PERSONAL FINANCE | PAGE 7 BRANDWAGON | PAGE 9 Think twice before using EPF to buy home Parle-G playbook: Dominate by relevance — not novelty KOLKATA, MONDAY, JULY 27, 2026 THE BIG IDEA | PAGE 20 Perfios founder's 3-decade journey from vision to scale FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL 35 NO. 227, 32 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 IN THE NEWS ECONOMY PAGE 3 MAJOR REJIG OF SOLAR SCHEME IN THE WORKS THE CENTRE IS preparing a major redesign of the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana, with its next phase likely to link public support more closely to actual electricity generation, battery storage, and service delivery, reports Saurav Anand. ECONOMY PAGE 2 FM: FY27 BUDGET NUMBERS NEED NOT BE TWEAKED FINANCE MINISTER NIRMALA Sitharaman said on Sunday that Union Budget numbers for FY27 might not need to be tweaked as of now, adding that there are sufficient buffers to deal with challenges arising from the war in West Asia, reports Shubham Rana. » INSIDE « IDFC FIRST BANK HOPES FOR FRESH FCNR(B) FLOWS OF $1.5-2 BN PAGE 6 FOR DEFENDING RUPEE, RBI LEANS HARDER ON FORWARDS PAGE 6 OPINION PAGE 8 CROSSING THE RUBICON, WRITES AJAY SRIVASTAVA ON FDI IN E-COMMERCE LPG crisis shows up in Zomato’s restaurant base THE NUMBER OF restaurants active on Zomato fell for the first time on record in the June quarter, as a months-long squeeze on commercial LPG forced kitchens across India to ration operations, cut menus, or shut altogether, reports Anees Hussain. ■ PAGE 4 Aviation is a Test match, not a T20, says FLY91 CEO AS FLY91 ENTERS its third year, MD and CEO Manoj Chacko said aviation is a Test match, not a T20, and that's how they have approached growth. The regional airline is targeting cash break-even by the end of FY27, reports Akbar Merchant. ■ PAGE 4 THE HUMAN FACTOR THETOWN HALLIS NOT WHERE YOUTHINK ITIS P8 IPO rush builds,nine NewDigitalCompetitionBill issues open this week FRESHTHRESHOLDS MAYSHIELD INDIAN PLATFORMS maylimitfocustoBigTech ● Govt likely to retain ex ante framework MANU KAUSHIK New Delhi, July 26 THE PROPOSED DIGITAL Competition Bill (DCB) is set for a tweak, with the government considering revising the thresholds for identifying systemically significant digital enterprises (SSDEs) while retaining its ex ante approach. The objective is to ensure the law mainly covers global technology giants such as Google, Meta,Amazon andApplewhile excluding most domestic digitalcompaniessuchasZomato, Swiggy, Flipkart, Ola and Paytm from its ambit. A market study commissioned by the Ministry of CorporateAffairs (MCA) and being FAIR TECH ■ Firms such as Zomato, ■ The original draft, released Swiggy and Oyo also argued that ex ante regulation would curb innovation and increase compliance costs in 2024, had a nationalityneutral approach and listed financial and user thresholds for identifying SSDEs ■ Experts said the ■ The draft drew thresholds were too low and over-inclusive to potentially capture even some Indian startups opposition from large global as well as domestic technology companies conducted by MDI Gurgaon has placed significant emphasis on reviewing the financial, user-based and qualitative thresholds for designating SSDEs, according to a questionnaire circulated among stakeholders. In contrast, the study devotes little attention to revisiting the ex ante obligations themselves, suggesting that the government remains inclined to retain the core regulatoryframeworkwhilerecalibrating its scope. Officials said the findings of the study, which began in June and is expected to conclude by October, will shape the next version of the Bill. “The objective has always been to regulate global gatekeeper platforms that possess huge market power. The earlier thresholdswere broad enough to potentially capture some Indian startups,whichwas not thepolicyintent.That’sexactly what the study is examining,” a senior official said. If adopted, the proposed recalibration would mark a departure from the original draft released in 2024. Continued on Page 5 As Udaan learns its lesson, peers crack the B2B code S SHANTHI Bengaluru, July 26 BUSINESS MANTRA THE FINANCIAL STRESS at Udaan, once among the bestknown B2B e-commerce startups, has renewed questions overwhetherthe country’s B2B marketplace model can deliver sustainable profits. But while the SoftBank-backed company has reportedly been grappling with razor-thin wholesale margins, high cash burn and the challenges of scaling up a marketplace business, several B2B peers such as OfBusiness,Infra Market, Moglix