foldables, Counterpoint Re- the person said. “A lot of such equip- vices Policy, 2023, aimed at making
word is that two
their own. “Despite all the atten- search has forecasted a single di- ment is installed in the country.” India a global manufacturing hub.
frontrunners
Despite multiple iterations and a tion new foldable devi- git degrowth in 2025, after 2.9% Some countries have already ban- This is crucial “considering the
may no longer be in the running drop in the average selling price ces receive, they are ned imports of medical equipment potential adverse impact of US tra-
when a final call is made. One is (ASP), foldable smartphone ship- still too expensive GLOBAL TREND from certain countries and compa- de negotiations seeking duty re-
set to retire soon, while the ments in India fell 47% year-on-ye- for mass-market nies, device manufacturers said. ductions for their medical devi-
other is grappling with issues at
his current workplace, where he
ar in 2024, when they accounted for appeal,” said Even in developed markets, They also flagged issues regar- ces” as part of the proposed India-
less than 0.5% of the overall mar- Jan Stryjak, as- ding indirect dumping of Chinese US bilateral trade pact, he said.
has reportedly been stripped of ket, according to IDC. sociate director at foldable smartphone products via transit countries such These proposed strategic moves
all key responsibilities. Current- This was followed by another Counterpoint Rese- as Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore include easing regulatory proces-
ly on leave, the latter is said to 20% dip in the first quarter of 2025, arch. “Further, most consu- shipments have remained flat or other countries that have a free ses, improving infrastructure, at-
be weighing his options as as per the market research firm mers are still not sure what a fol- trade agreement (FTA) with India. tracting investments, and facilita-
tensions with his employer that tracks shipments from manu- dable phone is for, and may still ha- remain niche with sales YoY growth in 2024. The USA is the dominant supplier ting research and innovation,
show no signs of easing. facturers to distributors and retai- ve concerns about the durability of under 800,000 units in 2025, said However, the segment remains of medical equipment to India, with among others.
lers. and longevity of the devices.” Shubham Singh, analyst at Coun- aspirational, and brands continue
Privy to the whispers in power Counterpoint Research, which IDC expects foldable shipments terpoint. According to the resear- to launch new models as a showca-
corridors or juicy tips on India Inc? tracks retail sales to consumers, to decline by over 10% on year in cher, India’s smartphone sales rea- se of their engineering prowess,
Do share with us at
[email protected] reported a 12% on-year decline in 2025. Counterpoint is more opti- ched 153 million units in 2024. experts said.
WCD Alerts States of High
 Emcure, Sanofi Tie Up for Anti-diabetic Drugs
MUMBAI Pune-based Emcure Pharma and the Indian unit of French
drugmaker Sanofi have entered into an exclusive distribution and
Diageo CEO Steps Down, Finance Chief Jhangiani to Lead for Now
ce chief Nik Jhangia- tors after a bumpy start to
Oil Consumption Risks
an urgent call for preventive ac-
promotion agreement for oral anti-diabetic products in India. Reuters ni taking over in the her tenure, was leaving Teena Thacker tion, it said.
—Our Bureau interim as the compa- immediately by mutual According to NFHS-5, one in five
Diageo CEO Debra Crew ny strives to boost its agreement. New Delhi: The ministry of wo- adults in urban India is overwe-
has stepped down after two performance and cut It did not give further de- men and child development (WCD) ight or obese. In parallel, the Pos-
years in the job, the world’s debt. tails but said it was mainta- has issued an advisory to states as- han Tracker data (May, 2025) reve-
biggest spirits maker said Shares in the maker ining its forecasts for fiscal king them to focus on reducing als that 6% children under five ye-
on Wednesday, with finan- of Johnnie Walker 2025 and 2026. consumption of edible oils in daily ars of age in the Anganwadi Cen-
Debra Crew; Nik Jhangiani whisky and Gu- The company is in the diets, in light of the rising burden ters fall into the
inness beer ro- midst of a turnaround dri- of overweight and obesity. overweight/obese category.
se as much as ve and in May unveiled a It had earlier too urged the Sta- “These trends, largely driven by
4.5% after the plan to cut $500 million in tes/ UTs to exercise caution in the unhealthy diets, reduced physical
Financial Ti- costs and make substantial use of added sugar, salt, preservati- activity and bad lifestyle signifi-
mes first repor- asset sales by 2028. ves, colors, and other synthetic in- cantly heighten the risk of non-
ted the news, Diageo’s woes began with gredients in the preparation of communicable diseases such as di-
before paring falling sales, particularly supplementary nutrition provided abetes, hypertension, heart disea-
gains. in Latin America, where a in Anganwadis through Take Ho- se and certain cancers,” it said.
Diageo said stock build-up triggered a me Rations (THR) and hot Cooked The latest data on prevalence of
Crew, who November 2023 profit war- Meals (HCM). obesity in the country warrants
struggled to ning and shook investor The latest data on prevalence of an urgent call for preventive ac-
win over inves- confidence. obesity in the country warrants tion, it said.

Ford Motor Estimates

$570m Hit from Recall
Fix After Vehicle Fires
tion website. Ford has
Bloomberg identified eight instan-
ces where cracking in a
Ford Motor is recalling fuel injector led to a fire
almost 700,000 vehicles to under the car’s hood. No-
address a long-running ne of these resulted in in-
issue over cracking in an juries.
auto part that can leak fu- Ford said in a separate
el into the engine and cau- regulatory filing that it
se fires. expected to incur about
The action applies to $570 million in costs as it
certain Bronco Sport and evaluates
Escape models from 2020 fixes for the
to 2024, according to do- problem. It
cuments posted on the will be trea-
National Highway Traf- ted as a spe-
fic Safety Administra- cial item in
its second-
quarter results and
won’t affect its ad-
justed earnings or
cash flow, the compa-
ny said.
Ford shares were
down 1% before regu-
lar trading Wednes-
day in New York.
Issues with the fuel
injectors were iden-
tified as early as 2022,
when Ford recalled
about 500,000 vehi-
cles. US auto-safety
regulators opened a
so-called recall que-
ry in 2024 to assess
the adequacy of the
prior action, saying
that Ford’s remedy
plan “does not add-
ress the root cause of
the issue.”

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES | KOLKATA | THURSDAY | 17 JULY 2025 | WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM

Companies: Pursuit of Profit  5
Rising star
Actor Owen Cooper has
become the youngest-
ever Emmy Awards
nominee at age 15 for
Pending Indo-US Trade Deal Puts
his role in Adolescence

Global Cos in Wait & Watch Mode

Many sectors hit by uncertainty; brands wait for India’s stand on tariffs compared to rivals
Princess Kate dresses banquet, wearing a red Givenchy gown
with a built-in cape sweeping down from
her shoulders. It was regal, sure, but also
strategic, given that Givenchy is now
Writankar Mukherjee &
Final Call Awaited
a preliminary agreement
with Vietnam is also underta-

for a new (life) stage

Jayashree Bhosale ken which would cut the ta-
designed by Sarah Burton, the British Electronics, textiles, Global companies await US brands reluctant
seafood, jewellery hit clarity before signing Indian to shift if tariffs riffs to 20% from 46% impo-
designer who made Kate’s wedding gown Kolkata | Pune: The long sed earlier. Trump has also
by client uncertainty manufacturing deals remain similar
and who has been her collaborator on drawn India-US tariff negoti- threatened a 10% additional
Her recent public appearances at Wimbledon and a numerous high-profile public occasions. ations for over a quarter now tariff on imports from BRICS
And there Kate was at the Wimbledon have impacted new export or- countries such as India and
French state visit symbolise a new kind of style

E
women’s final in a cream jacket and ders, business plans and sig- China.
a rl i e r t h i s y e a r, wh e n long pleated skirt, a appropriate riff ning new US clients for the In- Long term export orders for
Interim US-China,
Catherine, the Princess of on tennis whites and her position as dian businesses, as global gem and jewellery from the
US-Vietnam tariff
companies and brands have US are impacted too, inclu-
Wales, returned to the public patron of the All England Lawn Tennis deals already in place
entered a wait and watch mo- ding for the Christmas and
eye after her treatment for & Croquet Club. de, multiple industry executi- year-end shopping period.
cancer, The Sunday Times of London So, too, the royal blue ankle-length ves said. smartp- In April, the US had imposed “The process of placing or-
reported that she was doing so with Roksanda dress she wore to the men’s This is across sectors such hones for a 26% reciprocal tariff on In- ders for Christmas usually
a caveat: She wanted to focus on her final was perfectly coordinated with as electronics, apparel and the US. dia which was soon suspen- begins in June from the JCK
work, not her clothes. Her office would Prince William’s blue blazer, Prince textile, sea-food, gems and je- Karbonn Group ma- ded by Trump for all countri- Show of jewellery at Las Ve-
no longer share information about what G eorge’s blue suit a nd P ri ncess wellery. naging director Pardeep Jain es including India to strike gas; first with sample line or-
she wore. Charlotte’s white dress trimmed in blue, Electronic contract manu- said there is huge uncertain- trade deals. ders followed by the full or-
Even if it was understandable, given all creating a picture of family unity. facturers like Dixon Techno- ty right now as far as US busi- The US is India’s largest tra- ders in September-October.
logies, Micromax-owned ness is concerned. ding part- This process has been disrup-
what she had been through, and even All demonstrating that Catherine is as
PICS: REUTERS, AFP

Bhagwati Products and Kar- “Brands have made it clear ner with bi- ted as the US importers are
if the report was later disputed by the attuned as ever to the role image-making bonn Group said while exis- that if there is no substantial lateral tra- buying only for a short term
While existing
palace itself, it sent tremors through the William and Catherine, plays in her job. ting US export business is duty difference between In- exports are de valued at for each month as there is no
fashion-watching community. Prince and Princess of continuing as per schedule, dia and China, they are unlik- going as per $131.84 bil- clarity on the exact rate of ta-
That was partly because the princess Wales, at the French state Fashion forward new orders and clients have ely to shift manufacturing to lion in 2024- riff,” said Sabyasachi Ray, ex-
schedule, new
banquet at Windsor Castle
could change the fortunes of a designer That’s not new. What is new, however, mostly put on hold plans till India. orders and 25. ecutive director, Gems and
or a brand simply by wearing a dress. is the style in which she is doing it. Her the tariff negotiations are “Discussions are still conti- clients have The US Jewellery Export Promotion
A nd it wa s pa r t ly (she did skip Ascot), but she skirts have gotten longer, her jackets complete. nuing,” he said. mostly put on president Council.
because she had long The is no less strategic. She is more tailored, her silhouette more “Prospective clients who This comes while India and hold plans till last month There are rate negotiations
Roksanda wanted to manufacture in In- the US are negotiating a trade the tariff said an inte- as well from the US buyers.
used her place in the simply being Kate 3.0. streamlined. The effect of dropping her dia for the US are in a wait deal amidst threat from the rim trade Ray said the buyers are say-
dress she wore negotiations
attention economy There she was, after all, at hemlines even a few inches is a reminder and watch mode, expecting a US president Donald Trump deal with ing that they expect demand
are complete
to shine a light to the men’s final at the state visit, welcoming that she is dressing for the long game. clarity on where India stands of high tariffs on the nation. China has to decline if jewellery beco-
not just on British Wimbledon matched Emmanuel and Brigitte Like the lanky pantsuits she had vis-a-vis China and Vietnam Trump on Wednesday said been finalised with Washing- mes expensive due to increa-
products, but also with the rest of Macron in a blush-coloured adopted for her everyday appearances, in terms of US tariff,” said that the deal could be soon fi- ton reducing the tariffs from se in US tariff from India.
the family Dixon Technologies mana- nalised with India before re- 145% to 30% and thereafter “Some buyers are negotia-
on issues including Dior jacket and a skirt her style is shaping up as a new formula
s u s t a i n abi l it y by covered i n net, just for dressing. As recognisable, in its own ging director Atul Lall. Dixon ciprocal tariffs are again im- further revising it to 55%. ting about sharing the bur-
remaking and rewearing br u sh i n g her c a lve s. way, as the monochrome formula that already produces Motorola posed from August 1. Trump also announced that den," he said.
pieces from her closet, and The brand is both classic served Queen Elizabeth II so well: Shoes-
even renting the occasional French and about to be led to-coat-to-dress-to-hat in one shade.
evening gown. by a designer from Northern And it brings a new dimension to the GREEN WAREHOUSING STOCK EXPECTED TO QUADRUPLE TO 270 M SQ FT BY 2030
Ireland who was trained in symbolism inherent in Kate’s role. She is
Strategic approach
A s h e r a p p e a r a n c e at t h e
Wimbledon men’s and women’s
Britain.
It was a considered nod to
political alliance (the kind
representing not just the next generation
of the family. She is representing the idea
of elegance emerging from adversity,
Global Tenants Steer India’s Warehousing
finals, and at the French state visit,
demonstrated, however, Kate may be
more selective about her appearances
she has practised since
marrying Prince William) that
she repeated at the French state
associations .
an idea that has both micro and macro

— The New York Times

Sector Towards Sustainable, Green Future rehousing stock is expected to quadru- and cost,” said Mehul Shah, CEO, India
Kailash Babar ple to 270 million square feet by 2030, up of Singapore-headquartered logistics

Lion cub cuddles on offer with afternoon tea in China Mumbai: India’s warehousing indust-
ry is witnessing a green transforma-
from 65 million square feet in 2024, sho-
wed data from JLL India. This under-
scores how global corporations are stee-
platform LO-GOI Group. The share of
green-certified space is expected to rise
substantially as institutional players
Teatime revels in China now Wechat and Weibo platforms. ($150), the state-run Shanghai
tion, driven not just by developers and ring demand towards sustainable, ener- prioritise globally recognised stan-
include hugs with lion cubs The Wanhui restaurant in Daily said on its official investors but increasingly by multina- gy-efficient assets as part of dards like LEED, IGBC, and GRIHA to
in a four-course afternoon Taiyuan city features llamas, Wechat page. tional corporate occupiers whose global their Net Zero strategies. attract and retain marquee tenants.
set offered by a restaurant turtles and deer in addition “The service has raised sustainability mandates are reshaping “Sustainability features “We believe that this shift towards gre-
in the northern province of to the cubs on its page on concerns about legality and the market. such as green certifications, en assets is not just good for the planet, it
Shanxi, drawing widespread Douyin, China’s counterpart animal welfare,” the English- As companies tighten focus on their energy-efficient architecture, and ad- is smart business. Sustainable wareho-
attention online and fuelling to social media app TikTok. language newspaper added. supply chain emissions to meet Scope 3 vanced water management systems are uses offer operational efficiencies, long-
concern for the animals’ Wanhui, which opened The incident comes after targets that include all indirect green- no longer optional—they’re essential term savings, and future-proof value for
welfare.
Customers cradled the lion
t
believe ir not
! in June, sells about 20
tickets a day to customers
authorities investigated a
hotel in June for offering a
house gas (GHG) emissions, green-cer-
tified warehouses have moved from be-
for attracting and retaining high-quali-
ty, long-term occupiers. Global brands
both landlords and occupiers. The co-
ming years will see a clear divide betwe-
PIC: TIKTOK

ing a ‘nice-to-have’ to a ‘must-have’ in In- with ambitious ESG targets now priori- en assets that can meet these expecta-
cubs as if they were babies
in pictures and video clips
posted online on China’s
o
looking to snuggle with
the animals as part of a
set menu costing 1,078 yuan
red pandas .
“wake-up service” starring

— Reuters
dia’s rapidly expanding logistics lands-
cape, experts said.
Led by this, India’s certified green wa-
tise assets that demonstrate strong envi-
ronmental performance throughout
their lifecycle, beyond mere location
tions and those that cannot,” said An-
shul Singhal, co-founder & MD, Wels-
pun One.

VITALS
Eng Lose 2 WTC Points
For Slow Over Rate
London: England were docked
Claret Dreams
Pursuit of the golf’s most prestigious trophy begins anew
two World Test Championship
(WTC) points and fined 10% as The Open returns to Portrush after six years
match fees on Wednesday for
their slow over rate in the third awarded in 1873, is Championship, he’s in a solitary
more than a trophy. league of excellence. Reflecting on
test against India at Lord’s. The
hosts went 2-1 up in the five-test HOLE It’s a legacy. his recent triumph, he said, “To
series with a thrilling 22-run
victory but were found two
IN ONE Sun, wind and salty w i n t h e B y r o n N e l s o n
air will frame the Championship at home, I literally
overs short of target in a match mega duel of stars at worked my entire life to become
where the Dukes ball went out the season’s final major. good at golf to have an opportuni-
Anand Datla Scottie Scheffler brings re- ty to win that tournament,” before
of shape several times and had
lentless consistency. McIlroy adding, “you celebrate, hug your

