AI@WORK | PAGE 7 MARKETS | PAGE 6 Trust,governancebecoming businessandpolicypriorities INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 9 Mid-&small-capstocksstart lookingpricey:SanjeevPrasad MUMBAI, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2026 China 'very engaged' on Iran sanctions: Bessent FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL LXVI NO. 224, 40 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: 74,858.99 ▲ 564.03 NIFTY: 23,414.30 ▲ 67.90 NIKKEI 225: 65,018.95 ▲ 882.70 HANG SENG: 25,042.71 ▲ 291.93 `/$: 95.81 ▲ 0.06 `/€: 110 ▲ 0.10 BRENT: $100.83 ▼ $3.04 GOLD: `152,620 ▼ `556 IN THE NEWS MARKETS PAGE 6 FOREX FLOWS VIA FCNR(B) TOUCH RECORD $133 BN THE RBI'S SPECIAL dollar-rupee forex swap facility has attracted $143.6 billion through FCNR(B) deposits, overseas foreign currency borrowings and external commercial borrowings, according to central bank data released on Monday, reports fe Bureau. FCNR(B) deposits alone stood at $133 billion. The FCNR(B) window closed on August 31, while the swap facility for ECBs and OFCBs remains open till December 31. Examining US tariff law on Russian oil purchase: Goyal INDIA IS EXAMINING details of the new US legislation that imposes tariffs of up to 100% on countries buying Russian oil and gas, said Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, reports fe Bureau. ■ PAGE 2 » INSIDE « STARBUCKS PLANS GLOBAL TECH CENTRE IN INDIA P4 MICROSOFTMAKES HYDERABADAI HUB P4 CURRENTACCOUNT,FISCALCONCERNS INCREASE Crudeoilimportbillzooms $24.5billioninApril-August SAURAVANAND New Delhi, September 21 PRICE SHOCK INDIA SPENT AN additional $24.4 billion on crude oil imports during April-August despite importing virtually the same quantity as a year earlier, duetoelevatedglobalprices.The import bill surged 48.4% to $74.8billionfrom$50.4billion a year earlier, even as volumes fell 0.4% to 100.7 million metric tonne (MMT), according to data from the Petroleum Planning andAnalysis Cell (PPAC). In rupee terms, import expenditure jumped to a little over `7 lakh crore during the period,up 62%year-on-year. According to RBI exchange- YoY jump in crude oil import bill during April-August despite flat volumes 48.4% ■ Net oil & gas import bill rises ■ Over 35% `7 lakh cr to $66.8 bn in April-August import expenditure incurred during the period, rising 62% ■ CAD widens to $4.2 bn, ■ India’s crude import dependence stays above 88%, leaving the economy exposed to sustained price increases rate data,the rupee fell 8.7% in theyeartoAugust 31. The sharp rise in expenditure despite marginally lower import volumes underscores ■ Indian crude basket averages $90.19/barrel in August, up 30.5% from a year earlier India’s vulnerability to global crude-pricemovementsandthe pressure these could exert on thecurrentaccount.Thepotential fiscal impact has so farbeen or 0.5% of GDP, in Q1 FY27 as goods trade deficit rises contained by inadequate passthroughofhigher costsbystaterun oil marketers. Continued on Page 11 NSEIPOendswith5.7Xsubscription ● Retail bids FIRM DEMAND KUSHAN SHAH Mumbai, September 21 ■ QIB portion subscribed nearly ■ Retail investors’ third highest for an Indian IPO ■ The `22,561-cr NSE issue is India’s secondlargest IPO ■ NII segment bids worth THE NATIONAL STOCK Exchange’s (NSE) initial public offeringclosedonMondaywith an overall subscription of 5.7 times, led by strong demand from qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) and non-institutional investors (NIIs). `10,943 cr The IPO received bids for 505.81 million shares worth `90,287 crore, against 88.64 million shares worth `15,823 crore on offer. Retail investors bid for 61.31 million shares worth `10,943 crore, against 44.10 million shares worth SUPPORTERS OUTDOOR PARTNER subscribed nearly 7 times September 24: NSE shares expected to list on the BSE SPONSORS MEDIA PARTNERS 13 times KNOWLEDGE PARTNER CREATIVE PARTNER MARKETING PARTNER `7,872 crore on offer,translating into a subscription of 1.39 times.Invalue terms,NSE drew the third-highest retail bids for an Indian IPO, after Reliance Power and LG Electronics, according to Prime Database. Institutional demand was particularlystrong,withtheQIB portionsubscribed12.68times. QIBs bid for 319.72 million shares worth `57,069 crore, against 25.21 million shares worth `4,500 crore on offer. Continued on Page 11 DecodingtheTatapuzzle: The 1-1 inside the 4-1 FE BUREAU New Delhi, September 21 THE TATA SONS board voted 4-1 to reappoint N Chandrasekaran as executive chairman. Yet, buried inside that emphaticmajoritywasatiethat could determine whether the resolutionwasvalid at all. The tiewas between the two Tata Trusts nominees on the board.VenuSrinivasanvotedfor Chandrasekaran’s reappointment;NoelTatavotedagainstit. Fourofthefiveparticipating directors thus supported the proposal — but theTrust nomineessplit1-1.Thatsplithasproducedthecentrallegalpuzzlein the escalating dispute between TataTrusts andTata Sons: can a resolution pass with a clear board majority when the two Trust nominees disagree? Two of India’s most celebratedlawyershaveoffereddiametricallyopposite answers. AbhishekManuSinghvi,who is advising Tata Trusts, has invoked the Supreme Court’s 2021verdictintheCyrusMistry case to argue that it recognised the Trusts’ primacy in its relationshipwithTataSons. Harish Salve, who has acknowledged advising Tata Sons and Chandrasekaran, has warned that a global institution cannot be run by “three trustees”. His emphasis is on the authority of the Tata Sons board and the need for an enterpriseofitssizetobemanaged to professional, contemporary corporate standards. But if the dispute reaches court,thejudgeswillfaceaques- TIE THAT SC NEVER BROKE ■ Tata Sons board cleared Chandrasekaran's reappointment 4-1, ■ Article 121 requires a majority of Trusts’ nominees to approve; the Trusts says a majority of two is two, while Tata Sons says one is enough but the two Trusts nominees split 1-1 ■ The Supreme Court's Mistry ruling upheld the Trusts’ veto rights but never said what happens when the nominees disagree From quiet courtrooms to theTata spotlight MAHARASHTRA CHARITY COMMISSIONER Amogh Shyamkant Kaloti has spent much of his career away from the spotlight. Yet, a decisiontakeninhisoffice on August 18 disrupted proceedings at the Tata Group, tionsubstantiallydifferentfrom the one the Supreme Court decided in the Mistrycase.That casewasaboutwhethertheTata Trusts nominees could possess specialaffirmativevotingrights. The present dispute is about what happens when the two people possessing those rights vote differently. The answer turns on Article 121 of the Tata SonsArticles ofAssociation. leading to adjournment of theTataSonsannualgeneral meeting — a first in the group’s 158-year-old history — after the required quorum was not met, putting him at the centre of a high-profile institutional dispute. ■ PAGE 16 Tata Trusts, which collectively owns about 66% of Tata Sons,has the right to nominate directors to the company's board.Article121providesthat matters approved bya majority of the Tata Sons directors must alsoreceivetheaffirmativevote ofamajorityoftheTrust-nominated directors. Continued on Page 10