and Zetwerk have shown that the model can work byshifting the focus from chasing gross merchandise value (GMV) to building profitable,full-stackbusinesses. Industry experts say the sector has undergone a clear ■ Sustainable profits, not gross merchandise value, define the new winners ■ India’s B2B e-commerce ecosystem comprises 363 funded companies that have collectively raised $10.4 bn shift from the first generation of B2B marketplaces, which focused on digitising procurement and rapidly aggregating buyers and suppliers, often through discounts.While that strategy helped build scale, it also exposed companies to weak unit economics,high fulfilment costs and mounting ■ The market is projected to grow at over annually to around $12 bn by 2028 working capital requirements. “B2Bmarginsareextremely thin,so the moment you begin discounting to win volume, you’re buying revenue that never converts into profit,” MilanSharma,founderandMD of 35NorthVentures,told FE. Continued on Page 11 AIgrows,butITtoplineflat ● Legacy business THE NEW DEAL is shrinking faster than new streams can make up for ■ Latest earnings reflect disconnect between AI revenue & top line growth ■ Analysts say POULOMI CHATTERJEE Bengaluru, July 26 DOMESTIC IT FIRMS are beginning to report meaningful revenue from artificial intelligence, but the gains are yet to translate into stronger overall growth.This is because AI-led work is increasingly replacingtraditionaloutsourcing rather than adding to it, highlighting the industry’s biggest challenge in the early the gap shows the changing economics of outsourcing stages of the technology shift. The April-June quarter earnings underscored this disconnect. AI revenue and large deal wins climbed across most Centre taps 25% Nilekani to largeITfirms,yettheirtop-line growth remained muted and guidance for the rest of FY27 turned more cautious. Infosys trimmed its annual revenuegrowthforecast,Wipro guidedforanywherebetweena 1.5% sequential decline and 0.5%growthintheSeptember quarter, while HCLTech retained its 1-4% revenue growth guidance despite reportingrecorddealbookings. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Tech Mahindra continued to refrain from offering formal revenue guidance, although both struck an optimistic tone on demand. Continued on Page 11 lead panel on exam reforms A DAY AFTER students called off theirprotests against exam paper leaks following Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation as the Union Education Minister, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced the constitution of a highpowered task force headed by Infosys Co-founder Nandan Nilekani to recommend reforms to make the exam system leakproof. “Based on its report, the worktomakeourexamination system more dependable will be done as soon as possible,” the Prime Minister said in an Instagram video. “For the future of students,the government is continuously taking severalsteps.Thosewhoplayed with the future of students are rotting in jails.We have established fast-track courts; in Parliament tomorrow, we are moving towards making a new law with tough provisions,” Modi added. ● Morethanadozen firmstoraiseover `25,000crinAugust FE BUREAU Mumbai, July 26 INDIA’S PRIMARY MARKET is headingintoabusystretch,with nine companies opening initial public offerings this week and more than a dozen others preparingtoraiseover`25,000 crore in August, as stabilising marketsandimprovinginvestor sentiment encourage issuers to revivelistingplans.Bankerssaid the massive success of the SBI Funds Management IPO has added to the feel-good factor. SBI Funds achieved an overall subscription of roughly 42 times and raised over `9,813 crore.It made a strong debut on Dalal Street,listing at a solid premium. Theimmediatecalendarwill be dominated by three mainboard IPOs — Manipal Health Enterprises, Juniper Green Energyand MVElectrosystems — which together plan to raise more than `11,300 crore. Six small and medium enterprise issues are also scheduled to THE DIGITAL PAYMENT boom may have transformed the way consumers pay for everything, from groceries to utility bills, butonehabitcontinuestofrustrate online retailers: cash on delivery (CoD). Despite years of rapid UPI adoption, CoD still accounts for around 60% of ecommerce orders, rising to as much as 75% in Tier-2 and smallermarkets,forcingbrands toincreasinglyrelyonAI-driven tools and smarter fulfilment strategies to curb rising costs and protect margins. The dependence on CoD reflects a combination of trust issues, limited credit penetration