T
to be replaced. Players lose 5%
of their match fees for every he 153rd Open offers flair. Jordan Spieth, always family,” then ask, ‘What are we do-
over their team fail to bowl in Championship on the rug- unpredictable, adds drama. ing for dinner?’ Life goes on.” That
the allotted time. It also costs the ged Antrim coast promises Jon Rahm enters with momen- balance fuels his consistency.
team one WTC point. England thrilling spectacle and intriguing tum. A top-10 mainstay on the For McIlroy, this is person-
slipped from second to third drama. An expectant crowd of LIV Golf Tour, Rahm has al. Raised in nearby
in the WTC standings behind 2,78,000 fans will descend on the been steady at the majors Holywood, his 2019 Open
Sri Lanka following the points Dunluce Links, bringing an elec- — 14th at the Masters, began with a quadruple
deduction. Reuters trifying atmosphere to this his- 8th at the PGA, and 7th at and ended with a missed
toric venue. Royal Portrush Golf the US Open. A win cut. A Grand Slam at the
Two-tier Test System, Club, with its serrated cliffs and would earn him company Masters was followed by a
T20 WC Expansion on sea spray, will test skill, tempera- with Seve Ballesteros as THE OPEN rough patch, including
ment and tenacity. While the the only Spaniards to lift CHAMPIONSHIP a missed cut in Canada.
ICC AGM Agenda
Singapore: The much-debated Causeway Coast is known for its the Jug. “In my opinion, The Open But he appears to have regained
idea of a two-tier Test system, natural beauty — basalt cliffs, sea is the most prestigious event you some hunger. A runner-up finish
expansion of the T20 World Cup caves, and sandy beaches — this can win in golf,” said Rahm. “The at the Scottish Open last week is
and ratification of new members week, eyes will train on the Claret Jug is the most special one.” promising. If he’s in contention
are some of the topics that will world’s best golfers and their pur- Spieth and Jason Day thrive on on Sunday, Portrush will erupt.
be discussed during the four- suit of the Claret Jug. links courses. Spieth, with 58 Xander Schauffele, the defend-
day AGM of the International Portrush has waited six years for rounds on links under his belt, ing champion, and Bryson
Cricket Council (ICC), beginning this moment. In 2019, Shane claimed victory in 2017 and has DeChambeau will also be in the
today. With the 2025-27 World Lowry thrilled the crowd with a four other top-10 finishes. His mix. Collin Morikawa, winner
Test Championship (WTC) cycle stunning victory. That energy will calm in wind and chaos is an asset. at Royal St. George’s in 2021,
in progress, the discussion on return, louder and more passion- Day is resurgent. A top 10 at the struggles on the greens but still
the two-tier Test format is set to ate than ever. Masters and strong finishes in re- wields a world-class iron game.
revolve around fund allocation But amid the celebration lies a cent Opens (T2 and T13) suggest Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell
and clauses surrounding stern warning — Portrush de- he can get in contention. H a t t o n , M a c I n t y r e, a n d
promotion and relegation. While mands focus. A moment’s distrac- Joaquin Neimann, Robert Fitzpatrick are dangerous dark
there is no intention to add more tion can ruin a round. The course, MacIntyre, and Matt Fitzpatrick horses. The weather could be a
teams to the 50-over World stretching 7,337 yards, is as brutal have the ball shape and clubhead factor. Winds of 24 to 31 km/h
Cup, the ICC may mull adding as it is beautiful. Calamity Corner, speed necessary to challenge on a are expected on Thursday. Rain
more teams to the T20 version, the par-3 16th, looms large. links course. All three men flight may arrive on Friday, raising the
potentially swelling it to 24 Perched above a deep ravine, the an apex in the region of 90 feet pressure on early starters to post
participants. PTI green punishes even the slightest while attaining clubhead speeds low scores before the showers
error. In 2019, Rory McIlroy found of nearly 120mph. Underestimate soften the course.
JAPAN OPEN the green off the tee but four-putt- any of them at your own risk. The Open is an opportunity to
Sat-Chi, Lakshya into ed for a double bogey. “I lost con- Scheffler continues to dominate. taste history right out of the jug
2nd Round; Sindhu Out centration,” he admitted. The Averaging nearly three strokes that pours the finest
Tokyo: Two-time Olympic course doesn’t just bare its teeth gained per round, he leads the Bourdeaux wine. At Royal
medallist PV Sindhu endured — it sinks them deep into the flesh. field by a huge margin. With Portrush, the goliaths of
yet another first-round exit The Open, steeped in tradition nine top-10 finishes and golf will launch into a fero-
but Lakshya Sen and the men’s since 1860, remains golf ’s most three titles this year, includ- cious battle to win the
doubles pair of Satwiksairaj historic prize. The Claret Jug, first ing the PGA coveted Claret Jug.
Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty
moved into the second round
with comfortable wins at the
Japan Open on Wednesday.
The 30-year-old Sindhu went
down 15-21, 14-21 to Korea’s Sim
Yu Jin, marking her fifth first-
round exit this year. Satwik and
Chirag, ranked 15th, defeated
the Korean duo of Kang Min
Hyuk and Kim Dong Ju 21-18, 21-
10. Lakshya, who has struggled
for form this season, making
a string of first-round exits,
dispatched China’s Wang Zheng
Xing 21-11, 21-18. PTI

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Tesla Swerves Into ECO CHAMBER Despite weak demand, the central bank should curb its reflationary zeal a bit

India’s EV Bylane
With no factory plans, Chinese, Indian will gain
The first Tesla showroom in India opened in Mumbai on
Stick to a Curbed Diet, RBI vestment rut has continued in India
long after Covid waned, it is difficult
Tuesday, pushing the world’s most valued auto company to blame Indian companies for being
into a niche market in India. Much hoo-ha has followed sin-
ce people have gone to window-shop at the Bandra Kurla
too timid. A farm sector recovery in
2024 promised to even out the K-sha- Solitude and
Loneliness
pe of the post-Covid trajectory, but it
Complex storefront. The fact is, Tesla is testing the market was replaced by concerns about the
after talks with GoI over lowering import duties stalled. ‘hollowing out’ of the middle class,
Additional production in India may not be possible, with Abheek Barua with white-collar job losses particu-
larly in IT-related sectors. The fear,
NARAYANI GANESH

T
the EV-maker facing glut in its plants worldwide. So, Tesla stoked by some commentators, is Being alone, experiencing solitu-
will be competing for the high-end Indian market against here are moments in the li- that as AI gathers steam, an entire de, creating me-time — these are
luxury carmakers. The mass market for EVs is protected ves of central bankers swathe of mid-tier jobs is at risk. very different from feeling lonely.
when they cease to exult What does this mean for RBI? If Loneliness has a sad tinge to it; it
by Indian auto firms that have made inroads into electric over unexpectedly low in- structural factors are, indeed, the rea- implies you are longing for com-
mobility. Chinese EV makers, which are piling pressure flation and consider what son for muted credit growth, moneta- panionship or that you do not
on Tesla in a bruising price war, are gaining presence here. it is that is causing prices to behave ry policy has a somewhat limited role wish to be alone simply because
well. The inflation print of 2.14% for Easy on the regime change to play. As the current combination of you feel lost, bored or are fearful;
Market testing is critical for Tesla, whose cars come June might be one such moment. overdone monetary compression a down, but 2020 — the year of Covid — massive excess liquidity and weak cre- you are yearning to be with peo-
bundled with bespoke battery charging infra. India also Looking past the usual explana- tad, resulting in the super-low infla- might be a good place to start. The re- dit growth has shown, more accom- ple, maybe family members or
represents a difficult market for autonomous vehicles, tions of financial market econo- tion rates. covery from the consumption drop modation can give the impression of close friends. There is nothing
mists on base effects and sequential With inflation seemingly under was robust, but there seems to have an emerging ‘liquidity trap’, where in- wrong with this or with feeling
on which Elon Musk is placing a big drops in food prices, a headline infla- control, all Sanjay Malhotra needs to been a sizeable element of pent-up or terest rates fail to move the needle. lonely now and then — but it cer-
bet. Prospects of a favourable tax dis- tion print that is a good couple of per- do is reverse the process. He seems to revenge spending that was bound to This could hurt broader sentiment in tainly needs to be addressed if it
pensation to test Tesla’s products in centage points below the target of have done this in good measure with peter out. Economists might bran- the economy if it becomes the domi- is a constant feeling that refuses
4% might be telling us something reductions of half-a-percentage po- dish conflicting data to either ques- nant economic narrative. to go away. Most seekers on the spi-
India brightened with Musk’s proxi- about a sluggishness of demand that int each in the repo rate and CRR. He The post-Covid pe- ritual path are what we call loners
mity to Donald Trump. But they now no statistical trope can mask. might want to do a little more, but the Shaktikanta Das might have riod saw a sharp in- —their quest impels them to look
The need to fret becomes compel- key lesson that business cycle theory overdone monetary crease in household inward and reflect; to ponder over
are ex-es who didn’t part well at all. In- compression a tad, resulting
ling when inflation prints are seen in offers him is the virtue of patience. debt. From an avera- the meaning of life — their pers-
dia is working on a trade deal with the conjunction with other indicators, Monetary policy works with lags. in super-low inflation rates. ge of 35% in 2019, it pective is looking towards an ex-
US that should improve market ac- such as loan demand and piles of sur- Malhotra should stop fretting over With inflation seemingly climbed to 42% of panded cosmic view. Not every-
cess for US companies. But Tesla is unlikely to receive plus cash at banks. Credit growth me- current growth or demand and wait under control, Sanjay GDP at the end of 2024. one can be that way, of course.
asured year-on-year for June was a for his labour to bear fruit — perhaps Malhotra just has While this might still be The average human is gregari-
special treatment, unless it is willing to commit invest- little over 9%, and cash surplus rea- by the end of the year or a few to reverse the lower than levels in other ous by nature and so likes com-
ments in the country. ched a peak of `9 tn in early July befo- months later. process emerging economies, such a sharp in- pany, chit-chats, arguments, con-
Tesla follows Apple in setting up retail touchpoints in re RBI started mopping it up. The cre- However, there’s a problem if one crease has challenges. If monetary po- versations, sparring and so on.
dit growth rate for the same period in sees the lack of demand as a long- tion or support the view that the eco- licy lowers interest rates, it does bring But those who prefer to be alone
India, but their circumstances are in stark contrast. The- June 2024 was, incidentally, over 19%. term structural problem rather than nomic recovery was uneven or not, down EMIs of households. However, if relish that experience of peace
re is a significant market share for iPhones in India, and What lessons should RBI draw a neat cyclical story. Both consumer but most consumer-facing compani- banks use easy money to expand their and quiet, of being able to conver-
Apple has set up a manufacturing export base here. The from this? Standard business cycle demand and private consumption ha- es would attest that the recovery was retail portfolios at a time when emplo- sewith oneself and maybe just be.
theory would advise it to fear not. ve been flagging, at least since 2017, K-shaped, with a bias against the yment and income flows are uncerta- Those surrounded by noisy peo-
size of Tesla’s addressable market is much smaller, and it The fall in inflation is likely to be the and the attempt to push them up to le- mass market. in, there is a risk of loans going bad, ple and who long for peace and
has export capacities idling. Tesla has a more diversified result of past efforts at monetary vels compatible with a sustained 7%- Besides, post-2020 geopolitical threatening financial stability. quiet may value some alone time.
tightening that are paying off. It is plus growth rate has been risks ratcheted up with two wars — Finally, if we do believe Milton Loneliness expresses the pain of
manufacturing presence than Apple, which is cutting
impossible for central banks to unsuccessful. Ukraine and West Asia. Automation Friedman’s claim that inflation is ul- being alone and solitude express-
down on its Chinese concentration. Indian policy desig- get things exactly right. With It is possible to go furt- found an upward inflection point as timately a monetary phenomenon, es the glory of being alone, wro-
ned to attract foreign investment will not be equally ef- his oft-quoted ‘Arjuna’s eye’ her back to search for AI made its arrival as a usable, sca- leaving too much excess cash in the te Paul Tillich. Most often, those
on inflation, ex-governor causes of this structu- lable innovation. A new US presi- system might exacerbate inflation who are comfortable with them-
fective for the two companies. Some degree of customisa-
Shaktikanta Das might have ral slow- dent and his protectionist policies pressures if there are supply shocks selves do treasure the opportuni-
tion is required to get iconic brands to set up production brought a real risk of a compression in food and fuel. RBI might want to ty to be alone. This gives space to
in the country. Tesla could find itself in a better place in An emerging ‘liquidity trap’, in global trade and a domestic Ame- curb enthusiasm about reflating the think without interruptions, to re-
where interest rates fail to rican recession. economy a little. flect and muse, to take decisions
India down the road. move the needle, could hurt broader free of disturbances. More than
Companies dislike uncertainty in
sentiment in the economy if it decision matrices as much as weak The writer is former chief economist, anything else, it gives us the opp-
becomes the dominant narrative demand. If, indeed, the private in- HDFC Bank ortunity to know ourselves better.

Our Courts Confirm Bell Curves  R Prasad Chat Room

We’re Like This Only ChatGPT
SHAIRI
Global Agri Production
Over the next decade, the gross value of global agricultural production Sad Crossing of
It is what it is. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court confirmed that OF THE DAY
(measured in constant $) is projected to increase by 14% to $3.96 trillion
in 2034. Livestock production will lead the growth (16%), followed RKLaxman Rekha
India is not a liberal democratic society that puts the right of by crops (14%). Region-wise, MICs* in East, South and SE Asia, SSA* &
In Bihar, with votes Apropos the news report, ‘Right
LatAm$ regions are expected to drive global expansion, contributing
freedom and speech on par with — never mind above — the in the air, 83% of all output growth, up from 79% in the previous decade... to Dignity Will Trump Right to
right to dignity. In other words, being offended gets a free hand Freedom of Speech and Expres-
They claimed some were Trends in global agricultural production sion: Apex Court’ (Jul 16), in con-
to take punitive action against the person offending. The 2- ghosts, some were rare. South & Developed Sub-Saharan Far East & Europe & North LatAm & trast to the Supreme Court’s dis-
member bench was hearing pleas against five standup come- 1200
Southeast & East Asia Africa N Africa Central Asia America the Caribb
turbing observation, zealous sup-
With a squint and a pout, Asia
dians making ‘insensitive jokes’ — as opposed to ‘sensitive’ porters of ultra-conservative Do-
They took 1000 nald Trump, target of countless
ones — about persons with disabilities. Where criticism wo- Fisheries
calculators out — caricatures in the US media, have
uld have been an earlier standard response against offensive
Bln 2014-16 USD

800
‘Let’s subtract all the ones not slammed libellous lawsuits
remarks (that lie outside the ambit of fomenting enmity bet- Livestock on anyone. With India increasing-
who aren’t there!’ 600
ween communities), Article 21 of the Constitution, providing ly witnessing pleas on spurious
Crops grounds against reputations be-
right to dignity, as part of right to life and liberty, has been sta- 400
Marco Rubio from a ing besmirched in public, will
ted to legally ‘trump’ Article 19, the right
SANJEEV RAJ JAIN

200 Nigerian number says that this approach not hamper hone-
to freedom and expression. This observa- st criticism couched in humour
tion mirrors the reality of how Indian so- 0 I have won £50,000 in to attract public attention to fla-
-24 34 24 34 24 34 24 34 24 34 24 34 24 34
ciety weighs freedom of expression. 20
22 20 022-
2
20 022-
2
20 022-
2
20 022-
2
20 022-
2
20 022-
2
20
a lottery! ws in governance? One cannot
underestimate the valuable con-
Hearing a separate case on the same day, *Middle-income countries; ^Sub-Saharan Africa; $Latin America & the Caribbean
tribution made to our society by
Source: OECD
another Supreme Court bench granted our leading cartoonist, illustra-
cartoonist Hemant Malviya interim pro- tor and humorist, R K Laxman.

Take Our Breath Away

Buddha Bagai
tection from arrest. He has been booked
New Delhi
over a January 2021 cartoon mocking the PM and RSS over Co-
STEP UP TO
vid vaccination. Such protection can be considered the limit of
Indian liberalism’s approach to satire, coming as it does a day THE PLATE The Age of the
Bureaucritic
after the court criticised Malviya for his ‘immature’ cartoon
that portrayed its subjects in an ‘undignified’ manner after the
Despite this, the latest notification
this month marks a significant roll-
fixed chimney designs to zigzag tech
by February 2025. This design is a
Tuju This refers to the Edit, ‘Step Out
accused apologised and deleted the cartoon from social media. back. While Category A’s 2027 dead- technique for firing bricks in which São Paulo of That Old Bureaububble’ (Jul
India does not share the kind of liberal leeway that countries al- line remains, norms for Category B zigzag paths are used to pass hot air The pandemic forced the clo- 16). It is unfortunate and disap-
plants were diluted, with compliance through raw bricks, improving heat sure of many restaurants, pointing that some bureaucra-
lowing lampoons of PMs, presidents and monarchs still do. Per- now determined on a case-by-case transfer and efficiency. But imple- and Tuju was among them. tic innovators have aligned with
haps, in this regard, it is ahead of the curve in a world growing basis based on recommendations mentation has been patchy. MoEF But after a 3-year hiatus, it ‘I Am Safe’ IAS, which once sto-
increasingly truculent against sarcasm and jibes that were once KumKum Dasgupta from Environmental Appraisal Com- and pollution control boards haven’t has returned stronger than odfor ‘I Am Sorry’ — a telling cri-
frowned upon by hypersensitive parties, but legally tolerated. mittee. Category C units were comple- issued SOPs or technical guidance. ever. With a refined vision tique of the Indian Administra-
tely exempted from actual emission There are no worker skilling pro- for dining, Tuju now offers tive Services. This reflects a rel-
With all the noise over Delhi’s poorly controls, and are now only required to grammes, no institutional support a research-driven menu and uctance to take risks and say ‘yes’
framed end-of-life (EoL) vehicle policy meet stack height requirements. for technology upgrades, and little exceptional service. to meaningful
fading, and the monsoon gifting the ‘This progressive weakening contra- monitoring of kilns that claim to The comeback, however, reform. The en-
JUST IN JEST city a few clean-air days, it almost feels
like happy days are here again. But
dicts the original intent of the 2015
regulation. Exempting 77% of coal-
have switched.
Worse, the transition policy is hur-
hasn’t been easy. It took mon-
ths of travel and experimen-
trenched bure-
aucratic estab-
the air pollution veil hangs over NCR based capacity from pollution controls ting its own cause. In NCR, for in- tation for Tuju 2.0’s philoso- lishment has
Shubhanshu Shukla may start a year-round like a Damocles’ sword. raises serious health concerns, not stance, kilns — even those using phy to take shape. In Septem- been rightly en-
new line of non-resident Indians And it will soon return. only for communities near the plants cleaner tech — are allowed to operate ber 2023, when the restau- couraged to en-
Two under-discussed issues stand but also for those living hundreds of only from March to June. This leads to rant reopened, chef Ivan gage more open-

Move Over NRIs, Meet

out. First is the persistent failure to kilometres away, due to the trans- increased imports of bricks from Ralston and hospitality and lywith the pub-
enforce SO2 emission norms for coal- boundary nature of air pollution,’ neighbouring districts. Kiln owners research director Katheri- lic, rather than relying solely on
fired thermal power plants (CFPPs). says CREA analyst Manoj Kumar. who had planned tech upgrades are na Cordás unveiled a meti- politicians, many of whom do not
These were first notified in 2015, The second blind spot is the brick now shelving those plans, given that a remain faithful to the will of the

