BACK PAGE | PAGE 20 EXPLAINER | PAGE 9 US visa interview in 10 days for $750 extra fee INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 7 Promisesofplug-and-play industrialecosystem KOLKATA, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 2026 BYD,Alibaba, Baidu aiding Chinese military, says US FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL 35 NO. 187, 24 PAGES, `12 (NORTH EAST STATES `12 & ANDAMAN `20) P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E SENSEX: 73,918.76 ▲ 394.50 NIFTY: 23,242.10 ▲ 119.10 NIKKEI 225: 65,416.63 ▲ 1,392.03 HANG SENG: 24,565.90 ▼ 91.16 `/$: 95.36 ▲ 0.36 `/€: 110.24 ▼ 0.05 BRENT: $91.11 ▼ $3.14 GOLD: `1,51,747 ▲ `1,512 IN THE NEWS ECONOMY PAGE 2 FITCH CUTS FY27 INDIA GROWTH ESTIMATE TO 6.4% FITCH ON TUESDAY lowered its GDP growth forecast for India to 6.4% in FY27 from 6.7% projected earlier, citing the economic fallout of the US-Iran conflict, which is expected to weigh on growth during the September and December quarters, reports fe Bureau. ECONOMY PAGE 2 CONGESTION AT PORTS JACKS UP EXPORT COSTS THE PILING UP of containers and the shortage of trailer drivers at the large West Coast ports have resulted in increasing instances of exporters missing their contracted ships, reports Mukesh Jagota. THE HUMAN FACTOR HOW AI ATE CORPORATE JARGON PAGE 8 Banking stocks rally on RBI forex swap facility BANKING STOCKS RALLIED on Tuesday after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) unveiled operational details of its concessional forex swap facilities aimed at attracting overseas capital inflows and lowering funding costs for lenders, reports Kushan Shah. ■ PAGE 6 OFFICIALS SEE NO NEED FORADDITIONALBORROWING Fertiliser subsidy to double; fisc in control: Govt sources PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, June 9 DESPITE MOUNTING PRESSURE from surging global commodity prices that could nearlydouble the Centre’s fertiliser subsidy bill to `3.4 lakh crore and necessitate support of `1.23 lakh crore foroil marketing companies,the government remains firmly in control of the fiscal situation and sees little risk to India’s growth momentum, senior officials said. Even as geopolitical tensions in West Asia and global trade uncertainties cloud the externalenvironment,officials said the economycontinues to be supported by resilient domesticdemandandastrong underlying growth trajectory. According to sources, the Union Budget for FY27 had already built in a degree of global uncertainty — now a recurring feature of the economic landscape — limiting FORTIFYING FINANCES Disinvestment and asset monetisation push: The Centre has accelerated minority stake sales in state-run companies and expects the proceeds to exceed Budget estimate of `80,000 cr in FY27 Tax exemptions on interest income, capital gains from investments in govt bonds by foreign investors would enhance inflows and could improve India’s prospects of inclusion in Bloomberg Aggregate Bond Index FDI: Government working on $ the need for additional borrowing or supplementary demands forgrants during the upcomingMonsoonSessionof Parliament. The fiscal deficit target of 4.3% of the GDP,they stressed,remains unchanged. The government is simultaneously stepping up efforts to mobilise non-tax revenues Foreign capital inflows: additional measures to boost foreign direct investment through disinvestment and asset monetisation to offset part of the fiscal strain from higher subsidy commitments. A senior official said the fertiliser department has projectedsubsidyrequirementsof up to `3.4 lakh crore this fiscal year, compared with the budgeted `1.71 lakh crore, as global fertiliser prices remain elevated and supplies have become increasingly constrained by disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and damage to production facilities amid the US-Israel-Iran war which has crossed its 100th day. Continued on Page 7 ZeptoemergesaschallengertoBlinkit AYANTI BERA Bengaluru, June 9 ZEPTO’S MARKET DEBUT would make it the third major quick-commerce player with publicly disclosed financials, increasing transparency in a sectorprojected to growfive to seven times by 2030. The latest numbers suggest Blinkit retains a sizeable lead, but Zepto has narrowed the battle to a two-horse race on growth and scale, setting up a more intense contest for investors and consumers alike. Acomparison of operating metrics disclosed in Zepto’s updated draft red herring prospectus and publicly available financial data from Eternal and Swiggy shows Blinkit PECKING ORDER Blinkit Zepto Instamart Orders in FY26 (mn) (mn) 2.5 1.8 1.1 Dark stores 916.6 2,243 640 1,139 1,143 FY26 revenue (` crore) 412 »INSIDE« Average daily orders 3,859 37,779 22,624 ZEPTO DOUBLES REVENUE AHEAD OF IPO P4 remains the largest player across most key measures. However, Zepto has established a clear lead over Swiggy-owned Instamart on order volumes, order value and network productivity. Blinkit processed net orders worth `48,567 crore in FY26,nearly double Zepto’s net order value of `24,816 crore. Instamart reported gross