NEWS POINT | PAGE 19 COMPANIES | PAGE 7 INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 9 Bhatiareturnstosteer IndiGothroughturbulence AmbaniturnsTrumpfriend withrefinerybacking AHMEDABAD, FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2026 Fresh$50-bndatacentre pushbyMeta,Microsoft FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XX 238, 30 PAGES, `12 P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E SENSEX: 76,034.42 ▼ 829.29 NIFTY: 23,639.15 ▼ 227.70 NIKKEI 225: 54,452.96 ▼ 572.41 HANG SENG: 25,716.76 ▼ 182.00 `/$: 92.20 ▲ 0.16 `/€: 106.57 ▼ 0.12 BRENT: $99.92 ▲ $7.94 GOLD: `1,59,809 ▼ `341 MOJTABAVOWSVENGEANCE IN FIRSTREMARKS SINCETAKING OVER New Iran leader’s Strait talk:Won’t back down ● Hormuz to be MOJTABA KHAMENEI used as leverage; Gulf attacks to continue IRAN'S SUPREME LEADER We will obtain compensation from the enemy, or we will destroy its assets to the same extent ASSOCIATED PRESS Dubai, March 12 IRAN’S NEWSUPREME Leader MojtabaKhameneireleasedhis first statement since succeeding his late father, saying on Thursday that Iran would keep up its attacks on its Gulf Arab neighbours and use the effective closure of the strategic Strait of Hormuz as leverage against the US and Israel. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, who Israelsuspectswaswoundedin the opening salvo of the war, did not appear on camera,and his statement was read by a state TV news anchor. The statement included a vow to avenge those killed in thewar,includinginastrikeon a school that killed over 165 people. It signalled a willingness to continue the war that has disrupted global energy »INSIDE« All US bases in the region (West Asia) should immediately be closed, and those bases will be attacked An oil tanker burns after being hit by an Iranian strike at Khor alZubair port near Basra, Iraq, late on Wednesday. An Indian crew member was killed in the attack, while 15 others were rescued supplies, international travel and the relative safety enjoyedbytheGulfArabstates, TRUMP ADMIN MAY EASE SHIPPING RULES PAGE 9 and which has also exacted a heavy toll on Iran’s leadership, military and ballistic POWER STOCKS GAINERS IN A LOSING MARKET PAGE 8 AUTO, PARTS MAKERS FEEL THE PINCH PAGE 6 India,China,EU&13others underfreshUStradeprobe ● Investigation to advance tariff agenda MUKESH JAGOTA New Delhi, March 12 LEAVINGNOSTONEunturned onitstariffescalationpolicy,the Donald Trump Administration has launched trade investigations on excess industrial capacityacross16tradingpartners,including India. The probe under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 identified “excess capacities” created by India in solar modules,petrochemicals and steel, along with its trade surplus DUTYBOUND ■ New probe to examine if the policies of 16 nations create 'excess manufacturing capacity' that harms US industries Sectors mentioned for India include: ■ Solar modules ■ Petrochemicals ■ Steel ■ US believes these sectors produce more than domestic demand, leading to exports that affect American producers with the US in goods like automotive goods, healthrelated goods, construction goods and textiles. Investigation into its domestic policies that enable this is expected to help Wash- Retail inflation rises to 3.21% in February HEADLINE RETAILINFLATION rose to a 10-month high of 3.21% year-on-year in February, edging up from 2.74% in January, data released by the statistics ministry on Thursday showed, reports Kuldeep Singh. ■ PAGE 4 PRICE POINT Consumer price index (% change y-o-y), 2024 base 4 3.34 3 ington persist with its tariff increase agenda without stumbling upon legal hurdles as the scrapped “reciprocal” measure did. 2 Continued on Page 9 Source: MoSPI, FE calculation 1 0 Apr 2025 missile programme. Khamenei has not been seen in public since the start of the war. Continued on Page 9 NO FUEL SCARCITY: PURI IN LOK SABHA PAGE 2 India-boundcrudesneakspastHormuz SAURAVANAND New Delhi, March 12 EVENAS NEWDELHI isintalks withTehran to secure safe passageforoiltankersthroughthe Strait of Hormuz, two tankers carrying around 3 million barrels of Iraqi and Arab crude boundforIndiacrossedthesea passage between March 5 and March 10with theirtransponders switched off. “External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Foreign Minister of Iran Seyed Abbas Araghchi have had New Delhi in talks Arab crude have three conversawith Tehran for transited the tionsinthelastfew Strait between days. The last one safe sea passage March 5 and of oil tankers discussed issues March 10 with pertaining to their transponsafety of shipping ders off,” said and India’s energy security. Nikhil Dubey, senior refining Beyond that, it would be pre- analyst at Kpler, pointing to matureformetosayanything,” the growing use of stealth Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson shipping practices as the confor the ministry of external flict in the region disrupts affairs,said onThursday. maritime energy flows. “Some India-bound Ship-tracking data from tankers carrying a combined 3 Kpler, shared exclusively with million barrels of Iraqi and FE, show that one of the tankers loaded crude at Iraq’s Al-Basra oil terminalwhile the other sailed from Saudi Arabia’s east coast.The shipments come even as Gulf producers increasinglyattempt to bypass the Strait of Hormuz. Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter, has stepped up loadings from its Red Sea port of Yanbu, using the kingdom’s cross-country East-West pipeline to reroute oil away from the strait. Continued on Page 7 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: ZIA MODY Holding‘halfthesky’attheBar E KUMAR SHARMA ZIA J MODY, co-founder and managing partner of AZB & Partners, has been named the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Express Awards for Women Entrepreneurs, an initiative of FE in partnership with FICCI FLO. Few names in India’s corporate legal landscape command the respect that Mody does today. Harvard-educated and dually licensed to practise law in India and the US, she has built a reputation for excellence across mergers and acquisitions, private equity, white-collar crime and dispute resolution. Over the decades, she has become synonymous with the highest standards of legal practice and professional integrity. Even as she stands at the pinnacle of the profession, Mody remains deeply committed to expanding opportunities for women in law and business. She often reminds audiences that while women may “hold half the sky”, they must also “stay the course” and not step back when challenges arise.At AZB & Partners, that commitment is reflected in the firm’s inclusive culture,with a significant proportion of women among its partners. The award will be presented in Mumbai on Saturday by members of a distinguished jury comprising Deepak Parekh, chairman of HDFC Asset Management Company and former chairman of An initiative by HDFC; Mallika Srinivasan, chairman and managing director of TAFE; Preetha Reddy, executive vice-chairperson of Apollo Hospitals; and Anjali Bansal, founding partner of Avaana Capital.The jury members were unanimous in their choice. Parekh, chair of the awards jury and someone who has known Mody for decades, describes her as a formidable figure whose influence on corporate regulation and deal-making mirrors the impact her father, Soli Sorabjee, had on Indian jurisprudence. Her journey began at a time when women were still a rarity in the legal profession. Starting her 3.21 career as a young lawyer in New York before returning to India, Mody entered courtrooms and boardrooms in the 1980s where the profession was overwhelmingly male.The path was often lonely. But it forged the resilience and discipline that would define her career. Those who know Mody often speak of the extraordinary hours she devotes to her work. In an era where work is said to be “where the Wi-Fi is”, her schedule frequently stretches across time zones, keeping pace with clients in India, Europe and the US. Continued on Page 9 Associate Partners Ahmedabad Feb 2026