Future Hyper-NRIs
requiring plants to instal flue gas kiln industry, especially across the 4-month operating window makes people as envisioned by B R Am-
desulphurisation (FGD) systems by Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP). Kilns such investment unviable. bedkar. To promote innovative
2017. That deadline has now been contribute around 10% of PM2.5 emis- While NCR’s numbers may look ideas such as Needonomics (eco-
pushed to 2029 — after four extensions. sions in IGP, and up to 20% if the better on paper, the broader airshed nomics of needs), it is imperati-
Shubhanshu Shukla is truly an inspiration — to become According to Centre for Research on broader MSME sector is included. Yet, continues to suffer, made worse by ve that bureaucracy collabora-
the ultimate NRI. While most non-resident Indians find Energy and Clean Air (CREA), by the sector remains under-regulated, poor access to cleaner fuels. Most tes closely with academicians.
FY25, only 44 of 537 CFPP units had poorly supported, and largely absent kilns lie beyond piped gas networks. M M Goel
themselves trapped in eternal cycles of visa renewals, bio-
installed FGDs. Of the remaining 493, from air pollution conversation. LPG, the only real alternative, requi- culously reimagined appro- Delhi
metric appointments, and deciphering USCIS acronyms 77% were emitting SO2 well above Fired clay bricks dominate India’s res costly retrofits and drives up fuel ach to fine dining.
that sound like rejected Star Wars droids, the astronaut
who returned home — Earth, lest we forget the hierarchy
prescribed limits, while no data was
available for 11% of the units.
construction market, with 120-140 bn
produced annually. Kilns in IGP burn
bills. Biomass briquettes and pellets
are viable, but need kiln tweaks and a
While Tuju’s menu chang-
es with the seasons, a few Be Everyman,
of human habitations — on Tuesday is the posterboy to
Category A plants — within 10 km of
NCR, or cities populated by 1 million-
20-25 Mt of coal and biomass each
year, releasing 30-40 Mt of CO2.
supply chain that doesn’t yet exist.
State pollution control boards are
standout dishes are not to
be missed: cauliflower with
Not Angryman
transcend all terrestrial territorial nonsense. plus — recorded average SO2 emis- Updated emission norms notified in stretched thin and unable to monitor peanut cream and mush- ‘Aggro Not Everyone’s Cuppa,
While you’re wondering if your H-1B will survive the next sions of 991 mg/Nm3. Category B 2022 mandate that kilns switch from thousands of small units. ‘What’s rooms, finished with white Shubman’ (Think About It, Jul
US election, the next generation of NRIs doesn’t need an plants — near critically polluted or needed is not just enforcement but chocolate; scallops paired 16) rings the alarm bell for rein-
non-attainment cities — averaged enablement — training, technical with nasturtium and deli- ing in frayed tempers in the play-
immigration lawyer on speed dial. From their future resi- 1,001 mg/Nm3. Category C plants, assistance, financial support, and cate, flower-shaped yacon ing arena. A coolheaded approa-
dence up there — aboard the International Space Station, located outside these hotspots, av- realignment of private incentives potato slices; and red snap- ch and composure enable one to
or beyond — these hyper-NRIs will enjoy not just less tax eraged 1,014 mg/Nm3. All three exceed with public goals. Working closely per served with hearts of take logical decisions in stress-
but also less gravity; and a diplomatic immunity bubble, permissible thresholds, in some cases with MSMEs to improve operations palm, turmeric and algae. ful situations. The likes of ‘Cap-
1.5-10×, depending on the specific and energy efficiency can significant- But food is not the only fo- tain Cool’ M S Dhoni and the leg-
where Trump tantrums end up in the great vacuum. Even standard applicable. ly reduce both fuel use and emissions,’ cus for Ralston and Cordás. endary late Sir Frank Worrell
your fancy OCI card can’t beat this kind of orbital status. A CREA comparison between CFPP says Greentech Knowledge Solutions As they rightly note, caring must serve as role models for our
The likes of Shukla won’t need a golden visa anywhere, or emissions and paddy straw burning founder Sameer Mathiel. for staff is just as essential young skipper, who must not suc-
even need to say twee things like, ‘India looks so big from in Punjab and Haryana highlights Without robust compliance mecha- as caring for customers. When cumb to the baneful aggro instin-
the scale of the problem. CFPPs emit nisms and meaningful support — employees feel valued, that ct and confrontational approach
up here.’ So, next time you meet an NRI flaunting his Dubai 277 kt of PM and 4,327 kt of SO2 an- whether for cars, coal plants, kilns or care is reflected in the service. that impairs rational thinking
flat or Bel Air condo, ask them, ‘So have you ever peed into a nually — over 10× and 240×, respec- crop fires — air quality will deteriora- This ethos has earned Tuju and besmears the gentleman’s
vacuum while watching the world twinkle from orbit?’ Po- tively, than the 26.7 kt of PM and 17.8 te. What’s needed is patient, systema- the prestigious Gin Mare Art game. O tempora, O mores!
kt of SO2 emitted by burning 8.9 Mt of tic effort. Hold polluters accountable, of Hospitality Award and Amit Banerjee
wered by rocket fuel, not real estate brochures, the next
paddy straw. While stubble burning but also equip them to do better. Only reaffirmed its mission to Mumbai
gen of NRIs should feel secure as cosmic citizens. ‘No Bor- causes seasonal spikes, CFPPs are a then can the smog begin to lift. create a warm, welcoming
Letters to the editor may be addressed to
ders, Just Orbits’ has a nice post-Vedic ring to it, no? year-round, and far larger source, of atmosphere for every guest.
pollution. Kiln-ing fields [email protected] [email protected]

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES | KOLKATA | THURSDAY | 17 JULY 2025 | WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM

Economy: Macro, Micro & More  7

Monsoon
Share of 729 districts June 1-July 16 (by rainfall category)
% Districts with
Large Excess
Excess Large
Deficient
CUMULATIVE RAINFALL
(% DEPARTURE) June 1-July 16
India 9.1
NTPC Can Invest `20kcr and NLC
Watch
FORECAST
18 17 29
Normal
26
Deficient
10
Northwest

-21.1
Central
East & NE
32

31.5
`7,000 crore in Clean Energy Units
Heavy-to-very-heavy rainfall likely to continue over East & adjoining Central India -11 Southern CCEA hikes NTPC investment limit in its clean energy units from `7,500 crore
during next 2 days, and over Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu during next 6-7 days Source:IMD

Our Bureau

Overhaul of Trademark Rules in New Delhi: In a major push to

green energy, the government
PM Scheme for 100 Agri
has raised the investment lim-
Districts Gets Approval
Works to Speed Up Approvals it for NTPC in its renewable
energy arm to Rs 20,000 crore
from Rs 7,500 crore, and al-
lowed NLC India to invest Rs
7,000 crore in NLC India Re-
Our Bureau
by the District Dhan Dhaa-
nya Samiti headed by the
Collector.
DPIIT working on recast; probe in trademark infringement cases to be expedited newables. New Delhi: The union cabi- “The District Plans will be
The cabinet committee on eco- net approved the Prime aligned to the national goals
nomic affairs (CCEA) on Minister Dhan-Dhaanya of crop diversification, con-
Kirtika Suneja
On Fast Track Wednesday enhanced delega-
tion of power to NTPC to invest Vaishnaw said India has
Krishi Yojana (PMDDKY), a
scheme to develop 100 agri-
servation of water and soil
health, self-sufficiency in
New Delhi: The government has begun Govt to reduce 279,000 trademark in NTPC Green Energy Ltd achieved a landmark in its en- cultural districts through agriculture and allied sec-
discussions on revamping the country’s trademark delays, registrations in (NGEL) and, subsequently, ergy transition journey by re- the convergence of 36 tors as well as expansion of
trademark framework, with an aim to fast-track probes & FY24 vs 231,000 NGEL to invest in NTPC Re- aching 50% of its installed schemes of 11 ministries. natural and organic farm-
simplify the process and reduce the pro- registration in FY23 newable Energy Ltd (NREL) electricity capacity from non- The scheme has an outlay ing,” an official statement
cessing time. and its other subsidiaries and fossil fuel sources five years of `24,000 crore per year, said.
TRADEMARK REGISTRY IN INDIA CAN
The Department for Promotion of In- joint ventures to up to Rs 20,000 ahead of the target set under said information and The plans will be based on
dustry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is TAKE 1-3.5 YEARS VS LESS THAN crore to achieve 60 GW renew- its Nationally Determined broadcasting minister Ash- extensive consultations and
working on a set of 1 YEAR IN DEVELOPED NATIONS able energy capacity by 2032. Contributions (NDCs) to the wini Vaishnaw adding that understanding cropping
amendments to the Talks on to halve Hearings could be Likewise, NLC India has been Paris Agreement. it will be implemented for patterns and allied activ-
Trademark Rules opposition time intra-departmental first permitted to invest Rs 7,000 India is aiming to reach 500 six years beginning with ities as per agro-climatic
2017 to minimise de- to two months before going to court crore in its wholly owned renew- GW of non-fossil energy capaci- the current financial year. conditions. Committees will
lays, fast-track regi- ables subsidiary, which in turn ty by 2030. A master plan for the im- be set up at the district, state,
strations and bring can invest in various projects di- The CCEA has provided a plementation of PMDDKY, and national levels for their
Trademark
down pendency of tra-departmental first before going to co- rose to 476,089 in FY24 from 466,580 in rectly or through joint ventures special exemption to NLCIL which will include agricul- effective implementation.
applications in the applications. urt are also being discussed. 2022-23. without prior approval. from the prevailing invest- ture and allied activities, Central Nodal Officers
country rose to The number of trade- Trademark registry in India can take The official added that as part of ease of The decisions, taken at a ment guidelines applicable to will be drawn up for every (CNOs) will be appointed for
476,089 in FY24 mark registrations ro- between 1 and 3.5 years if it goes unoppo- doing business, online filing has reached meeting chaired by Prime Navratna CPSEs. district, Vaishnaw said. field visits, review and mon-
from 466,580 se 20.58% year-on-year sed as against western countries where it more than 98.67% due to the e-filing faci- Minister Narendra Modi, The investment has also been The plan will be prepared itoring. Every district will
in FY23 to 279,717 in FY24. takes less than a year usually. lity for trademark applications along “will facilitate accelerated de- exempted from the 30% net have central and state agri-
“The effort is to redu- Agriculture, chemicals and pharmace- with introduction of a 10% differential velopment of renewable pro- worth ceiling stipulated by the culture universities as tech-
ce processes and crunch the procedural utical sectors are the top trademark app- fee on physical filing. jects in the country,” an offi- Department of Public Enter- nical knowledge partners.
time to reduce pendency as implemen- licants in the country. The government has already lowered cial statement said. prises (DPE) for overall invest- The scheme was an-
ting a trademark is one area which takes Trademark confers statutory rights to the compliance burden in the trade- “The cabinet approval allows ment by CPSEs in JVs and sub- nounced by Finance Minis-
a long time,” said an official, adding that the registered proprietor, thereby enab- marks process by reducing 74 forms to NTPC and NLC India to raise sidiaries, providing NLCIL ter Nirmala Sitharaman in
an amendment proposal is in the works. ling them to take legal action for its in- eight, giving a 50% discount in fee for tra- funds and infuse equity in their and NIRL greater operational the Union Budget presented
Issues related to reducing the opposi- fringement. It is also an effective safegu- demark filings by startups and restric- subsidiaries,” union informa- and financial flexibility. on February 1.
tion time to two months from four ard against counterfeit goods. ting the number of hearing adjourn- tion and broadcasting minister The approval to NLCIL is ex- The 100 districts will be se-
months at present and hearings to be in- Trademark applications in the country ments to two. Ashwini Vaishnaw told report- pected to reinforce India's po- lected on the basis of three
ers after the CCEA meeting. sition as a green energy leader parameters – low productiv-
“The approval is for all non- by reducing dependence on ity, moderate crop intensity,
KERALA ON TOP AT 6.4% fossil fuel investments,” he
clarified when asked if the
fossil fuels, lowering coal im-
port, and enhancing reliabili-
and below-average credit
parameters. At least one
funds can be used for nuclear ty of 24x7 power supply across district from each state will

10 States Outpace National Inflation in Q1 energy deployment as well. the country, the release said. be selected.

and Haryana (3.4%). The other states that

Anoushka Sawhney posted faster inflation than the national av-
erage were Maharashtra (3.1%), Chhattis-
State
Statistics
Kerala
Punjab
6.4
4.7
Niti Working on State-wise Science & Tech Outlook Dashboard
New Delhi: India posted its slowest reta- garh (2.9%), Himachal Pradesh (2.9%) and J&K 4.4 study on ‘analytical study and frame- novation (STI) is neither feasible nor ef-
Average Our Bureau
il inflation in six years in the April-June Tamil Nadu (2.8%). work development for science and tech- fective given lndia’s federal structure and
quarter, but an analysis of the data shows The analysis focuses on major states
inflation in Uttarakhand 3.6 nology (S&T) outlook of states’ with fo- the diverse capacities of its states.
a wide variance in state-wise readings, and UTs with a population exceeding 5 Q1FY26 (in %) Karnataka 3.5 New Delhi: NITI Aayog will soon come cus on the key input indicators (like gross “Achieving the goals of Viksit Bharat 2047
with some posting significantly faster million as per Census 2011. Haryana 3.4 up with a state-wise S&T Outlook dash- domestic expenditure on R&D in states, will require robust state-level contribu-
price increases than the others. The key drivers of inflation across sta- India 2.7 board to enhance centre-state engage- etc.) and major output indica- tions, aligned with local strengths and chal-
According to an ET analysis, 10 states/ tes were food products, fuel and light, and ment in the science and technology (S&T) tors (such as publications, pat- lenges,” it said, adding there is a clear need
union territories posted faster inflation personal care and effects. Delhi 1.9 domain, support targeted policy inter- ents, technologies, etc.). for systematic data on both inputs (e.g.
than the national average of 2.7% in the “The differing weights for states in the- Jharkhand 1.8 ventions, and foster a collaborative yet “The exercise will aim to de- funding, manpower) and outputs (e.g. pub-
first quarter of the current fiscal year. se categories account for the upward bi- Note: Data for top &
Odisha 1.8 competitive environment for strengthen- velop an appropriate frame- lications, patents) across states.
bottom 6 states/UTs.
Kerala, often seen as a consumption-ori- as,” Bank of Baroda chief economist Ma- Analysis based on ing the national science, technology and work for data collection, reporting and As per the EoI, the proposed exercise
ented state, was at the top with a reading of dan Sabnavis said. major states with over Bihar 1.7 innovation (STI) ecosystem. analysis of relevant indicators for each aims to assess both the volume and pro-
50 lakh population as
6.4%, followed by Punjab (4.7%), the union These states have consistently recorded per census 2011
Andhra Pradesh 1.4 The government think tank has invited of the states,” it said. portionate contribution of each state to
territory of Jammu and Kashmir (4.4%), higher inflation in recent months, parti- Source: MoSPI, ET Telangana 0.3 expressions of interest by institutions The Aayog is of the view that a uniform national outcomes, while accounting for
calculations
Uttarakhand (3.6%), Karnataka (3.5%) cularly Kerala, Punjab and J&K. and universities to undertake a research approach to science, technology, and in- regional diversity and strengths.

EVALUATION IN DETAIL BY NITI AAYOG

Nine Govt Flagship

Schemes Out of
Standard Appraisal
Anuradha Shukla

New Delhi: The government has decided to keep nine flags-

hip schemes outside the ambit of the ongoing appraisal pro-
cess for central sector programmes for the next five years,
starting April 1, 2026.
In a letter dated July 4, the Department of Expenditure in-
structed the respective ministries and departments to exclu-
de schemes such as the Ayushman Bharat, Pradhan Mantri
Jan Arogya Yojana, PM Kisan, Ujjwala Yojana and PM Jan
Dhan Yojana from the standard appraisal process as these,
with far-reaching social implications, will be evaluated and
appraised in detail by the Niti Aayog's Development Monito-
ring and Evaluation Office.
“Some of these schemes have done well but require some
structural changes and the Niti Aayog has been tasked to do
the detailed exercise so there is no duplicity of efforts,” a se-
nior official told ET.
The other four schemes are
the PM Stand Up India, PM Je-
evan Jyoti Bima Yojana and
the PM Suraksha Bima Yoja-
na managed by the Depart-
ment of Financial Services,
and a scheme under the De-
partment for
Promotion
of Industry
and Internal
Trade to re-
fund central
OUT OF AMBIT goods and
services tax
Ayushman Bharat, Jan and integra-
ted GST to in-
Arogya Yojana, PM dustrial
units in
Kisan, Ujjwala Yojana, north-eas-
tern and Hi-
PM Jan Dhan, among malayan sta-
tes.
others, excluded The Depart-
ment of Ex-
penditure has also kept the schemes related
to the Department of Space and the Depart-
ment of Atomic Energy outside the ambit of
this exercise which require special appraisal
and approval procedures. The National e-
Vidhan scheme, under the aegis of the Mini-
stry of Parliamentary Affairs will also be
outside the ambit of the appraisal process.
Typically, a review is carried out every five
years, to assess the performance, quality of
expenditure, fund utilisation and outcome
of each scheme, usually coinciding with the
Finance Commission period. The 16th Fi-
nance Commission cycle will start on April
1, 2026. This exercise helps in assessing the
relevance of a scheme and deciding if it sho-
uld be continued.
The Department of Expenditure has issu-
ed detailed guidelines to ministries on the
process, which also include a “Third Party
Evaluation” for central sector schemes.
They need to submit the evaluation report
by October 31.

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8  Companies: Pursuit of Profit THE ECONOMIC TIMES | KOLKATA | THURSDAY | 17 JULY 2025 | WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM

AM/NS India to Boost

Downstream Capacity
Viceroy Writes to Sebi, Offers ‘Assistance’ on Vedanta
Short seller calls Vedanta’s AGM ‘staged,’ calls for accountability; flags external entity Serentica used to finance promoters
to 5 MT by Year-End along business streams. Group, are enjoying financing at a non- offer negligible returns (0.0001% divi-
Nikita Periwal and Kalpana Pathak Perring said Viceroy is yet to receive a arms length from Vedanta Ltd, and its dend annually) and no control or upsi-
Our Bureau response from the regulator. government-backed subsidiaries de for 30 years. The firm has described
Mumbai: US-based short seller Vice- “In all fairness, we only reached out using parallel operating structures these investments as financially unvi-
Mumbai: AM/NS India is expanding capacity for down- roy Research, which has lately publis- to them a few days away, and I suspect outside of the group, such as Serentica able and exploitative.
stream products by more than 51% to five million tonnes by hed a series of reports on Vedanta Gro- they've got to get clarity,” Perring said. Renewables. Viceroy had published its first report
this year-end, said Dilip Oommen, chief executive, under- up, said it awaits a response from the Vedanta has steadfastly denied all al- The US-based short-seller, which has on the Vedanta Group last Wednesday,
scoring efforts to meet demand from automobiles and other Securities and Exchange Board of In- legations, and pointed to broader regu- published its fifth report on the group terming Vedanta Resources a ‘parasi-
industries such as appliances. dia (Sebi) to its queries on the metals latory and investor support for its cor- since last week, said that Vedanta, Hin- te’ holding company, which was sup-
AM/NS India—a joint venture between steel giant Arce- conglomerate that has lender support porate actions aimed at unlocking va- dustan Zinc and BALCO’s investments ported entirely by cash from its opera-
lorMittal and Japan’s Nippon Steel—can currently produ- for its ongoing reorganization by reve- lue embedded in the operating compa- researchers. in Serentica are “effectively worth- ting company Vedanta.
ce up to 3.3 million tonnes downstream products annually. nue streams. nies. There have been instances where off- less”, given the way the deals have been The firm then published questions
The company currently ranks among India’s top flat “It is an opportunity for SEBI to really Earlier this week, proxy advisory shore firms have released critical re- structured. that shareholders of Vedanta must ask
steel producers, with a capacity of 9 million tonnes at its raise their game, how they handle firm InGovern said that foreign rese- ports on securities in which they hold Serentica Renewables is a green ener- the management at their annual gene-
plant in Hazira, Gujarat. JSW Steel, the largest produ- this,” London-based Fraser Perring, arch firms not registered with the mar- economic interest, but did not respond gy company owned 65% by global in- ral meeting, following it up with an
cer of steel in the country, has a downstream capacity of co-founder of Viceroy Research, told ket regulator can publish reports on to regulatory summons or cooperate vestment firm KKR, and the rest by analysis of the AGM, which they ter-
more than 13 million tonnes, while Tata ET. Indian companies without being sub- with Indian authorities, InGovern sa- Twin Star Overseas, which is owned by med as a staged event.
Steel has more than 4 million tonnes capa- The research firm has reached out to ject to Indian regulatory scrutiny. id. the Agarwal family. Since Viceroy’s first report last week,
city. Sebi through email, assuring the regu- “Even when their actions directly im- Serentica Renewables Vedanta, Hindustan Zinc and BAL- shares and bonds of Vedanta have not
On Wednesday, the company commissio- lator of assistance in assessing the ve- pact Indian investors and markets,” In- In its report on Wednesday, Viceroy CO invested in Optionally Convertible seen a significant movement, except
ned a continuous galvanising line in Hazira, racity of its reports that criticized Ve- Govern said, in reference to the over- Research has claimed that the Agar- Redeemable Preference Shares for a knee-jerk reaction on the day the
becoming the only Indian company with the danta and its proposed restructuring sight latitude enjoyed by such foreign wal family, promoters of the Vedanta (OCRPS) issued by Serentica, which report was released.
Co has capability to produce steel with strength of
already spent up to 1180 megapascals. This high-strength
steel, which finds application in the auto in-
DIGITAL EASE FOR CITIZENS AND FIN SERVICE PROVIDERS
ITC Hotels Q1 Profit Up
around
85-90% of the dustry, is currently imported, and AM/NS is
planned looking to substitute these imports.
`8,500-capex, India currently consumes about 8 million
and will
spend the
rest through
tonnes of flat steel per year for automobiles,
of which around 10-15% is imported.
AM/NS will commission additional galva-
Uidai Working on to Make Offline 54% on Higher Rates
Verification Process User-friendly
the year
nising lines by the end of the year, further in-
creasing its downstream offerings. “This is a part of the Our Bureau
`8,500 crore capital expenditure planned for downstream
expansion,” Oommen said. New Delhi: ITC Hotels has re-
AM/NS India has already spent 85-90% of the planned ca-
pex. The remainder will be spent through the course of the
Fintechs, non-bank lenders, which faced blockage in June, to benefit ported revenue from operations
of `816 crore for the quarter en-
year, he said. The company currently garners about 60% of and blue-collar employees, faced dis- ded June, up 16% year on year.
its sales from downstream products. Pratik Bhakta
eKYC Trends ruption in their onboarding process.
“There have been multiple rounds of
The chain reported a profit of
`134 crore for the quarter, up 54%
Bengaluru: The Unique Identification on Aadhaar conversations, and Uidai has made it year on year. The hotels business
Authority of India (Uidai), which man- very clear that consumers will be able of ITC was demerged into ITC tels reported revenue from ope-
Assam the First State Govt to ages the Aadhaar database, is working Month No. of Txns (million) to use offline Aadhaar-based KYC with- Hotels with effect from January rations of `744 crore for the quar-
to strengthen the offline identity verifi- out any need to share their Aadhaar 1, 2025. The equity shares of the ter ended June, up 15% year on
be Direct Oil Producer: Sarma cation service for citizens, with an aim
Jun-25 287.8 number or personal details,” said one company listed on the National year. The chain reported a stan-
to make it further secure and user- Mar-25 276.1 of the bankers. The government- Stock Exchange (NSE) and BSE dalone profit of `150 crore for the
Guwahati: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sar- friendly and encourage more financial backed authority has also clarified that on January 29 this year. quarter ended June, up 47% year
ma said that the Assam government became the first services players to adopt it, two senior Jan-25 362.5 the verification should be done strictly In the preceding three months on year. ITC Hotels said the av-
Source: Uidai