order value of `28,496 crore during the year, which translates into a lower net order value on a comparable basis. Blinkit also processed 916.6 million orders in the last financial year, compared with 640 million orders for Zepto and 412 million orders for Instamart. On a daily basis, Blinkit handled around 2.5 million orders,while Zepto processed 1.8 million and Instamart about 1.1 million. Blinkit’s leadership is also reflected in its infrastructure footprint. Continued on Page 7 ● ASIA'S LONGESTTUNNELTAKES SHAPE Vehicles drive through the `6,800-crore Zojila Tunnel — Asia's longest connecting the Kashmir Valley to Ladakh — following its breakthrough ceremony at Minamarg in Ladakh on Tuesday. The tunnel, one of India's most challenging infra projects, is likely to be thrown open to the public in February AP 2028 Adani Energy to buy IntelliSmart for `3,050 cr ADANI ENERGY SOLUTIONS on Tuesday signed a binding agreement to acquire 100% stake in IntelliSmart Infrastructure for `3,050 crore, a move that will create India's largest smart metering platform, reports Saurav Anand. ■ PAGE 4 AI agents mayequalTCS’ humanworkforce in 3yrs ● Hiring set to slow million employees, the day is not far when the company will have half a million AI agents URVI MALVANIA Mumbai, June 9 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE COULD become as large a workforce as humans at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) within the next three years, Chairman N Chandrasekaran said on Tuesday, signalling a shift that could reduce the industry’s hiring intensity as the company scales up its AI business, which has already reachedanannualisedrevenue run-rate of $2.4 billion. “I predict that overthe next three years, TCS will have as many AI agents as human employees,” Chandrasekaran said at the company’s annual generalmeeting,heldvirtually. “Will it lead to decrease in hiring? Absolutely. The company will not be hiring the kind of numbers it used to hire.” Putting a number to the company’s AI ambitions, Chandrasekaran said that if TCS has around half a million employees,“the day is not far when the company has half a million AI agents”. He said AUTO ZONE Marutitoopen 2biogasplants MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA on Friday announced two new biogas projects and said it plans to invest `925 crore in green energy initiatives by FY31, as the country’s largest carmaker steps up efforts to reduce dependence on conventional fuels and lower carbon emissions, reports Nitin Kumar. ■ PAGE 4 Kia sharpens SUVstrategy KIAINDIAIS preparing a twopronged SUV offensive in the country with the launch of two new models in the coming months — the longawaited Syros EV and the Sorento Hybrid — as the automaker looks to strengthen its position in both the electric and hybrid vehicle segments, reports Akbar Merchant. ■ PAGE 4 BYDbetson plug-inhybrids CHINESE NEW ENERGY vehicle maker BYD will launch its first plug-in hybrid vehicle in India during the festive season, betting that the technology can attract buyers seeking electric driving without concerns over charging infrastructure and vehicle range, reports Vikram Chaudhary. ■ PAGE 4 Apple showcases privacy, personal context understanding and on-screen awareness in upgraded version SirijumpsonAIbandwagoninmore‘personal’avatar ANUJ BHATIA Cupertino (US), June 9 FOR MORETHANadecade,Siri wasprimarilyusedtosetalarms. Apple knew its digital assistant had fallen far short of the company’soriginalvision.Originally designed to serve as a personal companioncapableofhandling complextasksonauser’sbehalf, Sirihadremainedstuckinlimbo for years.That changed at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, where AI came to Siri’s rescue and helped bring the digital assistant back to life. The new“SiriAI,” as it is now being called,is what Siri should have been from the very beginning:anAIassistantthatismore conversational, draws on personalcontext,andcancomplete CRAIG FEDERIGHI, SVP OF SOFTWARE ENGINEERING, APPLE WeseeSirinotasaseparate chatbot...ratherasanintegral butconversationaltoolthat youuseinthemoment actions on a user’s behalf.That was always the original vision for Siri, which was launched morethanadecadeago.Ittook many years forApple to overhaul Siri so much so that it wouldn’tbewrongtocallthis versionSiri2.0.Thecompany first announced this nextgeneration Siri in 2024 alongside the launch ofApple Intelligence, but the AI-powered version faced repeated delays. Weusenoneofthemodels thatGoogledeploystoits customers...Yourrequestsare completelyprivatetoyou. They’reneverstored.They’re neveraccessibletoanyone Unlike previous versions, the new Siri can not only understand your personal context but also perform actions on your behalf across apps,while remaining aware of what’s on your screen through Apple’sVisual Intelligence. Siriwillalsobeabletosearch theweb foranswers,much like ChatGPT and Claude. Siriisalsogainingon-screen awareness. For instance, it can identifythelocationshownina photo you are currently viewing. You can then ask Siri for directions to that location or have it add a stop at a friend’s house along the way. Siri can also proofread text across apps tocatchtyposandgrammatical errors, and it can help you get started by drafting text when you are unsurewhat towrite. WhileApplehasoverhauled Siri AI, making it smarter and more contextuallyaware similarto Google Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT,the companyis notyet calling the digital assistant a chatbot.