and consumer preference ■ CoD accounts ■ Cash-on-delivery accounts for 60% around of e-comm orders, rising to as much as in Tier-2 and smaller markets 75% ■ Dependence on CoD reflects a combination of trust issues, limited credit penetration and consumer preference for paying only after receiving a product for paying only after receiving a product.According to Prosus India, these behavioural factorsremaindeeplyentrenched despite the digital payment revolution. While CoD accounts for less than 5% of orders in the quick-commerce segment,it continues to dominate traditional e-commerce and remains significant for D2C brands. At handbag maker Miraggio, CoD contributes around 44% of orders and 42% of revenue, while feminine hygiene for less than 5% of orders in q-comm, but continues to dominate traditional e-commerce brand Sirona Hygiene still sees more than 20% of shipped orders through the payment mode after bringing it down sharply over the years. Industry estimates peg the share at 72-75% for Meesho, 35-40% for Amazon, and 20-50% plan to raise more than `11,300 cr via IPOs opening this week ■ Zepto, Truhome Finance, Shiprocket are expected to lead August IPO pipeline ■ As many as 36 companies have launched IPOs so far in 2026 ■ Indian companies could raise about through IPOs in 2026, according to an estimate open during theweek.Manipal Health’s `9,275-crore offering will be the largest of the week. TheIPO,whichwillopenonJuly 29 and close on July 31, comprises a fresh issue of `8,000 crore and an offer for sale of about `1,275 crore.The company has fixed a price band of `560-590 pershare. Juniper Green Energy will open its `1,800-crore fresh issueonJuly30,whileMVElectrosystemswilllauncha`290croreIPOonthesameday.Both issuesarescheduledtocloseon August 3. The SME calendar includesAdvanceTechnoforge, Propshop Events and Exhibi- OJASVI GUPTA New Delhi, July 26 DATA DEBATE INDIA’SACCESSTOAnthropic’s frontier AI model Mythos has beendelayedasthegovernment and the US-based firm remain divided over how the model shouldbetested,withNewDelhi insisting that evaluation be carried out on infrastructure located within the country, accordingtoofficialsources. Anthropic had initially proposedthatIndianentitiesroute their code through its cloud infrastructure for testing, an arrangement the government ■ Anthropic wants Indian entities to route their codes via its cloud infra for testing Continued on Page 11 »INSIDE« NEWS POINT: RESTORING TRUST IN MERIT PAGE 2 EDIT: WHEN HOPES RUN THIN PAGE 8 UPIwins,butcash-on-deliverywon’tquit CASH IS KING ■ Three companies together $20 bn tions, Poojaa Precision Engineering,HR Hygiene Products, Dhaval Packaging, and Fusion Klassroom Edutech. The activity is expected to extend through August,when more than a dozen companies across quick commerce, housing finance,logistics,education infrastructure, dairy products and asset management are preparing to enter the market. The proposed issues are expectedtocollectivelymobilise more than `25,000 crore through a combination of fresh capital and offers forsale. Continued on Page 5 Difference overlocalvs cloud testing delays Mythos access Brands bank onAI-driven tools, smarter fulfilment strategies to curb rising costs & protect margins S SHANTHI Bengaluru, July 26 BUOYANT SENTIMENT across fashion e-commerce. For brands, the persistence of CoD creates two structural challenges.The first isworking capital.Companies incurmanufacturing, packaging and shipping costswell before they know whether the customer willactuallypay.Faileddeliveriesfurtherextendcashconversion cycles while leaving inventory stuck in transit. “We incur the full cost of goods, packaging and forward freight beforewe have anycertainty that the cash will come in, so scaling CoD ties up capital in inventory that may not convert to revenue,” Deep Bajaj, founder and CEO of Sirona Hygiene,said. Continued on Page 11 Kolkata ■ India is unwilling to accept such a deal due to concerns over data residency and handling of sensitive information wasunwillingtoacceptbecause of concerns around data resi- dency and the handling of sensitive information. Instead, India has sought a deployment modelthatallowstestingwithin thecountry.“Anthropichadproposed that you send the code across to a cloud setup and do yourtestingthere.Wewerealittlereluctanttodothat.Wewant to do it in India,” an official said. The disagreement reflects India’s broader approach towards sovereign AI infra, where sensitive government or enterprisedataisexpectedtostaywithin the country’s jurisdiction. Continued on Page 5