state government to be a direct oil producer with the dis- bankers in the know said. with consent from the customer. ended March 31, ITC Hotels had erage daily rates for the quarter
covery of hydrocarbon presence in Namrup Borhat-1 Uidai is seeking to strengthen and reg- Oct-24 301.0 These communications have hap- reported revenue from opera- grew by 9% and occupancy by 275
well. ulate the process to allow citizens to Aug-24 pened between Uidai and authorised tions of `1,061 crore, and a profit bps, resulting in overall revenue
Sarma stated in X, “A major step forward in energy secu- complete the Aadhaar-based customer 378.0 agents—Aadhaar authentication agen- of `258 crore. The April to June per available room growth of
rity and economic resilience. @OilIndiaLimited has dis- identification, or know-your-customer cies and KYC user agencies. ET report- quarter is typically a leaner qu- 13%. “The company demonstra-
(KYC), process for service providers Uidai will
covered hydrocarbon presence in Namrup Borhat-1 well, ed on July 7 that startups facing disrup- arter for hotel chains. ted its supremacy over the mar-
a well where the Government of Assam holds a signifi- without disclosing their Aadhaar num- promote QR tions in their onboarding services were The hospitality chain said du- ket and commanded a revenue
cant stake. This discovery makes Assam the ber or personal details, they said. The codes, PDF evaluating writing to Meity for explicit ring the quarter ended June 30, per available room premium of
first State Government to be a direct oil pro- current methods of electronic, biomet- files beyond permission to access the Aadhaar data- 2025, the board approved a capi- 34% over the industry,” the com-
ducer, makes exploration efforts successful, ric and offline KYC require customers XML data that base. Uidai did not respond to ET’s re- tal expenditure of `328 crore for pany said in a statement. The
empowers Assam with revenue & royalty and to share the Aadhaar number or pre- customers quest for comment. In a bid to make this construction of a hotel in Visak- chain said its Earnings Before
ensures steady availability of energy for the country. sent themselves in person before the need to verification process more popular, Ui- hapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Du- Interest, Taxes, Depreciation,
Proud moment.” service provider for verification. download dai will promote QR codes and PDF ring the quarter ended June, the and Amortization margin stood
CMD Oil India Limited (OIL), Ranjit Rath last month in The KYC processes at many fintech from the Uidai files beyond the original XML data that company also signed 8 hotels at 32% and expanded by 130 bps
Guwahati said that the company has established the firms and non-banking lenders were af- website for customers currently need to download with approximately 700 keys in on a comparable basis, driven by
presence of hydrocarbons in the North Bank of Brahma- fected in June when the Uidai and the offline KYC from the Uidai website for offline KYC, aggregate at locations such as higher revenue per available ro-
putra. Rath said, “Based on our concerted strategy dri- Ministry of Electronics and Informa- the second banker said. This is expect- Bodhgaya, Dehradun, Goa, om, growth in Food & Beverages
ven exploration we have established the presence of hy- tion Technology (Meity) blocked the haar database. Even food delivery and ed to make it easier for customers to Lucknow, Manesar, Mysore, revenue, higher management fe-
drocarbons at a place called Kobochapori. This is an open websites of multiple startups for al- ecommerce startups, which used Aad- manage these documents and complete Ranthambore and Vrindavan. es, structural cost interventions
acreage licensing block”. -- Bikash Singh leged unauthorised access to the Aad- haar for the verification of gig workers their KYC more conveniently. On a standalone basis, ITC Ho- and operating leverage.

I,NAMITA Saha, residing I, Samir Kumar Banerjee (old

I, Rupashree Basu wife of Sa- I, Mokbul Shaikh son of Mo- at 4/35 No. Mordecai Lane, name) S/O Sukumar Baner-
tyajit Basu, residing at C/170, jammel Shiakh, residing at PO- Motijheel, PS- Dumdum, jee resident of 585 Parnasree
I, Saberi Goswami Das (old Survey Park, P.O - Santosh- Musalmanpara, Kharial, P.O-
name) W/O Rupam Das resi- North 24 Parganas- 700074, Pally, PO-Parnasree Pally,
pur, P.S - Survey Park, Kol- Dankuni Coal Complex, P.S- West Bengal, do hereby noti- Kolkata , Pin 700060, West
dent of 19A, Chowdhury kata - 700075, West Bengal, Dankuni, Hoohlgy- 712310,
Lane, Block-B, Flat NO-14, fied that my Father Subodh Bengal, have changed my
have changed my name and West Bengal, have changed Saha (old name) have name and shall henceforth be
Partha Complex, PO-Shyam- shall henceforth be known as my name and shall hence-
bazar, Kolkata , Pin 700004, changed his name and shall known as Samir Banerjee
Rupasri Basu as declared be- forth be known as Sk Mokbul henceforth be known as Sub- (new name) vide an affidavit
West Bengal, have changed fore the Ld. Judicial Magis- as declared before the Notary
my name and shall hence- odh Chandra Saha (new sworn before the notary pub-
trate at Kolkata vide affidavit Public at Kolkata dated name) vide an affidavit lic at C.M.M Court, Kolkata
forth be known as Saberi Gos- No. 1691 dated 10/07/2025. Ru- 10/07/2025. Mokbul Shaikh
wami (new name) vide an af- sworn before the notary pub- on 16/07/2025. That Samir Ba-
pashree Basu and Rupasri and Sk Mokbul both are same lic at Kolkata on 14/07/2025. nerjee (new name) and Samir
fidavit sworn before the no- Basu both are same and one and one identical person.
tary public at C.M.M Court, That Subodh Saha and Sub- Kumar Banerjee (old name)
identical person odh Chandra Saha both are both are the same and one
Kolkata on 16/07/2025. That
Saberi Goswami (new name) the same and one identical identical person.
and Saberi Goswami Das (old person.
name) both are the same and I, Aman Gupta son of Uttam
one identical person Kumar Gupta, residing at 9,
Munshi Bazar Road, Tangra,
Kolkata- 700015, West Bengal,
have changed my name and
shall henceforth be known as
Aman Kumar Gupta as de-
clared before the Notary Pub-
lic at Kolkata dated
14/07/2025. Aman Gupta and
Aman Kumar Gupta both are
same and one identical per-
son.

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES | KOLKATA | THURSDAY | 17 JULY 2025 | WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM

Robust Order Pipeline Lights

Markets: Beating Volatility up Transrail; Lifts Stock, too
S M A R T I N V E S T I N G 11

Market Trends MSCI INDIA

MSCI EM
1749

3347
0.15

0.19
Japan[Nikkei]

Hong Kong[HSI] 24518

39663 0.04

0.29
OIL ($/BRL)
DUBAI CRUDE
GOLD RATE
US ($/Oz) India (`/10Gm)
FOREX RATE (`-$ Exchange Rate)
OPEN LAST*
STOCK INDICES % CHANGE 69.36 OPEN 3341 97222 85.95 85.98
MSCI BRIC 738 0.07 S.Korea[Kospi] 3186 0.90
Nifty 50 25212 0.06 0.63 LAST* 3340 97408 *At 6 pm IST Source: Bloomberg, MCX, ETIG
BSE Sensex 82634 0.08 MSCI WORLD 19063 0.06 Singapore[STI] 4132 0.30 Absolute Change Prev(%) chg 0.29 0.20 Market on Twitter@ETMarkets

Board will also consider a special dividend; bonus issue seen as a bid to enhance liquidity in F&O segment AMID ACTION TO CURB F&O SPECULATION

HDFC Bank Considers First-ever Issue Asset Managers Bank deposit war
Offer a Better Play For decades,

of Bonus Shares, Board to Meet on Sat has a market capitalisation of `15.30

on Markets than
Indians trusted
public sector
banks with a
lion’s share of
their hard-
Our Bureau lakh crore.

Mumbai: HDFC Bank announced on

Wednesday that its board of directors
“HDFC Bank’s decision to consider is-
suing bonus shares can be seen as an ef-
fort to enhance liquidity in the F&O
Brokers, Exchanges earned money. But that's chang-
ing. Between March 2015 and
March 2025, public sector banks’
share in total deposits fell from
will convene on July 19, 2025, to consider
a landmark proposal, the issuance of
market, enabling investors to take posi-
tions more easily,”
Nippon Life India AMC, CDSL gain big 76.3% to 56.3% — a 20-percentage
bonus shares for the first time in the
bank’s history. In addition, the board
said Ajay Bodke, in-
dependent market
since mid-April; current valuations point fall. During the same period,
private banks’ share in total
will deliberate on declaring a special in-
terim dividend on the bank’s equity
analyst.
In terms of divi-
expensive for broking cos: Analysts deposits rose from around 20% to
shares for FY26. dends, the lender nearly 35%. So, what is triggering
The proposed bonus issue will be sub- has declared `22 per Ruchita Sonawane & Kairavi Lukka this shift? Why are Indians
Operationally, the
ject to shareholder approval, as per re- bank is expected share as a final divi- trusting private banks with their
gulatory requirements. If approved, it to report robust dend for FY25, its tities. strong growth in core operating income Mumbai: Investors looking to bet on India’s thriving capi- deposits despite the higher safety
would mark a significant milestone for growth in the first highest since lis- Operationally, the bank is expected to and stable asset quality. The upcoming tal markets would be better off buying shares of asset ma- net at PSBs?
the bank, signaling management’s con- quarter of FY26 ting. report robust growth in the first quar- board meeting on July 19 will also inclu- nagers rather than exchanges and brokers, said money ma-
Sunny Verma explains.
fidence in its financial position and Foreign institutio- ter of FY26. According to proforma fi- de the consideration and approval of nagers. While exchanges and brokerages are likely to feel
long-term growth trajectory. nal and portfolio investors hold the lar- gures released by HDFC Bank, its loan the financial results for Q1FY26. the heat of the various regulatory actions aimed at curbing
The announcement comes at a time gest share in HDFC Bank, accounting book expanded by 6.7% quarter-on-qu- “If the gap in loan and deposit growth excess speculation in futures and options, mutual funds and
when HDFC Bank shares have shown for 48.84% of the total equity. Domestic arter to reach `26.53 lakh crore, while has been offset by a rundown in borro- allied businesses may continue to benefit from flows into AI's real cost
strong performance, rising approxima- institutional investors own 36.04%, deposits rose 16% year-on-year to `27.64 wings, the margin trajectory could their products, making them a safer bet at this juncture. Data centres
tely 4% over the past month and gai- with mutual funds making up the majo- lakh crore, reflecting healthy business turn out to be healthier relative to peer- “While the downgrade cycle in capital market stocks has are the silent
ning more than 21% over the last 12 rity at 25.61%. Resident individuals momentum. s—especially if the bank has continued bottomed out, there could be degrowth in broking stocks gi-
months. Shares of HDFC Bank closed hold around 12% of the bank's shares, Analysts anticipate the bank to report to run down low-yielding corporate cre- ven the slowdown, but AMCs could perform better,” said furnaces of the
Wednesday’s trade at `1,996 apiece in while the remaining stake is distribu- a 4% to 6.3% increase in profit after tax dit,” said Pranav Gundlapalle, head of Mahesh Patil, CIO, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC. The Nifty digital age —
the broader equity markets. The bank ted among various other corporate en- (PAT) for the June quarter, driven by India financials at Bernstein. Capital Market index has been the best performer among all stacked with
NSE indices in the last three months. After slumping 20% millions of
from its peak in October, it has rebounded in the past three AI-fuelled servers, guzzling
RETURNS ON GOLD INVESTMENTS IN RUPEE WERE 26% months. Since mid-April, the index has surged 31.4%, while
the benchmark Nifty gained 7.6% in the same period.
power, and pumping out heat at
an industrial scale. Study shows

Gold Still King, Gives Royal Returns

Nippon Life India AMC jumped nearly 50% in this period.
CDSL and Anand Rathi Wealth gained 40% and 45% respec- data centres already account for
tively. While the index remains 6% below the peak, money about 1% of India’s electricity
managers said valuations of consumption and could hit 3% by
Here’s a quiz question you must answer without Googling: Which asset class yielded the highest returns in H1 Gold return across currencies* (%) most of these entities, especi- 2028. That’s equivalent to the
2025? Gold. Returns on gold in the Indian currency between January and June this year were 26%. That was US dollar 26.0 ally brokers, may be rich, ma- total power consumed by all of
bettered only by gold purchases in the Turkish Lira—at 41%—World Gold Council (WGC) data showed. king them vulnerable to a sell-
Euro 10.7 off. “The current valuations
Delhi’s households for an entire
DEMAND DYNAMICS OUTLOOK Japanese Yen 15.4 year. Data centres need a whole
appear expensive for broking
China is one of the Second half is mixed Central bank demand likely to lot of air conditioning as well to
largest consumers
British Pound 14.8 companies, given their cycli-
remain robust in 2025, moder- cal nature and high correla- cool the servers. This has set off
of gold Falling interest ating from its previous records
Canadian Dollar 19.2
tion with market movements, an unexpected domino effect.
rates and continued Swiss Franc 10.1 and we remain cautious on
Consumers in China and uncertainty would Deman likely to stay well above Prashant Mukherjee reports.
India base buying decisions the pre-2022 aver-
Indian Rupee 26.0 them,” said Vikas Gupta,
maintain investor
on local price of gold age of 500-600 Chinese Renmimbi 23.8 CEO, OmniScience Capital.
appetite, particularly
tonnes, the WGC Turkish Lira 41.9 “What we have done, and sug-
via gold ETFs and
Regional prices often OTC transactions report said gest for investors, is to take se-
Australian Dollar 18.5 lective exposure to banking Oil Prices Dip as
deviate from the interna-
*As of June 30, 2025. Based on the LBMA (London Bullion Market
tional price, reflecting local Elevated gold prices likely to con- This would act as a stocks that own AMC subsidi-
dynamics in those markets, tinue to curb consumer demand dampener to gold
Association) Gold Price PM in USD, expressed in local currencies, except
for India and China where the MCX Gold Price PM and Shanghai Gold aries, as they offer more at- Investors Weigh
Benchmark PM are used, respectively. tractive valuations and mea-
experts said & potentially encourage recycling performance
Source: World Gold Council
ningful upside potential from Trade War Hit
Text: Gayatri Nayak
current levels.” LONDON: Oil fell
The rich valuations are en- by 1% on Wed-
couraging companies to sell shares in the primary market,
TREASURY YIELDS EASE HOWEVER, NON-FERROUS PRODUCERS IN FOR A MUTED SHOW with NSDL and ICICI Prudential AMC looking to launch
nesday, as
their initial public offerings over the next few months. signs of