“We see Siri not as a separate chatbot,an unintegrated place you go and chitchat,but rather as an integral but conversational tool N CHANDRASEKARAN, CHAIRMAN, TCS but no headcount reduction: Chandra If the company has half a that you use in the moment,” Apple SVP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi said. “It’s deeply integrated into your experience,understanding what’s on screen...And so while the experiences are conversational, they are really an extension of your system experience,deeply integrated into your flow.” Apple has partnered with Google to use Gemini models to power the next-generation, more personalised Siri. And Apple isn’t hiding that anymore.In fact,Apple executives at a Q&A session with select media maintained that SiriAI is personal and no information is being shared. Continued on Page 7 Kolkata The company’s employees and AI agents will work together, and that will be the future By 2028 to 2030, 100% of the revenue will have an AI component partsoftheworkcurrentlyperformed by employees would increasingly be undertaken by AI systems, changing the industry’s traditional peopleled delivery model. However, he ruled out workforce reductions, saying TCS would continue to invest in talent and reskilling.“There is no downsizing of staff.That is not planned at all,” Chandrasekaran said, adding that thefocuswouldbeonenabling humans and AI agents to work together.He also saidAI would create new categories of jobs and opportunities over time. The comments come at a timewheninvestorsaredebatingthelong-termimplications of generative AI for the IT services industry. Chandrasekaran said that every major technology disruption has historically expanded technology spending and created new opportunities for technology companies rather than reducing demand. Continued on Page 19 Traimullsnetwork slicingregulations ● Telecom regulator monitoringAirtel’s PriorityPostpaid NET NEUTRALITY RISHI RAJ New Delhi, June 9 THE TELECOM REGULATORYAuthorityof India (Trai) is adopting a two-pronged approach towards Bharti Airtel’s recently launched Priority Postpaid service,monitoring whether the offering affects service quality for prepaid subscribers while examining the need for a broader regulatoryframework fornetwork slicing-based consumer services, according to people aware of the discussions. The move comes after Airtel launched PriorityPostpaid, a service that uses 5G network slicing technology to offer a more stable and consistent network experience to postpaid users during periods of high traffic demand. The launch has triggered a debate within the telecom industry and among policymakers over whether differentiated network experiences fordifferent ■ Bharti Airtel’s Priority Postpaid service using network slicing technology has ignited a debate regarding net neutrality ■ Airtel has defended its offering; Jio says such plans are legitimate but should be subject to safeguards; Vodafone Idea has described such services as discriminatory classes of users require specific regulatory guardrails. According to sources,Trai’s immediate focus is on determiningwhetherthe introduction of priority access for postpaid subscribers results in any deterioration in service quality for prepaid users. Continued on Page 19 NewMehli missive deepensTata row URVI MALVANIA Mumbai, June 9 FORMER TATA TRUSTS trustee Mehli Mistry has significantly escalated his challenge to the current leadership and governance structure of the Tata Trusts. In filings before the Maharashtra charity commissioner, he has raised questions not only about his own removal from the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) but also about trustee appointments, board decisions, remuneration arrangements and governance practices across the trusts ecosystem. Sources familiar with the developments said the challenges span a range of issues, including remuneration and commis- sions received by certain trustees from Tata Group companies, potential conflicts of interest arising from trustee appointments and board positions, governance decisions relating to Tata Sons, and the decision not to renew Mistry’s tenure at the Sir Ratan Tata Trust. Mistry refused to comment on queries regarding the matter. Among the issues raised is annual commission of `1.42 crore received by Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata from Tata Sons. According to people familiar with the matter, Mistry has sought scrutiny of whether remuneration received from group companies by trustees is consistent with the fiduciary obligations expected of those overseeing charitable institutions. Continued on Page 19