Wall Street Near

All-time High On
Steel Firms to Reflect Gains from “When large IPOs from a sector are expected to list in the
market, buying interest emerges for other listed players as
well, but investors should keep tabs on the valuations as
well,” said Chirag Mehta, chief investment officer, Quan-
stronger Chinese crude
consumption were out-
weighed by investor
caution about wider
Slowing Inflation
AP
Price Hikes, Cheaper Coking Coal tum AMC. Profitability of exchanges has taken a hit of late
after the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s actions
to temper retail investor activity impacted activity. In the ca-
se of broking firms, the regulator’s steps to tighten regula-
economic impact from US
tariffs. Prices have seesa-
wed in a tight range, as
tions also squeezed their profits. signs of steady demand
Sachin Kumar “When the markets corrected last year, capital market from an increase in travel
New York: US stock indexes are A Mixed Bag stocks witnessed a sharp fall from the peak due to reduced
during the Northern Hem-
drifting around their record levels ET Intelligence Group: Steelmakers June’25 Quarter Estimates for Metal Companies activity, followed by a regulatory clampdown on F&O volu-
on Wednesday following a better- are expected to report a sequential im- mes and margin requirements,” said Mahesh Patil, CIO, isphere summer have
than-expected update on inflation provement in profitability for the first Revenue (`crore) Net Profit (`crore) Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC. The bearish sentiment has sta- competed with concerns
across the country. The S&P 500 quarter of FY26, supported by a sharp Average QoQ % YoY % Average QoQ % YoY % bilised since, and capital market stocks have been inching that US tariffs on trading
was virtually unchanged in early rebound in domestic steel prices and JSW Steel 42,436 -5.3 -1.1 2,013 34.2 151.7 higher in line with broad market performance, said Patil. partners will slow econo-
trading and just below its all-time lower coking coal costs. Despite an Analysts said technical indicators are not showing a rever- mic growth and fuel con-
high set last week. The Dow Jones 11–12% decline in sales volumes, ana- Tata Steel 51,577 -8.2 -5.9 1,619 -4.7 24.6 sal yet despite the rebound. “We may see some consolida-
Industrial Average was up 62 po- lysts estimate aggregate earnings be- SAIL 26,071 -11.0 8.6 1,248 -4.0 315.9 tion in these names, as they have massively run up in the sumption. Brent futures
ints, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Com- fore interest, taxes, depreciation, and last three months,” said Ruchit Jain, vice-president, head, fell 63 cents, or 0.9%, to
Hindalco 60,027 -7.5 5.3 3,413 -35.6 3.4
posite was edging back by 0.1% amortisation (Ebitda) for ferrous technical research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services. Tra- $68.08 a barrel by 1150
Data based on average of the estimates by three broking firms
from own record set the day before. companies to rise by 2-16% quarter- Source: YES Securities, Motilal Osawal Financial Servcies, and Kotak Institutional Equities ders and investors can use a ‘buy on dips’ approach in the ne- GMT. US West Texas Inter-
Treasury yields eased in the bond on-quarter. In contrast, producers of ar term, especially for CDSL and MCX, which could run up mediate crude futures
market after a report said inflation non-ferrous metals (aluminium, as these stocks have seen strong trading volumes despite so-
were down 69 cents, or 1%.
slowed by more last month at the zinc, copper, lead) are likely to report 4% to an average of `7,335 per tonne, rous metals sector faces a more chal- me decline, said Jain. Mehta prefers banks and insurers in
wholesale level than economists ex- a muted performance amid weaker before declining to `6,900 per tonne by lenging environment since global the banking financial services and insurance (BFSI) space. US President Donald
pected. The data offer some encou- commodity prices and softer volu- the end of the quarter while hot rolled prices of aluminium and zinc fell “While the capital market stocks offer higher relative Trump has threatened a
ragement after a report suggested mes. Their aggregate revenue and coil prices increased by 6.4% to an av- significantly during the quarter. growth, valuations are elevated after recent run-up and pri- 30% tariff on imports from
President Donald Trump’s tariffs Ebitda are projected to decline by 8% erage of `51,673 per tonne, but modera- This coupled with potentially muted vate banks and insurance stocks are a better bet as they of- EU. — Reuters
are pushing up the prices US shop- and 18%, respectively. ted to `50,700 per tonne ac- volumes in some segments is expec- fer comfort in valuations and growth prospects,” he said.
pers are paying for toys, apparel “During the June 2025 cording to IDBI Capital. ted to put pressure on revenues and
and other imported products. quarter, domestic steel Earnings Motilal Oswal Financial margins for non-ferrous producers.
Trump’s tariffs are making the- prices increased by `3,104 Services expects Ebitda Aluminium and zinc prices fell 7.1%
ir weight felt across financial per tonne driven by imp- Preview of ferrous companies un- and 7.3% quarter on quarter, while alu-
markets. ASML, the world’s lea- lementation of safeguard der its coverage to increa- mina price crashed 32%, squeezing
ding supplier of chipmaking ge- duty. This, along with a decline in co- se 2% sequentially and 11% yerar-on- margins according to Motilal Oswal.
ar, warned that it can’t guarantee king coal prices, is expected to support year (YoY). “Non-ferrous companies under our co-
any growth next year, after deli- sequential expansion in Ebitda per Brokerages project an 11–13% sequ- verage are expected to post sequential
vering an expected 15% growth tonne for steel companies,” said IDBI ential decline in steel volumes, ci- aggregate revenue and Ebitda decline
in sales for 2025. Capital Markets in a report. ting the early onset of monsoon and of 8% and 18%, respectively,” noted the
Conditions still look strong for Average price of coking coal, a major a high base in the fourth quarter of broking firm in a report. However, it
ASML’s customers in the artificial- raw material, fell by 2% sequentially. FY25. However, volumes are expec- expects y-o-y growth of 5% and 2% in
intelligence business. Domestic iron ore prices increased by ted to rise 1.8–6% y-o-y. The non-fer- revenue and Ebitda, respectively.

FALLING DEMAND Only 29 schemes launched in 6 months to June vs 37 in year-ago period

MFs Go Slow On New Offers as Market

Swings Keep Investors On the Back Foot
around the rule by launching schemes
Himadri Buch based on various themes. Moreover,
Wait & Watch various mutual funds launched sche-
Mumbai: Equity fund launches by mes to reward distributors, who often
OPEN ENDED NO. OF FUNDS OPEN ENDED NO. OF FUNDS
mutual funds experienced a slow- push investors to shift from products
EQUITY SCHEMES SCHEMES MOBILIZED EQUITY SCHEMES SCHEMES MOBILIZED
down in 2025, following a blockbuster that investors held for a while to new
2024, as uncertainty over the stock NFOs 2024 NFOs 2025 equity funds that charge higher fees.
market outlook and losses in many of Jan-Mar 2024 22 12,733 Jan-Mar 2025 20 7,853 With returns of many sectoral and
last year’s new fund offerings dim- thematic funds swinging wildly after
med investor appetite for fresh pro- Apr-June 2024 15 25,922 Apr-June 2025 9 4,690 the sell-off between October and March
ducts. July-Sept 2024 18 36,796 TOTAL SO FAR — 12,543 and the subsequent rebound, investors
In the first half of 2025, ending June 30, Oct-Dec 2024 26 19,097 (Fig in `Cr) have been unnerved by the volatility,
mutual funds launched 29 open-ended Source: AMFI resulting in their demand for new
equity schemes, mobilising `12,543 TOTAL — 94,548 products going down.
crore as against 37 schemes that collec- Sandeep Bagla, CEO of Trust MF,
ted `38,655 crore in the same period of attributed the fall in NFOs to geopoli-
2024 and 44 that garnered close to `56,000 tical challenges in the first half of
crore in the second half of last year, as “We may see the number of new funds, Mutual funds raised record money this year. “The markets had turned
per Association of Mutual Funds in especially from older fund houses, taper from investors through new fund offers volatile at the beginning of the year,
India data. off as they have completed the themes (NFOs) in segments like defence, tou- which dented investor sentiment for
The moderation in new fund launches and strategies that they wanted to offer rism, capital markets, energy, manufac- some time. Also, slowing growth and
this year, compared to CY 2024, could be to investors,” he said. turing, innovation, transportation and Trump tariffs slowed the flows down a
due to the equity markets being relative- In the entire year, 2024 witnessed 81 logistics, automotive, internet economy, bit.”
ly flat for the last 12 months, with in- equity new fund offers (NFOs) led by realty, and many others. As regulations In January-March of 2025, mutual
creased volatility in the last few months, thematic funds, collectively garnering prevent fund houses from operating funds saw 20 schemes raise `7,853
said Suresh Soni, CEO, Baroda BNP `94,548 crore, riding the bullish wave in more than one scheme in each equity crore, while April–June saw nine
Paribas Mutual Fund. the stock market till September. category, the industry has found a way schemes collect `4,690 crore.

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10} Around the World CONTRAPUNTOIf you’re going through hell, keep going. WINSTON CHURCHILL
THE ECONOMIC TIMES | KOLKATA | THURSDAY | 17 JULY 2025 | WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM

Trump to Impose Pharma Tariffs by US Producer Inflation Flat

Aug 1, Semiconductors Likely Next in June But Goods Costs Up
New York: US wholesale prices we-
Says tariffs could reach 200% after a one-year grace period to shore up US production re flat in June on a decline in servi-
ces costs, according to government
data released Wednesday, as goods
Washington: President Donald prices jumped although the overall
Trump said that he was likely to hit from President Donald Trump’s
impose tariffs on pharmaceuticals tariffs was relatively muted.
as soon as the end of the month and The producer price index (PPI)
that levies on semiconductors co- was unchanged on a month-on-
uld come soon as well, suggesting month basis, cooler than ana-
that those import taxes could hit lysts expected and down from a
alongside broad “reciprocal” rates 0.3% rise in May, the Department
set for implementation on Aug. 1. of Labor said.
“Probably at the end of the This came as a 0.1% drop in servi- to the world’s biggest economy, alt- ning declined.
month, and we’re going to start off ces costs was offset by a 0.3% uptick hough the effect on inflation has be- On Wednesday, the PPI report no-
with a low tariff and give the phar- in goods prices, the report added. en relatively tame so far. ted that more than half of the goods
maceutical companies a year or so Let ‘Credible’ In June, Trump showed little Analysts are monitoring if the uptick could be traced to a "core"
to build, and then we’re going to signs of backing off his swee- eventual hit will be one-off or if the measurement that strips out the vo-
make it a very high tariff,” Trump
told reporters Tuesday as he retur-
Epstein Files Be ping tariffs as a deadline approa-
ched for levies on dozens of eco-
duties might trigger more persis-
tent inflation.
latile food and energy segments.
Indexes for gasoline, residenti-
ned to Washington after attending
an artificial intelligence summit
Public: Trump nomies to increase.
He eventually postponed the dead-
A separate report by the Federal
Reserve on Wednesday showed in-
al electric power, certain meats
and tree nuts moved higher, the
in Pittsburgh. line to August, but a 10% duty rema- dustrial production rose 0.3% in Ju- report said.
Trump also said his timeline for OVERSEAS DRUG IMPACT Washington: President Do- ins on imports from most trading ne after being flat in April and May. But this "doesn't suggest a broad-
implementing tariffs on semicon- nald Trump said Tuesday the partners, alongside steeper rates The June figure was largely dri- based increase related to tariffs," sa-
ductors was “similar” and that it
was “less complicated” to impose
Tariffs could immediately impact US Justice Department sho-
uld release all “credible” in-
on steel, aluminium and autos.
These costs have begun to feed in-
ven by utilities, while manufactu-
ring output edged up and that of mi-
id Matthew Martin, senior US eco-
nomist at Oxford Economics. AFP
levies on chips, without providing drugmakers like Eli Lilly, Merck and formation from its probe into
additional detail. notorious sex criminal Jef-
At a Cabinet meeting earlier this Pfizer that produce drugs overseas frey Epstein as he sought to
month, Trump said he planned to douse a firestorm of criti- SECTARIAN CLASHES KILL NEARLY 250 Labour Tax Hikes
Israel Bombs Syria
impose a 50% tariff on copper in Trade Expansion Act of 1962 on risks driving up costs for US consu- cism from his supporters
the coming weeks, and that he ex-
pected pharmaceutical tariffs to
grow as high as 200% after giving
drugs, arguing a flood of foreign
imports was threatening natio-
nal security.
mers. So does Trump’s plans for se-
miconductor tariffs, which are ex-
pected to hit not only the chips
over his handling of the case.
Trump is facing the most se-
rious split of his political ca-
Drive Surprise Spike
companies a year to bring manu-
facturing back to the US. Trump
has already announced investiga-
tions under Section 232 of the
Still, any tariffs could immediate-
ly impact drugmakers like Eli Lilly
& Co., Merck & Co. and Pfizer Inc.
that produce drugs overseas — and
themselves but popular products
like Apple Inc. and Samsung Elec-
tronic Co Ltd. laptops and smartp-
hones. Bloomberg
reer from his famously loyal
right-wing base over suspi-
cions that his administration
is covering up lurid details of
Army Headquarters in UK Inflation
London: UK inflation unexpectedly
Epstein’s crimes to protect Jerusalem: Israel bombed the rose to its highest level since January
rich and powerful figures Syrian army headquarters in 2024 as climbing food bills prompted
they say are implicated. Damascus on Wednesday after more criticism of the Labour govern-
Pentagon Withdraws 2,000 National “The attorney general has
handled that very well,” the
Republican leader said of
warning the Islamist-led go-
vernment to leave the Druze
minority alone in its Sweida
ment’s tax rises.
Consumer price inflation picked up
to 3.6% in June from 3.4% previously,

Guard Troops from Los Angeles Pam Bondi, who leads the
Justice Department, when he
was asked about the case at
heartland, where a war moni-
tor says sectarian clashes have
killed nearly 250 people. A view of a destroyed build-
the Office for National Statistics said
on Wednesday. It was above the un-
changed reading predicted by econo-
stay in the region. the White House. Syrian government forces on ing after powerful airstrikes mists and the Bank of England.
Los Angeles: The Pentagon has said In late June, the top military com- Trump repeated his claim Tuesday entered the majority- by Israel shook Damascus Food prices rose 4.4%, the highest
it is ending the deployment of 2,000 mander in charge of troops deploy- that the Epstein files were Druze city of Sweida, in the co- serious outbreak of violence in since February 2024. Retailers bla-
National Guard troops in Los Ange- ed to LA had asked Defence Secreta- “made up” by his Democra- untry's south, with the stated Syria since government forces med the recent increases in payroll
les, accounting for nearly half of the ry Pete Hegseth for 200 of them to be tic predecessors in the Whi- aim of overseeing a ceasefire battled Druze fighters in Swei- taxes and the minimum wage —
soldiers sent to the city to deal with returned to wildfire fighting duty te House — even though he agreed with Druze community da province and near Dama- changes that came into effect in
protests over the Trump administra- amid warnings from Newsom that said multiple times during leaders after clashes with local scus in April and May leaving April.
tion’s immigration crackdown. the Guard was understaffed as Cali- the election campaign that Bedouin tribes left dozens dead. more than 100 people dead. Matthew Ryan, head of market stra-
Roughly 4,000 National Guard sol- fornia entered peak wildfire season. he would “probably” release However, witnesses reported The Islamist-led authorities tegy at global finan-
diers and 700 Marines have been in The end of the deployment comes a them. that the government forces joi- have had strained relations cial services firm
the city since early June. It wasn't week after federal authorities and “She’s handled it very well, ned with the Bedouin in at- with Syria's patchwork of reli- Ebury, laid the blame
immediately clear what prompted National Guard troops arrived at and it’s going to be up to her,” tacking Druze fighters and ci- gious and ethnic minorities in part “on labour
the 60-day deployment to end sud- MacArthur Park with guns and hor- Trump said. “Whatever she vilians in a bloody rampage since they toppled longtime le- cost pressures ema-
denly, nor was it immediately clear ses in an operation that ended thinks is credible, she should through the city. ader Bashar al-Assad in De- nating from April’s
how long the rest of the troops would abruptly. AP release.” AFP The fighting marks the most cember. AFP Consumer hike to the minimum
price wage and business
inflation tax rates, which are
picked up to forcing employers to
Khamenei Says Russia Attacks Ukraine Deadly Stampede at Gaza Aid Site 3.6% in June
from 3.4%
previously,
raise prices to cover
the increase in cost.”
While traders still
Israel War Meant
with Hundreds of Drones, Leaves 20 Palestinians Dead
the Office for expect the BOE to
National press ahead with an
to ‘Overthrow Statistics
said on
interest-rate cut on
Aug. 7, they pared

System’ in Iran Energy Infrastructure Hit Hamas: Israel

Seeks Military
Cairo | Jerusalem: At least 20
Palestinians were killed on Wed-
nesday at an aid distribution site
Wednesday back expectations
for future reductions as the release
created a new headache for officials.
run by the Gaza Humanitarian The Labour government is banking
Tehran: Iran’s supreme leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wed-
Kyiv: Russia attacked cities across
Ukraine overnight with hundreds
Foundation, in what the US-back-
ed group said was a crowd surge
Control on Gaza on a pick-up in the economy to help
fund its spending ambitions after par-
nesday that Israel’s attacks during of drones and a missile strike, hit- instigated by armed agitators. Gaza: Hamas liamentary rebels forced it to shelve a
last month’s 12-day war were in- ting energy infrastructure and wo- The GHF, which is supported accused Israel series of spending cuts.
tended to weaken the Islamic re- unding at least 15 people, authoriti- by Israel, said 19 people were However, there is mounting eviden-
public’s system and spark unrest es said on Wednesday. trampled and one fatally stabbed
on Wednesday ce that its first round of tax hikes —
to topple it. “The calculation and Ukraine's air force said Russia during the crush at one of its of wanting to revealed in last autumn’s budget —
plan of the aggressors was to wea- launched 400 drones and one bal- centres in Khan Younis in sout- retain military control of has taken a toll on the economy, cau-
ken the system by targeting certa- listic missile, primarily targeting hern Gaza. People carry a body of Pal- the Gaza Strip, and deni- sing firms to rein in hiring and push
in figures and sensitive centres in Kharkiv, Kryvyi Rih and Vinnyt- “We have credible reason to be- estinian who was killed in ed Israeli media claims of up prices. Speculation is rising over
Iran,” said Khamenei during a me- sia — three cities in different parts lieve that elements within the a stampede in Khan Younis more tax increases in the coming au-
progress in ceasefire
eting with judiciary officials. of Ukraine. crowd – armed and affiliated who couldn’t stand fell under the tumn despite the head of the UK’s fi-
During the meeting, excerpts of The large-scale long-range at- Firefighters try to put out a fire with Hamas – deliberately fo- people and were crushed,” said talks. The indirect negoti- scal watchdog warning of a hit to
which were tacks targeted energy infrastruc- following a Russian attack in mented the unrest,” GHF said in eyewitness Mahmoud Fojo, 21, ations at Doha are now in growth given the near record high tax
published in vi- ture, President Volodymyr Zelens- Kharkiv region, Ukraine a statement. who was hurt in the stampede. their second week, with burden. Bloomberg
deos on his web- kiy said on X. In Vinnytsia and the surroun- Hamas rejected the GHF allega- “Some people started jumping the future presence of
site, he said the Power was cut for 80,000 families ding region, eight people were wo- tion as “false and misleading”, over the netted fence and got wo- Israeli troops in the Pales-
move was me- in Kryvyi Rih and other locations unded, according to Ukraine's inte- blaming the incident on the GHF unded. We were injured, and
tinian territory a key
ant to stir “un- in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Uk- rior ministry. and Israel’s military. God saved us. We were under the
rest and bring raine’s largest private energy com- Polish Foreign Minister Rados- Witnesses told Reuters that gu- people and we said the Shahada issue. The militant group
people into the pany DTEK said on the Telegram law Sikorski said on X that drones ards at the site sprayed pepper (death prayers). We thought we wants a full withdrawal
streets to app. The air force said it had shot had hit a factory of the Polish wood gas at them after they had locked were dying, finished,” he added. and last week rejected an
Ayatollah Ali overthrow the down most of the drones, but that flooring producer Barlinek Group the gates to the centre, trapping There has been no immediate Israeli proposal which it
Khamenei system”. 12 targets were hit by 57 drones and in Vinnytsia, which is in the wes- them between the gates and the comment by the GHF or Israeli said would have kept
Israel launched an unprecedented the missile. tern part of central Ukraine. outer wire-fence. army on eyewitness accounts.
bombing campaign against Iran on Russia has stepped up attacks on “The plant manager told me just “People kept gathering and Palestinian health officials told troops in more than 40%
June 13, killing top military com- cities across Ukraine this summer, now that it was deliberate, from pressuring each other; when pe- Reuters that 21 people had died of of Gaza. AFP
manders and nuclear scientists. regularly sending several hundred three directions... Putin's criminal ople pushed each other...those suffocation at the site. Reuters
Iranian authorities said more than drones accompanied by ballistic war is getting closer to our bor-
1,000 people were killed in Iran. missiles. The attacks were cited by ders,” he added.
During the war, Israeli PM Be-
njamin Netanyahu told Fox News
U.S. President Donald Trump this
week as a reason for his decision to
The head of the military admini-
stration in Kryvyi Rih, Oleksandr
Crossword 9340
that the Israeli strikes “certainly approve more weapons for Ukrai- Vilkul, said Russian forces conduc-
could” bring about a change in the ne, including air defences. ted an extended attack with a mis- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DOWN
Iranian system. “The Iranian re- “Russia does not change its strate- sile and 28 drones. He said water 1 Load in main theme (6)
gime is very weak,” he said during gy, and to effectively counter this supplies had also been disrupted 2 Spanish article here essential-
ly is flop (5)
the interview on June 15. terror we need a systemic streng- in some areas. 3 Pass old boy inside confines of
Iran responded to the Israeli at- thening of defences: more air defen- A17-year-old boy had been severe- 9 10 gallery (2,2)
tacks with drone and missile fire, ces, more interceptor (drones), mo- ly injured in the attack and was 4 Sue’s partner over time ac-
killing 28 people in Israel, accor- re determination to make Russia fe- fighting for his life in hospital, Vil- 11 quiring new mixture (7)
ding to Israeli authorities. AFP el our response,” Zelenskiy wrote. kul added. Reuters 6 Succinct part in writer’s essay (5)
12 13 7 Fashionable newspaper chiefs
like this item (9)
NON-SEQUITUR 14 8 Police officer provoked anger
among group (8)
Britain Lifts Ban on 15 16 17 11 A team overlooking wicket in
area of land (4)
Pakistani Airlines 18 14 Ken and Peter on and off in
joint (4)
15 Eve carped about island coun-
19 20 21 try (4,5)
London: Britain has lifted restric-
tions on Pakistani airlines, the UK 16 One skilled in judo in peril?
22 Not half (3)
embassy in Islamabad said on Wed- 17 Bishop in a small amount of
nesday, ending a five-year ban on 23 24 25 26 time in large pulpit (4)
the country’s beleaguered national 18 Place to put bloomers? (5,3)
carrier. 27 20 Dash shown by English name
Flag carrier Pakistan Internatio- around U.S. city (4)
nal Airlines was barred from flying 28 29 21 Fastened varied cues by ball
to Britain in June 2020, a month af- on snooker table (7)
22 Fold note in item of luggage (6)
ter one of its aircraft plunged into a 24 Stir head of rowers on river (5)
Karachi street, killing nearly 100 pe- 26 Scale shown by Charlie on
ople. The disaster was at- 30 31 arm, maybe (5)
tributed to human error 27 Customer outwardly under-
by the pilots and air traf- stands engineer (4)
fic control, and was follo- ACROSS
wed by allegations that 1 Broadcaster Zoe showing willing in disgraceful (13) SOLUTION TO No. 9339:
tennis, say (4,4) 23 A neat vicar sadly in a state of con- ACROSS: 6 Larger than life.
nearly a third of the licences for its 5 Controls the movement of bullocks (6) flict (2,8) 9 Lambda. 10 Enfeeble. 11 Tash-
pilots were fake or dubious. 9 Awful bluster by president lastly in 25 Unsightly mark is carefully con- kent. 13 In view. 15 Duffer.
The UK Air Safety Committee had area of industrial decline (4,4) cealed (4) 17 Keener. 19 Lawyer. 20 Undu-
decided to lift the ban following av- 10 By the sound of it, more obvious 28 Italian city starts to upgrade meat? late. 22 Aga sagas. 24 Expand.
iation safety improvements in Pa- sort selling fruit (6) It can go with meal! (6) 26 Free enterprise.
kistan, the British High Commis- 12 Take home metal ring on a regular 29 Almost unspoilt area in Balkan capi- DOWN: 1 Cloak-and-dagger.
sion in Islamabad said, adding that basis (4) tal (8) 2 Crib. 3 Regale. 4 Caffeine.
13 Fantastic clues honed as planned (2,8) 30 Reportedly, given a massage as re- 5 Flue. 7 Treats. 8 False pre-
decisions on de-listing states and
15 Talk mostly about journalist given quired (6) tences. 12 Hefty. 14 Venal.
air carriers were made “through an allowance in alliance (13) 31 A female with ballet at odd points 16 Enraging. 18 Pursue.
independent aviation safety pro- 19 Sales type misled senile Herb? It’s inspiring affection (8) 21 Dieppe. 23 Seep. 25 Pain.
cess”. AFP Yesterday’s Answers:
©The Daily Mail

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 CCI NG 3.17 Product: ETKolkataBS PubDate: 17-07-2025 Zone: KolkataCity Edition: 1 Page: ETKCPG11 User: k.eswar Time: 07-16-2025 22:09 Color:

THE ECONOMIC TIMES | KOLKATA | THURSDAY | 17 JULY 2025 | WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM

Smart Investing | 11
US President hints that Powell’s handling of a renovation project on two Fed buildings could be grounds for firing him
Day Trading Guide
Trump may Oust Chair over Fed Renovation
Axis Securities

On the daily and weekly charts, the index is

trending higher, forming a series of higher tops
and bottoms, indicating bullish sentiments. Nifty
someone who needed a “palace.” timony and that the cost is excessive, is sustaining above its 50,100 and 200-day
Associated Press The project has been underway for thus meriting his dismissal. The SMAs, which signals positive bias. From current

V SAHU
years, going back to Trump’s first Fed says its main headquarters, levels, the short-term outlook remains corrective
President Donald Trump says he has term. But it only recently caught known as the Marriner S. Eccles with an expected range of 25500-25000 levels.
finally found a way to achieve his goal the White House’s attention. building, was in dire need of an up-
RAJESH PALVIYA
of removing Federal Reserve chair
Jerome Powell, accusing him of mis-
Trump maintains Fed rate cuts
would lower the costs of govern-
grade because its electrical, plumb-
ing and HVAC systems, among oth- Tech Picks SVP – Technical & Derivative Research
managing the US central bank’s $2.5 ment borrowing, while Powell has ers, are nearly obsolete and some
billion renovation project. warned a premature rate cut could date back to the building’s THERMAX
The push comes after a months-long worsen inflation and ultimately construction in the 1930s. BUY
campaign by Trump to try to rid him- raise those borrowing costs. The renovation will also remove The price is above the 20-day SMAs, and the daily
self of the politically independent The risk of the Fed losing its politi- asbestos, lead and other hazardous RSI is in positive territory. TARGET
central banker, who has resisted the cal independence could undermine elements and update the building
LAST CLOSE u `3,646 STOP LOSS u `3,485
` 4,150
Republican president’s calls to slash America’s financial markets, possi- with modern electrical and com-
interest rates out of concerns about bly leading to a meltdown in stocks munications systems. The H-
TEGA
the administration’s tariffs sparking
higher levels of inflation.
and investors charging a premium to
lend to the US economy. flation in check. The general theory higher inflation, higher interest
shaped building, named after a for-
mer Fed chair in the 1930s and '40s, BUY
Trump indicated on Tuesday that is that keeping the Fed free from the rates and a weaker economy. is located near some of Washing- Daily “rounding bottom” breakout at 1795, rising
volumes, and above 20, 50, 100, and 200-day SMAs. TARGET
Powell’s handling of an extensive influence of the White House—oth- The Supreme Court recently sig- ton’s highest-profile monuments
2,200
HERE’S WHAT TO KNOW:
renovation project on two Fed build- The Fed chair has been an obstacle er than for nominations of Fed offi- nalled that Trump can’t fire Powell and has references to classical ar- `
ings in Washington could be grounds in Trump’s efforts to gain total cials—allows it to fulfill its mission simply because the president dis- chitecture and marble in the fa- LAST CLOSE u `1,897 STOP LOSS u `1,795
to take the unprecedented and possi- control over the executive branch. based on what the economy needs, agrees with him on interest rates. cades and stonework. The central
EPACK
bly legally dubious step of firing him.
“I think it sort of is,” Trump said.
Powell and his board have the dual
mandate of maximising employ-
instead of what a politician wants.
An attempt to remove Powell from
But legally he could do so “for
cause,” such as misconduct or
bank is also renovating a building
next door that it acquired in 2018.
BUY
There is a daily “Bollinger Bands” buy signal. The
“When you spend $2.5 billion on, re- ment and keeping prices stable, a his job before his term ends in May dereliction of duty. The Fed says there has been peri- daily, weekly, and monthly RSI in positive territory. TARGET
ally, a renovation, I think it’s really
disgraceful,” Trump said, adding
task that can require them to make
politically unpopular moves such
2026 would undercut the Fed’s long-
standing independence from day-
Trump’s workaround appears to be
that Powell misrepresented the ren-
odic maintenance to the structur-
es but adds this is the first LAST CLOSE u `383 STOP LOSS u `367
` 435
that he never saw the Fed chair as as raising interest rates to hold in- to-day politics and could lead to ovation project in congressional tes- “comprehensive renovation.”

F&O Strategy
SPOT GOLD UP 0.4% LEADER BOARD Sashidhar Jagdishan got a salary of `12 cr and SET TO FILE DRHP SOON
CIPLA FUTURE (JULY 31 EXPIRY)
Gold Gains Esops valued `42 cr; Axis MD 2nd with salary of over `9 cr Dialysis Chain Stock declined by 2.4%, accompanied by a 3.5% rise in
SELL
on Softer
HDFC Bank Chief is India’s
open interest, indicating a bearish sentiment. TARGET

NephroPlus ` 1,389
Dollar; US LAST CLOSE u `1,478 STOP LOSS u `1,510

Eyes `2K-cr IPO

Best-paid Banker of FY25
M&M FUTURE (JULY 31 EXPIRY)
PPI in Focus The stock has witnessed a strong bounce from the
BUY
Himadri Buch key support zone and have seen long buildup. TARGET
Reuters
LAST CLOSE u `3,200 STOP LOSS u `3,165
` 3,282
Mumbai: Nephrocare Health Ser-
Gold gained on Wednesday Saloni Shukla vices, which operates under the
on a softer dollar, while in-
vestors awaited more clarity
In Top League brand NephroPlus, is preparing to Commodity Calls
Mumbai: Sashidhar Jagdishan, file a draft red herring prospectus
on trade talks between the Bank FY25 FY24 Esops
the managing director and CEO of (DRHP) with market regulator SE-
US and its trading partners, MCX GOLD
with another inflation print
due that could give further
HDFC Bank, has emerged as India’s
highest-paid banker. He drew a sala-
Sashidhar Jagdishan (HDFC Bank)
Amitabh Chaudhry (Axis Bank)
`12.06 cr
`9.11 cr
`10.77 cr
`9.64 cr
212,052
259,429
BI end of this month, said people
familiar with the matter. SELL
ry of over `12 crore in FY25, mar- The Hyderabad-headquartered It has shown weakness over two sessions, with
guidance on the US Federal Ashok Vaswani (Kotak Bank) `12.95 cr** — 18,580 prices forming a series of lower lows on hourly chart. TARGET
king a rise of nearly 12% over FY24. company is planning to raise over
Reserve’s policy outlook.
Spot gold was up 0.4% at
In addition, he was allotted employ- V Vaidyanathan `5.54 cr `5.30 cr 2,420,626 `2,000 crore through its initial pub-
LAST CLOSE u ` 97,450 STOP LOSS u ` 97,700
` 97,100
ee stock options (Esops) totalling ** Vaswani earned Rs 1.61 crore during Jan-Mar 24 period SOURCE: Bank annual reports lic offering (IPO). the proposed
$3,335.0 per ounce, as of 1100
212,052 shares. At the current mar- IPO will be a mix of fresh issue and
GMT. US gold futures edged
ket price of `2,000 per share, these an offer for sale, sources familiar LENDERS CAN NOW INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY CLAIMS
0.2% higher to $3,342.20.
are valued at over `42.4 crore. with 18,580 ESOPs, valued at over ration details for FY25 have not yet with the matter said.
The US dollar was down
Amitabh Chaudhry, MD and chi- `4 crore. been disclosed. ICICI Securities,
0.1%, making gold cheaper
for buyers holding other
currencies.
“Currently, the dollar is ea-
ef executive of Axis Bank, recei-
ved a salary slightly above `9 cro-
re, with no significant change
V Vaidyanathan, MD and CEO of
IDFC First Bank, earned `5.6 cro-
re in salary for FY25, reflecting a
Overall, heads of large private
sector banks saw only modest in-
creases in their compensation for
IIFL Capital Servi-
ces, Nomura and
Ambit Capital will
NHB Goes Public
with Refinance
compared to the previous year. He modest increase over the previous FY25, reflecting the Reserve Bank be book-running le-
sing ahead of the US PPI data
was allotted 259,429 stock options, year. He was allotted 2,420,626 of India’s close scrutiny of CEO ad managers
as traders take a cautious posi-
valued at more than `30 crore at stock options, with a notional va- remuneration. The RBI mandates (BRLMs) to the is-
tion after the recent gains, The proposed
current market levels. lue of `18 crore. prior approval for salary, perfor- IPO will be a sue, said a source fa-
which has given gold a gentle
uplift,” Ross Norman, an
independent analyst, said.
On the data front, US consu-
Ashok Vaswani, MD and CEO of
Kotak Mahindra Bank, took home
nearly `13 crore in salary along
ICICI Bank’s MD and CEO, San-
deep Bakhshi, was paid a salary of
`9.96 crore in FY24. The remune-
mance bonuses, and stock option
allocations for key managerial
personnel at banks.
mix of fresh miliar with the mat-
issue and an ter. Emails sent to
offer for sale the investment ban-
kers and the compa-
List to Curb Misuse
mer prices increased by the
ny remained unanswered. them into fraudulent mutual

Robust Order Pipeline Lights

most in five months in June Saloni Shukla
Proceeds from the fresh issue are fund investments. The compa-
amid higher costs for some go-
expected to fund expansion of dialy- ny’s practices triggered regulato-
ods, signalling
sis centres and acquisitions of mid- Mumbai: For the first time, the ry concern about the broader
rising inflation
sized players, mainly in India and National Housing Bank (NHB) risks of opaque refinancing
and possibly ke-

up Transrail; Lifts Stock, too

the Philippines, as the company lo- has publicly disclosed the list disclosures in the sector.
eping the Fed's
oks to consolidate its leadership in of beneficiaries under its refi- NHB plays a critical role in the
rate-cut plans
the fast-growing renal care market. nance scheme in a bid to enhan- mortgage ecosystem by offering
on hold until
Founded in 2010 by Vikram Vup- ce transparency and prevent refinance facilities to HFCs aga-
September.
The US dollar pala and Kamal D Shah, Nephro- the misuse of its name by inst the housing
was down The spotlight
Plus runs more than 400 dialysis lending institutions. loans they extend,
0.1%, making is now on the US clinics across India and other Asi- The decision comes after it was particularly in the
gold cheaper producer price `14,550-cr unexecuted Power Play an markets—Philippines, Uzbe- discovered that fraud-hit Aviom affordable hou-
for buyers index (PPI)
kistan and Nepal. According to In- India Housing Finance had been sing segment.
holding data, due at 1230 orders, higher capacity, Financials of Transrail Lighting (` crore)
dia Ratings report, the company allegedly using outdated NHB This refinancing
other GMT. YoY
and solid T&D market FY25 FY24 had a domestic market share of refinance sanction letters, some enables housing fi-
currencies On the trade Change (%) The NHB has
over 50% in FY24. as old as three to four years, to now released nance companies
front, Presi-
share fuel co’s outlook Revenue from operations 5,307.8 4,076.5 30.2 secure loans from banks. the names of to access low-cost,
dent Donald Trump on Tues-
“The NHB wants to ensure nearly 50 long-term funds,
day said the US would impose EBITDA 675.9 477.5 41.5
that incidents like Aviom are HFCs that which can then be
a 19% tariff on goods from In-
donesia under a new agree-
Ranjit Shinde EBITDA Margin (%) 12.7 11.7 100 bps Sebi Plans New not repeated. By making its re-
finance list public, it aims to
received
refinance
passed on to home-
buyers in the form
ment with the Southeast Asi- Net Profit 326.6 233.2 40.1
an country and that more de-
ET Intelligence Group: The stock
of Transrail Lighting has gained EBITDA: Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. Bps: Basis Valuation Rules for prevent unscrupulous entities
from misusing its name to secu-
assistance in of more affordable
FY25 interest rates.
als were coming, while offe- points (100 bps = One percentage point) SOURCE: Comapany data, ETIG
ring fresh details on planned
duties on pharmaceuticals.
58% over the past three months and
of this, 36% was since May 23 when Gold, Silver in ETFs re loans from other financial
institutions,” said the CEO of a
Industry sources
told ET that under its new lea-
it declared the March quarter result jects in India and abroad. It offers to continue given a strong pipeline housing finance company. dership, NHB has also reformed
The deal with Indonesia is
depicting double digit growth in re- EPC services for substations upto of T&D projects in India and abroad. New Delhi: Markets regulator Sebi The NHB has now released the the refinance disbursal process
among the handful struck so
venue and profit. The engineering, 765 kilovolts (kV) in high and extra The company has a market share is considering a review of the valua- names of nearly 50 housing fi- to ensure a more equitable distri-
far by the Trump administra-
procurement, and construction high voltage (HV and EHV) seg- of over 10% in the T&D segment, tion methodology for physical gold nance companies (HFCs) that bution of funds across the sector.
tion ahead of an August 1 dead-
(EPC) company, which is active in ments. It derives over three-fourths which raises hopes for the company and silver held by mutual funds received refinance assistance “Earlier, a sizable chunk of re-
line when duties on most US
the power transmission and distri- revenue from T&D, around 10% to benefit from the projected outlay through exchange-traded funds in FY25. finance was cornered by a few
imports are due to rise again.
bution (T&D) segment, has underta- from related civil construction such of nearly `3 lakh crore on the trans- (ETFs) to ensure greater consisten- The list includes prominent pla- large HFCs. But the new NHB le-
The gold market has rejec-
ken capacity expansion to cater to as tunnels and bridges, and remai- mission business by Power Grid cy and better alignment with yers such as LIC Housing Finan- adership has implemented an
ted the $3,400 level mark mul-
the rising order book. ning from sales of lighting poles and Corporation of India (PGCIL) till prevailing domestic market prices. ce, PNB Housing Finance, Can internal formula that ensures
tiple times despite Trump’s
Apart from having a strong order conductors. It has manufacturing FY32. PGCIL has earmarked `28,000 In this regard, Sebi has proposed Fin Homes, and Aadhar Housing all notable HFCs receive access
new tariff updates, said Ajay
book at the beginning of the current facilities in Gujarat, Maharashtra, crore, `35,000 crore and `45,000 crore that AMCs should use spot prices Finance, among others. to low-cost funds based on the si-
Kedia, director at Mumbai-
fiscal year, the company has continu- Silvassa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli to in FY26, FY27, and FY28 respectively. published by domestic commodi- By making this data public, ze and growth of their busi-
based Kedia Commodities.
ed to report sustained order momen- produce galvanised steel towers, Of the existing manufacturing ty exchanges to value gold and sil- the regulator aims to enable ness,” said the CEO at another
Gold, traditionally seen as a
tum in the first five months of the ye- conductors and poles. capacity of towers and conduc- ver, replacing the current prac- lenders and market partici- housing finance company.
hedge against economic and
ar. It expects 23-25% revenue growth At the end of March 2025, it had tors, 96% is used for internal con- tice of using LBMA prices, ac- pants to independently verify NHB’s refinance assistance re-
political uncertainties, thrives
for FY26 on top of 30% growth in the unexecuted orders worth `14,550 sumption. It has undertake `326 cording to its consultation paper refinance claims and prevent mains a vital source of long-term
in a low-rate environment.
previous year while retaining the crore or nearly three times its FY25 crore worth of brownfield and on Wednesday. potential misuse of NHB’s liquidity for the housing finance
“In the short term, the gold
earnings before interest, taxes, de- revenue of `5,308 crore. In FY26 so greenfield expansion, which is ex- It is also looking to identify a uni- credentials in raising funds. sector. As of September 2024, the
price is likely to consolidate
preciation, and amortisation far, it has added `1,600 crore new pected to be complete by Decem- form domestic benchmark and Aviom India Housing Finance cumulative refinance disbursed
before staging another rally
(Ebitda) margin at around 12%. contracts. Nearly half of the orders ber 2025. This is likely to improve make the detailed polling mecha- is currently under investigation by NHB stood at `3.91 lakh crore, of
toward $3,600/oz by year
The company has over four deca- are from the overseas markets. The the share of product sale, which is nism for spot price determination by NHB for allegedly misusing which `1.4 lakh crore was released
end,” ANZ said in a note.
des of experience in executing pro- company expects the order traction currently at around 4%. publicly available. — PTI refinance funds and diverting in the last five years alone.

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 82534.66 25196.60 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 82784.75 25255.30 16/7 6663 8009 32.64 94738 43505 313.13 Advances 378 771 1128 2277 1576 52WK High 18 34 97 149 82 15/7 12486 12659 -174 367 214 153 14/7 11415 9492 1923 16152 17170 -1018 Company Price Price Diff Chg(%) Company Price Price Diff Chg(%)
Low 82342.94 25121.05 Declines 343 464 999 1806 1166 52WK Low — 6 28 34 17 14/7 18434 19224 -789 61 110 -49 11/7 11835 8949 2886 11384 11352 32 Vodafone Ide 7.83 7.87 0.51 -4.93 Hero Motocor 4424.50 4361.60 -1.42 1.88
Close 82634.48 25212.05 15/7 7012 8042 32.51 96302 42033 323.88 PG Electropl 828.00 831.95 0.48 15.17 LIC of India 932.65 923.25 -1.01 -0.11
Unchanged 3 21 146 170 55 All High 12 26 56 94 62 11/7 12859 17354 -4495 387 118 269 10/7 9256 8767 490 13394 14523 -1129 JSW Energy 531.75 534.20 0.46 2.65
Change(Abs) 63.57 16.25 Wipro 262.80 260.15 -1.01 11.23
14/7 8162 9781 34.31 99598 55572 326.06 Total 724 1256 2273 4253 2797 All Low — 3 8 11 10 10/7 12025 11185 840 651 314 336 9/7 9838 9127 711 10066 13040 -2974 Indrapr.Gas 219.76 220.74 0.45 2.31
52-Wk High (Sep 27)85978.25 (Sep 27)26277.35 M&M Financ 264.15 265.35 0.45 -1.79 Zydus Life 968.90 959.30 -0.99 1.67
52-Wk Low (Apr 7)71425.01 (Apr 7)21743.65 9/7 13786 13114 672 -- 27 -27 8/7 10336 8983 1353 10431 10792 -361 Phoenix Mill 1480.90 1487.50 0.45 3.63 Bosch 38475.00 38110.00 -0.95 -0.61
11/7 6232 8113 32.03 97901 39220 318.59 Titagarh Rai 954.75 959.00 0.45 4.87
3-Yr High (Sep 27,24)85978.25 (Sep 27,24)26277.35 Turnover Cash Market ET Indices Tot Jul 143635 146083 -2449 4516 4318 198 Tot Jul 95962 85729 10233 131431 120046 11385
Prestige Est 1718.60 1726.10 0.44 4.84
Dabur (I)
Page Inds.
527.95 523.35
47145.00 46755.00
-0.87
-0.83
-0.41
5.13
3-Yr Low (Jul 18,22)54034.97 (Jul 18,22)16142.20 10/7 6454 7855 28.06 86650 40397 292.77 BSE NSE (` Crore) MINDEX ET-100 Total 2025 2064534 2136274 -71740 107911 103870 4041 Total 2025 1471301 1224648 246652 1542947 1857900 -315223 Adani Total 659.90 662.65 0.42 3.14
Polycab 6948.00 6977.50 0.42 2.09 Cummins (I) 3567.60 3539.30 -0.79 -4.58
Five Consecutive Days Up Five Consecutive Days Down 100000 34800 28000 Spurt in Volumes at BSE Spurt in Volumes at NSE
Company Days Prev 5 Days 5 Days Company Days Prev 5 Days 5 Days Days 2 Weeks % Days Days 2 Weeks % Days
Active Calls Active Puts
(BSE) Close Close Ago Rtn.(%) (BSE) Close Close Ago Rtn.(%) Company Volume Avg. Vol. Chg Close Company Volume Avg. Vol. Chg Close Traded Open Chg in Traded Open Chg in
75000 34100 27600 Company Contract Qty Interest OI (%) Company Contract Qty Interest OI (%)
Forbes & Co 454.45 436.45 389.50 16.68 Rapicut Carb 83.00 87.00 92.53 10.30 Softrak Bio 7344584 64641 11262.17 1.94 SMS Lifesci. 108340 600 17947.64 1299.80
Sudal Inds. 85.95 84.27 79.83 7.67 Abbott (I) 34179.35 34324.90 34611.10 1.25 Network 18 M 27431708 242813 11197.48 63.22 Network 18 M 318436246 4206355 7470.36 63.14 Vodafone Ide 8.00-Jul 8026.64 5167.64 1.16 NIFTY 25200.00-Jul 5345.09 112.18 24.79
Sadhana Nitr 7.65 7.46 6.66 14.86 Sanatnagar E 47.50 47.74 49.95 4.90 Innov.Ideals 100000 1000 9900.00 29.00 Barak Valley 573597 17160 3242.62 41.82 NIFTY 25200.00-Jul 6425.47 93.91 -3.77 NIFTY 25150.00-Jul 4168.69 80.91 74.43
50000 33400 27200 NIFTY 25250.00-Jul 3802.41 77.38 59.33 NIFTY 25100.00-Jul 3983.59 102.37 20.46
GHCL 628.65 624.29 609.10 3.21 Garware Marn 31.54 32.18 34.17 7.70 Salem Erode 41350 493 8285.55 52.32 20 Microns 4013967 121055 3215.81 259.75 Vodafone Ide 7.00-Jul 1114.30 3044.84 29.37
NIFTY 25300.00-Jul 3609.64 104.19 21.48
Panther Indl 64.50 61.43 53.08 21.51 Kothari Indl 462.55 471.95 501.35 7.74 Seasons Text 70549 898 7757.99 23.00 Hathway Cabl 104693931 3406279 2973.56 16.74 Vodafone Ide 7.00-Jul 2914.04 2021.31 -1.02 Vodafone Ide 8.00-Jul 987.07 829.82 21.06
MRF 152492.75 150854.29 148343.35 2.80 Windsor Mach 362.55 362.65 370.85 2.24 32700 26800 20 Microns 450347 6229 7130.39 259.45 Global Surf. 2930583 100380 2819.50 125.19 Pun.Nat.Bank 120.00-Jul 1232.56 143.12 23.89 SBI 820.00-Jul 254.74 71.35 79.59
25000 Vodafone Ide 9.00-Aug 1058.54 419.56 66.29 Vodafone Ide 7.00-Aug 248.73 221.57 4.03
Narmada Agro 1165852 18475 6210.43 19.39 AG Universal 104000 3667 2736.36 60.05
Yes Bank 21.00-Jul 750.75 944.51 3.40 Yes Bank 20.00-Jul 209.30 919.94 0.96
52 WEEK AT NSE * ALL TIME AT NSE Global Surf. 273154 4342 6191.26 125.50 Tilaknag Ind 15675495 700126 2138.95 393.55 Pun.Nat.Bank 115.00-Jul 579.36 149.92 -3.05 Pun.Nat.Bank 110.00-Jul 195.84 131.60 -7.43
0 32000 26400 Kapil Raj F. 2008543 32619 6057.51 5.74 Flexituff Vn 32538 1478 2101.04 35.00 Yes Bank 20.00-Jul 543.94 711.57 -9.85 SBI 830.00-Jul 191.78 37.68 239.00
HIGH *Fischer Med. 952.20 *Nippon LAMC 875.15 Venus Remedi 526.50 D&H India 120348 2452 4808.76 257.15 Deccan Cem. 1198308 55118 2074.08 1075.00
*Aarti Pharma 971.00 *Force Motor 17260.00 Nazara Tech 1410.00 *Vintage Coff 148.70 JUL 10 JUL 16 JUN 16 JUL 16 Hathway Cabl 11526383 279774 4019.89 16.76 Saurash.Cem. 1239180 60073 1962.80 96.15 Future OI Gainers Future OI Losers
*AB Infrabuil 174.75 GRM Overseas 397.65 *OCCL 146.90 *Visaman Glob 92.00 Deccan Cem. 137681 3534 3796.12 1077.10 Magellanic C 50727586 2869512 1667.81 97.32
*Aegis Vopak 282.30 *Guj.Themis.B 373.50 *Oneclick Log 210.80 *Waaree Renew 1267.90 Open Chg in Future Chg in Open Chg in Future Chg in
*AGI Infra 1058.00 *HDFC AMC 5365.00 Parag Milk F 244.30 LOW Positive Breakouts Negative Breakouts Best Returns on BSE Worst Returns on BSE Company Interest OI (%) Price Price (%) Company Interest OI (%) Price Price (%)
*Alpex Solar 1213.90 *ABSHealthETF 16.25 *Polysil Irri 92.65 Ashok Leylan 829.45 104.49 124.60 -50.50 Piramal Entp 68 8.03 1319.50 -0.48
*EMA Partners 96.50 Company Days 20 Days % 50 Days Company Days 20 Days % 50 Days Company Days Prices % Average Company Days Prices % Average
Anupam Rasay 1174.90 *Ideal Techno 159.00 *Prabha Energ 315.90 PG Electropl 53.62 15.17 831.95 2.41 Eternal 1452 7.65 263.20 -1.37
Emkay Taps & 202.60 (BSE) Close Mvg Avg Chg Mvg Avg (BSE) Close Mvg Avg Chg Mvg Avg Close Chg Volume Close Chg Volume ICICI Prud.L 162.11 13.73 651.40 -3.09 Glenmark Pha 82 5.59 2210.70 -0.80
*Ask Automot. 555.00 *Indogulf Cro 114.05 *Pramara Prom 205.60
*Exicom TelRE 23.53 Wipro 917.04 11.23 260.15 1.76 LIC Hsg.Fin. 223 5.36 638.85 2.80
*Astec LifeRE 9.65 *India Sheltr 982.30 *Prizor Vizte 260.45 NippESFSe2DG 18.90 8.07 134.20 4.99 UTCRFS2RQP 91.43 278.66 67.19 269.05 Fortnight Fortnight Bk of India 659 5.24 118.14 1.84
*Falcon Techn 16.35 Amber Enterp 2.49 9.80 7629.00 -3.12
*Banco Prod. 690.60 *ITC Hotels 244.40 PSP Projects 841.05 Hemant Surg. 188.23 106.48 76.77 102.58 JMJ Fintech 19.75 33.37 40.82 29.51 Hemant Surg. 188.23 91.95 104.7 110109 JMJ Fintech 19.75 34.24 -42.3 110530 Indian Bank 66.34 7.71 644.10 1.20 Sun Pharma. 183 5.15 1706.20 -1.43
*Belrise Inds 123.30 *Innovat.Tyre 104.90 *P S Raj Stee 165.00 *GVP InfoRE 0.40 360 One WAM 18.43 7.59 1202.20 0.03 Vodafone Ide 3443 4.93 7.87 2.47
Soma Textile 82.16 48.81 68.33 46.06 Vantage Know 4.88 7.19 32.13 9.61 Soma Textile 82.16 44.04 86.6 183903 Vantage Know 4.88 7.74 -37.0 333221
Biocon 405.90 *KIMS 747.50 *Rajoo Engin. 145.88 *HDB Finl.Ser 809.05 Suvidhaa Inf 6.33 3.98 59.05 3.90 Growington 1.22 1.78 31.46 1.85 Angel One 30.50 7.02 2702.30 1.24 Balkrish Ind 16 4.86 2659.10 -0.90
Elitecon Int 113.44 69.67 62.8 291827 Growington 1.22 1.83 -33.3 6939979 ICICI Lom.GI 56.74 6.69 1974.90 -1.49 Cummins (I) 37 4.58 3539.30 -0.30
*Grill Splend 147.50 MIRAE N1DRL 1041.41 Rama Phosph 144.00 Kotyark Inds 202.40 Elitecon Int 113.44 72.08 57.38 55.54 Omega Intera 71.45 103.36 30.87 150.20 Rose Merc. 81.40 50.01 62.8 47075 Aten Papers 38.03 56.76 -33.0 126545 Dalmia Bhart 33.55 6.15 2170.40 -0.84 Tata Tech 98 4.27 737.40 0.30
*Blue Jet H. 989.00 *SBIETFNif1DR 1029.99 RBL Bank 270.65 LCC Infotech 4.11 Gagan Gases 34.05 22.20 53.38 21.15 Artificial E 112.60 161.18 30.14 242.16 Fynx Capital 34.87 21.43 62.7 5788 Trans (I) Ho 11.92 17.68 -32.6 2160762
*Bluspring En 97.27 Vaidya Sane 179.55 Sameera Agro 32.75 Mangalam Cem 742.00 Rose Merc. 81.40 53.61 51.84 52.01 SBEC Sugar 43.46 57.06 23.83 49.11
*Capital TrRE 0.37 Mangalam Al. 79.55 *Sanathan Tex 549.15 Nirman Agri 169.05 Ramchan.Leas 4.87 3.39 43.66 3.24 Dreamfolks S 158.55 206.95 23.39 239.73
1 Month 1 Month Market-Wide Position Limit Top Sectoral OI Gainers
TN Telecom 24.58 9.70 153.4 100076 Artificial E 112.60 256.55 -56.1 49987
*Choice Intl. 751.65 *Manaksia C.M 145.17 Schneider El 899.00 Perfect Infr 8.05 TN Telecom 24.58 17.25 42.49 12.69 NipEHSP2D-Re 14.35 18.21 21.20 23.67 MWPL OI MWP Chg in Open Chg in Trd Chg in
*Crizac 366.70 *Marathon Nex 763.25 *Shri Ahimsa 177.00 Rainbow Foun 105.55 47.76 121.0 123020 Sadhana Nitr 7.65 15.05 -49.2 1357768
*Raymond Real 784.00 Amal 995.85 714.00 39.47 619.91 Maxheights 12.99 16.46 21.08 15.96 Company (Lakh) (Lakh) (%) OI (%) Sector Interest OI (%) Qty TQ (%)
Cupid 137.90 *Marico 745.00 *Soma Textile 82.13 Yash Highvol 583.00 420.51 38.64 328.27 iStreet Net. 11.36 5.16 120.2 12616 Enbee Trade 0.47 0.86 -45.4 29359614
SJ Logistics 409.00 Prabhhans In 86.90 109.44 20.60 104.48 Angel One 116.39 124.74 107.17 23.77 Automobiles 2127.08 28.83 407.28 41.55
Cura Tech. 199.59 MAS Fin. Ser 350.45 *Strides Phar 956.00 Concord Drug 63.31 45.89 37.96 37.33 Terai Tea Co 119.15 146.82 18.85 167.36 Concord Drug 63.31 29.95 111.4 88305 Integra.Hite 3.05 5.42 -43.7 25760
*Smarten Powe 140.55 Bandhan Bank 1933.71 1703.09 88.07 1.62 Telecom Services 10793.12 9.54 10543.09 86.09
*Ddev Plastik 330.70 *Magellanic C 97.78 *Swaraj Engin 4720.00 Gowra Leasng 135.48 98.25 37.89 91.97 Jindal World 41.79 51.45 18.78 57.18 Abate AS Ind 44.01 21.21 107.5 13440 Trans (I) Ho 11.92 21.17 -43.7 1123079 Hind.Copper 654.82 569.35 86.95 -0.73 Textiles 2.79 5.91 0.98 53.77
*Suntech Infr 87.20 John Cocker. 4973.90 3673.35 35.41 3378.91 3 Months 3 Months Aditya Bir.F 1215.81 1033.08 84.97 1.76 Infotech 2988.86 4.10 808.45 -16.29
*Deccan Cem. 1075.00 Global Healt 1348.50 *Syrma SGS Te 712.00 Galaxy Cloud 34.14 41.65 18.03 39.03
*Digitide Sol 260.78 *MIRC ElectRE 6.18 *Tankup Engg. 379.40 *Travel Food 1038.10 SML ISUZU 3235.10 2393.68 35.15 2019.06 Bharat Globa 134.45 160.64 16.30 248.22 Aayush Well. 257.00 64.41 299.0 346661 Vantage Know 4.88 19.71 -75.2 230717 Titagarh Rai 160.37 126.41 78.82 3.71 Medical Services 761.76 3.02 359.07 28.67
*EID Parry 1172.50 *MOST NTouris 94.26 *Schloss Bang 454.00 Tree House 7.20 BGIL Films 10.56 7.83 34.87 7.48 Swadeshi Ind 29.62 7.96 272.1 12476 Sybly Inds. 1.86 6.77 -72.5 162301 NMDC 6893.83 5254.88 76.23 0.66 Insurance 672.52 2.81 293.06 11.21
Evans Elect. 170.00 201.77 15.75 177.71 Consumer Durables 684.85 1.71 110.98 -24.87
Vipul 9.76 Peninsula La 44.03 32.76 34.40 30.63 Triumph Intn 50.95 13.96 265.0 9302 Harshil Agro 1.32 4.27 -69.1 10280185 Multi Com.Ex 101.81 77.60 76.22 -0.98
*Emkay Tools 946.05 *MRF 153000.00 Thyrocare Tc 1202.60 Sadhana Nitr 7.65 9.06 15.56 15.34 Auto Ancillaries 1564.37 1.69 246.18 -13.10
RBL Bank 1215.75 923.86 75.99 0.09
*FT SegP.3RDP 50.42 *MVK Agro 195.40 *Transrail Li 795.90 *Happy Square 72.80 Shukra Pharm 21.58 16.28 32.56 14.70 Solarium Gre 381.35 449.69 15.20 386.24 Shalimar Agn 35.17 10.15 246.5 12159 Pulsar Intl. 3.76 10.30 -63.5 237165 Plastic Products 77.54 1.57 8.29 -31.35
*Fiem Inds. 2024.90 *NACL Inds. 274.53 UTI Nif.Bank 58.89 *Winny Immig. 110.60 Diamond Powe 178.40 135.20 31.95 114.48 Oriental Trm 12.08 14.21 14.99 13.61 Yash Highvol 583.00 176.40 230.5 129582 Sadhana Nitr 7.65 20.88 -63.4 491050 Open Interest & Traded Quantity in Lakhs Capital Goods 2365.61 1.33 398.38 -2.60
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12 } Disruption: Startups & Tech THE ECONOMIC TIMES | KOLKATA | THURSDAY | 17 JULY 2025 | WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM

TCS Employees on the Edge as Co’s New Indians are Pouring

Benching Policy Completes First Cycle into Crypto as Bitcoin
Policy restricts staff to just 35 annual days on bench, after which they risk career degrowth or even termination
and denial of experience letters if they fail
Rockets to New Highs
CoinDCX, Coinswitch, Mudrex and Zebpay log
Himanshi Lohchab to meet unrealistic deployment timelines.
While HR supports project place- “These are not non-performing em- net inflows of $150-$200m in just seven days
Mumbai: As the first 35-day cycle under Tata ployees, but skilled professionals
Consultancy Services’ (TCS) new bench policy
ment, we also expect associates to pro- who find themselves temporari-
ends on Thursday, thousands of benched em-
ployees are staring at uncertainty, with many
actively seek new assignments after
completing existing ones. What you’re
ly without allocation… Instead
of support, they are met with Big Bull Run
taking to social platforms to voice their anxie- suspicion, coercion, and CoinDCX said daily
ty. The policy, implemented on June 12, caps seeing now is simply a more structured threats,” NITES president trading volume in July
the maximum bench period — that is, time version of what’s long been in practice Harpreet Singh Saluja said in has gone up 40% to 12.82 million
without any project allocation — at just 35 the letter. from 9.17 million last month
days a year, after which they risk career de- K Krithivasan, CEO, TCS TCS did not respond to
growth or even termination. ET’s requests for comment Coinswitch ZebPay
Online forums like Reddit are flooded with ed is also unclear. Ac- until the time of publishing saw a 22% in- noted an
posts from TCS employees expressing their cording to industry es- this article. Justifying the crease in spot avg 75%
concerns. timates, on an average, new bench policy, TCS chief and futures increase
While several employees have been scram- 15-18% employees in executive and managing direc- trading volume in weekly
bling for projects, others allege that they are leading Indian infor- tor K Krithivasan told Times of week-on-week volumes
being forced into projects that don’t suit their Indian IT’s vaunted mation technology India: “It’s always been expected
skill sets. Some are getting rejected in client in- bench strength is (IT) firms are usually that associates take respon-
terviews while others are unable to find pro- fast becoming a on the bench. TCS, In- sibility for their careers. “The spike was most notable be-
jects in their home locations, going by various liability as AI-led dia’s largest IT compa- While HR supports project Himanshi Lohchab tween July 10 and 15, when BTC
posts on Reddit. “This is the first step towards productivity gains ny, has a workforce of placement, we also expect (Bitcoin) prices surged past $116K,
employment rationalisation based on utilisa- have made entry-le- about 613,000 people. associates to proactively s- Mumbai: Bitcoin’s meteoric rise driving higher engagement from
tion. Brace for layoffs,” one anxious Reddit us- vel engineers Meanwhile, an em- eek new assignments after of breaching all-time highs in the both retail and high-value inves-
er wrote. One fresher claimed, “I have recently difficult to redeploy. ployee welfare body on completing existing ones. Wh- last seven days has seen Indian in- tors,” said CoinDCX founding
joined TCS and training was conducted in Ja- Big changes are Wednesday urged at you’re seeing now is simply vestors join in the rally. Top Indian partner Mridul Gupta.
va. Now, it’s not even a month on bench and afoot for IT firms. Union labour minister a more structured version of exchanges CoinDCX, Coinswitch, “BTC trading volumes in July
RMG is pressuring me to join a *** support pro- Mansukh Mandaviya to take urgent action In a letter to what’s long been in practice. We aim to min- Mudrex and Zebpay have cumula- (till July 15) touched 16.69 million,
ject, far from Java and Python.” against TCS for the enforced bench policy the minister, Nascent Information Technol- imise bench time.” tively recorded net inflows of $150- with a daily average of 1.11 million,
ET could not independently verify the veraci- that it called “inhumane,” “exploitative” ogy Employees Senate (NITES) alleged that 200 million in the past seven days, nearly 80% higher than June’s dai-
ty of any of these claims. and psychologically distressing for IT pro- the IT giant is coercing employees on the FOR FULL REPORT, GO TO estimates showed. ly average of 0.62 million,” he said.
The number of people likely to be impact- fessionals. bench with repeated threats of termination www.economictimes.com CoinDCX said daily trading vol- Meanwhile, analysts said the
ume in July has gone up 40% to 12.82 crypto party may calm down in the
million from 9.17 million last month. coming weeks, as US Congress on
Coinswitch saw a 22% increase in July 15 voted against President Do-

For comprehensive and

Numbers Watch Firms take stock of a challenging quarter Ixigo Sees 73% spot and futures trading volume
week-on-week. Spot volumes alone
nald Trump’s three bills on digital
assets: the GENIUS Act, CLARITY

TechM’s Q1 Profit up 34% to

insightful stories about all have grown 145%, it said. Mudrex re- Act and the CBDC Act.
things startups and technology,
log on to www.ettech.com Surge in its Q1 ported doubling of trading volumes
in the past week, with tier-2/3 cities
“Bitcoin’s current growth mo-
mentum is being powered by a con-
and towns accounting for 40%. Zeb- fluence of institutional adoption,
ET Ecommerce Tracker Revenue, Net Pay noted an average 75% increase regulatory clarity and macroeco-

`1,141cr, Revenue Rises 2.7%

in weekly volumes. nomic tailwinds,” said Harish Vat-
Returns Comparison (%) While Bitcoin and Ethereum con- nani, head of trade at ZebPay.
ET Ecommerce Index
ET Ecommerce Profitable Index
ET Ecommerce Non-Profitable Index
Profit at `19cr tinued to dominate trading activ-
ity, other meme tokens like Pengu
“Major players like BlackRock,
Fidelity, and Franklin Templeton
Nifty 50
and Bananas31 have also seen a have made sizable allocations to
18
One-third of revenues from communications vertical, retail and BFSI chip in sharp rise in volume, Zebpay said. spot Bitcoin ETFs. Corporates
Compiled by ETIG Database
16 such as Strategy (formerly Mi-
14 croStrategy) continue to accumu-
12
10
Our Bureau COMING INTO BLOOM MRIDUL GUPTA
CoinDCX founding partner late Bitcoin, reinforcing market
IT firm’s revenue confidence,” he said, adding that
8
6
Bengaluru: Tech Mahindra, the
for the period grew
The spike was most notable the markets appeared to be ap-
Mahindra Group’s IT subsidiary, proaching a new bull run, one that
4
2 on Wednesday reported a 34%
2.7% YoY to between July 10 and 15, mirrors the highs of 2022 but with
`13,351 crore but when BTC (Bitcoin) prices
CLAUDE MONET, Water Lilies

0 year-on-year jump in profit for the greater maturity.

first quarter ended June, helped edged down 0.2% Edul Patel, CEO and cofounder of
surged past $116K, driving
-2
1 Day 1 Month 3 Months 6 Months by lower subcontracting expens- from March quarter Our Bureau Mudrex, expects Bitcoin breach-
es. Net profit at `1,140.6 crore was higher engagement from ing the $140,000 mark in near term.
Tweet OF THE DAY 2% lower sequentially on lower IT firm’s deal wins New Delhi: Le Travenues Tech-
both retail and high-value
tax write-back compared with the increased by 44% nology, the parent company of FOR FULL REPORT, GO TO
March quarter. on a last twelve online travel aggregator Ixigo, investors www.economictimes.com
Revenue at the nation’s fifth large- months basis saw its operating revenue in-
st software service provider rose crease by 73% year-on-year (YoY)

VC Firms Warming
2.7% from a year earlier to `13,351 to `314 crore for the quarter ended
crore. Its largest region for busi- MOHIT JOSHI ago, though the performance im- June on account of growth
ness, the Americas that accounts CEO, Tech Mahindra proved from the previous quarter, across all lines of business, effec-
for nearly half of its revenue, post- The market is still very against industry trends. tive cross-selling and up-selling
ed an almost 6% drop in revenue,
but growth in Europe and the rest
of the world more than offset the
impact.
volatile. We are seeing a
continued slowdown in
Exuding optimism on the deals it
signed, Joshi said: “We have
been reporting steady and in-
creasing deal wins…We do see
to its user base, and artificial in-
telligence (AI)-driven efficiency.
The company posted a net prof-
it of `19 crore for the quarter,
up to Quick-fashion
the auto portfolio, manu-
ROBERT GREENE
@ROBERTGREENE
Sequentially, however, revenue
was 0.2% lower.
“The performance was driven by
growth in communications, retail
facturing portfolio, tele-
coms is relatively stable.
the fact that we are able to con-
vert these deals…our largest cli-
ents are growing much faster
than the company average.”
marking a 27% rise from `15
crore in the same period last
year. According to group CFO
Saurabh Devendra Singh, this
Delivery Startups through existing general retail out-
Grand strategy is and BFSI (banking, financial ser- Deal wins increased by factors in certain one-off items, lets in malls and other locations.
the art of looking vices and insurance) verticals.
It's a mixed picture 44% on a last twelve including a `2 crore share of loss Despite the funding The recent funding deals come as
The year-on-year headwinds were mixed picture, and I feel months basis, supported from associate new-age brands like Newme, Slikk,
beyond the pre- primarily due to our pre-services that it's too early to say by broad-based momen- company Fresh momentum, concerns and Snitch, alongside ecommerce
sent battle and business, which we are rightsiz- whether the tide has tum across verticals and Bus, whereas platforms such as Myntra, Ajio and
calculating ahead. ing as previously shared. We also turned towards signifi- geographies, he said. The Q1FY25 had in- around the model’s Nykaa, experiment with ultra-fast
saw spend reductions in the auto- cant growth or a reces- Pune-headquartered cluded revalua- delivery models in the fashion cate-
Focus on your ulti- motive sector, which impacted sion,” he added. company recorded strong tion gains and sustainability linger gory. Slikk, which offers 60-minute
year-on-year revenue perform- Its largest vertical, com- net new bookings at $809 mil- Co’s total other adjust- delivery, recently raised $10 million
mate goal and plot ance,” said chief executive and munications that contrib- lion in the past quarter, expenses, ments. Alenjith K Johny and Ajay Rag in a round led by Nexus Venture Part-
to reach it managing director Mohit Joshi. utes one-third to reve- higher both sequen- rose to `293
cr in the June
“If I were to co- ners. Snitch secured $40 million from
“The market is still very, very nue, grew both YoY tially ($798 mpare on a like- Bengaluru | Mumbai: Funding 360 One Asset with plans to enter
quarter from
volatile. We are seeing a contin- and sequential- million) and for-like basis by momentum is building in the early- quick commerce.
Tech Buzz ued slowdown in the auto portfo- ly. Manufactur- from a year
`168 cr in the
same period excluding all th- stage quick-fashion delivery space, Meanwhile, omnichannel fashion

Nvidia to Boost
lio, manufacturing portfolio; tele- ing shrank 4% ago ($534 last year ese items in both as investors double down on startups brand Newme, which targets Gen Z
coms is relatively stable…It's a from a year million). periods, our focused on fast-moving fashion prod- consumers, raised $18 million in a
profit before tax would have in- ucts with shorter turnaround times, round led by Accel, with participa-
H20 Chip Sales creased by 76.2% from `16.2 crore even as concerns linger around the tion from existing investors

LTTS Q1 Profit up Marginally to `316cr

to `28.7 crore,” said Singh. model’s sustainability. Fireside Ventures and
to Chinese Cos The company’s total expenses,
however, rose to `293 crore in the
Mumbai-based quick-
fashion delivery star-
AUM Ventures, as re-
ported by ET.
Nvidia will ramp up sup- June quarter from `168 crore in tup Knot has raised a “Quick commerce
ply of Chinese-compliant the same period last year. A sig- $3 million round led has revolutionised
H20 chips in the coming Mid-tier IT services firm’s revenue climbs 16% to `2,866 crore nificant amount of the expendi- by Kae Capital with the way we purchase
months and look to bring AMIT CHADHA dropped 3.9% from March quar- ture was attributed to employee participation from groceries, essentials
Our Bureau CEO, LTTS ter pulled down by an 16.4% dip in benefits and other expenses. Sparrow Capital, its and it's extended to a
more advanced semicon- India region and continued slow- “Q1 FY26 had a few events that founder Archit Nanda few other catego-
ductors to Chinese mar- Bengaluru: Mid-tier engineering Our clients feel down in mobility and tech seg- impacted the aviation market in told ET. Gurugram- ries beyond your
ket, CEO Jensen Huang and technology services company our H2 will be ments due to seasonal weakness. India and the region,” said Aloke based fashion com- daily provisions.
said in Beijing. Huang’s re- L&T Technology Services (LTTS) “If you ask me, the way our indus- Bajpai, cofounder and chief exec- merce platform Zulu However, fashion
reported a marginal rise of 0.7% better than try is right now, we are probably the utive, during a post-earnings Club recently closed a $250,000 fund- commerce has not been rei-
marks came after Nvidia
said it planned to resume
year-on-year (YoY) in net profit at H1…We are highest in the industry (in revenue analysts call on Wednesday. This ing from early-stage venture capital magined since the yesteryears when
`315.7 crore in the first quarter of growth). Our clients feel our H2 will includes Operation Sindoor and firm TDV Partners. Knot plans to Myntra and others entered the space.
sales of the H20 AI chip to FY26 supported by a favourable tax reconfirming that we will be better than H1…We are recon- the resulting airspace closures in use the capital to expand beyond It has continued to remain the same,”
China, a move US Com- return despite an increase in em- see double-digit growth firming that we will see double-digit North India, the recent AI171 Mumbai to cities such as New Delhi, said Sunitha Viswanathan, partner
merce Secretary Howard ployee and other expenses. growth this year,” said Amit Chad- crash, airspace shutdowns in Pa- Bengaluru, and Pune, strengthen its at Kae Capital. “There needs to be a
The Mumbai-based Larsen & Tou- this year ha, CEO, LTTS. “Second, the sus- kistan, disruptions in the Middle product capabilities, and onboard new platform-led approach. Gen Z
Lutnick said was part of bro (L&T) subsidiary’s net profit verticals of sustainability and tainability segment has seen sig- East during the Iran-Israel ten- additional partner brands. cares about tight curation, fast de-
negotiations on rare rose 1.5% from `311.1 crore in March tech, its revenue jumped 16.4% to nificant order inflow for us in the sions, and Air India’s voluntary Zulu Club, the Gurugram-based livery, and quick returns so that
earths. —Reuters quarter. Helped by a 1.5% growth `2,866 crore in the April to June last three quarters. It is our most reduction of international wide- startup, does not operate its own of- their money doesn’t get blocked,”
. in North America and two key quarter. Sequentially, revenue profitable segment,” he added. body flights for safety checks. fline stores but offers services she added.

$6 billion
CoreWeave to invest in
Pennsylvania AI Data
Centre. —Bloomberg
Free AI Training for 5.5l Wipro Looking to Become Consulting-led,
Jupiter Bags
Corp Agency
Village Entrepreneurs AI-powered Company, says Rishad Premji
IT TAKES A VILLAGE... Wipro exec chairman says FY25 was a year of significant change — for Wipro and the world
Tag from Irdai
Our Bureau

New Delhi: The workforce man- Govt to train 10 lakh peo- RISHAD PREMJI gave the company a strong start in quarterly revenue and profit num-
MUMBAI: Fintech platform
ple in advanced digital
ning the 5,60,000 lakh Common Ser- Our Bureau executive chairman, Wipro financial services consulting and bers, respectively, as US tariffs-relat-
Jupiter Money has secured vice Centres across the country, will helped in expansion across other ed uncertainty continued to drive
We know the external
a corporate agency licence
from Insurance Regulatory
be imparted free training in Artifi-
cial Intelligence (AI), electronics tech, says IT minister Bengaluru: IT firm Wipro aims
to sharpen its focus on becoming a environment may stay
industries. The comments came a
day ahead of Wipro’s first-
cautious spending by clients of the
software service providers.
and Development Authori- and information technology minis-
ter Ashwini Vaishnaw said on
Ashwini Vaishnaw consulting-led, artificial intelli-
gence (AI)-powered organisation, uncertain. But resilient quarter earnings sched-
uled to be announced on
Wipro, the fourth largest software
services provider in the country, re-
ty of India (Irdai), marking Wednesday. The move is part of the naw said VLEs will be trained in its executive chairman Rishad businesses are built Thursday. ported revenue of $10.5 billion for
its entry into the insurance government's aim to train 10 lakh citi- the latest technological Premji told shareholders. On Wednesday, Wipro’s 2024-25.
distribution space. The li- zens in advanced digital technolo- trends. ‘Under the In- Addressing the Bengaluru- during times like these shares closed 2% higher “Starting from FY26, we expect to
cence, which covers both gies such as AI, machine learning, diaAI mission, the gov- based company’s 79th annual gen- gies like AI were scaling rapid- at `262.70 per share on return to shareholders at least 70%
data analytics, cybersecurity, AI as ernment has decided to eral meeting through videocon- ly,” said Premji. “We’re sharpen- the BSE. of the net income cumulatively over
life and general insurance, part of the India AI Mission. equip 10 lakh people with ferencing on Wednesday, the son ing our focus on Since last week, a three-year period,” Premji said.
enables Jupiter to distrib- Speaking at an event to mark AI skills. Of this, we will of billionaire promoter Azim becoming a larger rivals Chief executive Srinivas Pallia,
ute insurance products di- the 16th establishment give priority to and Premji said 2024-25 was a year of consulting-led, Tata Con- who completed one year at Wipro’s
rectly through its app. The day of CSCs, which train 5.5 lakh significant change for Wipro as AI-powered or- sultancy helm in April, said as the uncertain-
have grown to be- VLEs,’ Vaishnaw well as the world. ganisation.” Services ty deepened in the fourth quarter of
firm said it will begin with
come one of the said, urging “We know the external environ- He highlight- (TCS) and 2024-25 with new headwinds led by
curated offerings in part- world's largest dig- more village-level ment may stay uncertain. But re- ed that Wi- HCLTech tariffs, Wipro is helping its clients
nership with major insur- ital service de- entrepreneurs to silient businesses are built during pro’s acqui- have re- define roadmaps, identify AI op-
ers. —Our Bureau livery net- join the training times like these… The macro land- sition of ported portunities and align with their
works, Vaish- programme. scape kept shifting, and technolo- Capco in 2021 subdued business goals from the start.

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