OPINION, P6 COMPANIES, P4 NR BHUSNURMATH Is the yield curve a public good, or best left to the market? BACK PAGE, P16 EDITORIAL ROAD AHEAD FOR ECONOMY IN THE NEWS As Twitter's Musk reckoning approaches, watch out for the direction content policies take Broad-based revival in private capex soon, says TV Narendran Newly appointed Niti Aayog vice-chairman Suman Bery has his task cut out NEW DELHI, TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2022 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL XLVIII NO. 47, 16 PAGES, `10.00 (PATNA & RAIPUR `10.00) 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: 56,579.89 ▼ 617.26 NIFTY: 16,953.95 ▼ 218.00 NIKKEI 225: 26,590.78 ▼ 514.48 HANG SENG: 19,869.34 ▼ 769.18 `/$: 76.69 ▼ 0.21 `/€: 82.29 ▲ 0.35 BRENT: $101.23 ▼ $5.42 GOLD: `51,976 ▼ `258 IN THE NEWS SP Group abstains from voting for Tata Sons chief THE SHAPOORJI Pallonji Group (SP Group), embroiled in a bitter legal feud with Tata Sons, has abstained from voting for the re-appointment of chairman N Chandrasekaran and appointment of one director, reports Rajesh Kurup in Mumbai. The group also voted against the appointment of Vijay Singh as director. However, the Tatas voted in favour of all the three resolutions that came up for voting at the EGM on Monday. Heatwaves in March impact wheat crop HEATWAVES in the second half of March, with temperatures rising to 40 degrees Celsius, hit the wheat crop at the ripening stage, reports Sandip Das in Karnal (Haryana) & Rajpura, Khanna (Punjab). Scientists say that day temperatures should ideally be in the early 30 degrees Celsius when the kernel accumulates starch and nutrients. The government is considering a proposal to relax norms for shrivelled grain soon. Special Features An impressive performance by ICICI Bank in Q4 Earnings estimates raised by 2-3%; target price up to `1,070 from `1,050; ‘Buy’ retained ■ Investor, P7 External factors affected highway sector in FY22 The construction pace of 29 km/day in fiscal was good given Covid curbs & weather events ■ Infrastructure, P7 FINAL STRETCH OF NEGOTIATIONS Musk nears Twitter deal Microblogging platform poised to agree on a sale to Tesla’s CEO for around $43 billion in cash GREG ROUMELIOTIS New York, April 25 TWITTER INC IS poised to agreeonasaletoElonMuskfor around $43 billion in cash,the price the CEO of Tesla has called his“best and final”offer ‘I hope that even myworst critics remain onTwitter, because that iswhat free speech means’ Elon Musk’s tweet on Monday evening Twitter has not Twitter been able so far to would be allowed secure a ‘go-shop’ to accept an offer provision under its from another party agreementwith Musk that by paying Musk a would allow it to solicit other break-up fee bids once the deal is signed for the social media company, people familiar with the matter said. Twitter may announce the $54.20-per-share deal lateron Mondayonceitsboardhasmet to recommend the transaction to Twitter shareholders, the sources said,adding it was still possiblethedealcouldcollapse at the last minute. Musk, the world’s richest person according to Forbes, is negotiating to buyTwitter in a personal capacity and Tesla is not involved in the deal. Twitterhas not been able to secure so far a ‘go-shop’ provision under its agreement with Musk that would allow it to solicit other bids once the deal is signed,the sources said.Still, Twitter would be allowed to accept an offer from another party by paying Musk a breakup fee,the sources added. The sources requested anonymitybecause the matter is confidential. tional provisions of 20% if a resolution plan for a stressed asset is not found within 180 days of the end of the review period for the asset. Continued on Page 2 Continued on Page 2 Continued on Page 2 BANKS MAY RAISE the provisions they hold against their exposures to Future Group companies over the next few quartersto100%,bankersand analysts said.At present, most banks hold 40% provisions against the group’s flagship Future Retail,which slipped in January2022. Lenders’ total exposure to the Future Group is pegged at `27,000crore.AsofSeptember 2021,FutureRetail’sgrossdebt stood at `13,346.78 crore, whilethreeofthegroup’sother At present, most banks hold ■ Lenders’ total exposure to the Future Group is pegged at 40% provisions against the group’s flagship Future Retail `27,000 crore listed entities had a combined gross debt of `5,863 crore, according to Bloomberg data. RelianceIndustries’plantotake over 19 entities of the Future Group failed to get secured creditors’approval lastweek. As ofSept 2021, Future Retail’s gross debt stood at `13,346.78 crore, shows data Three of the group’s other listed entities had a combined gross debt of `5,863 crore, data shows Bank of India (BoI) has already referred Future Retail to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) forinsolvency proceedings. Regulatory norms state that lenders to a company must make addi- FTA TALKS TO RESUME IN JUNE MALINI BHUPTA Mumbai, April 25 THE COUNTRY’S LARGEST initial public offering (IPO) of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) is set to open on May 4 and will close on May 9. The anchor book is slated to open on May 2 but the issue will open for retail investors two days later,as May3 is a holiday on account of Eid. Investment bankers said that the government has cut the issue size to `21,000 crore and the issue is now valued at 1.1 times its embedded value of `5.4 trillion. In September 2021, the government had appointed Milliman Advisors to value the country’s largest insurer and arrived at an embedded value of `5.4 trillion. Embedded value is the measure of consolidated shareholder value of an insurer. Historically,listed private sector insurers have traded at 2-3 times their embedded value. Marketexpertssaidthevaluation leaves a lot on the table for investors. The issue size was cut from the earlier proposed `65,000 crore as market conditions turned negative after Russia attacked Ukraine, sending financial markets into a tizzy. Future’s bankers to raise provisions SHRITAMA BOSE Mumbai, April 25 LIC’s IPO to open on May 4 Prime Minister Narendra Modi with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in Delhi on Monday DETAILED REPORT ON PAGE 2 Zilingo CEO plans buyback ahead of board meeting B2B E-COMMERCE START-UP Zilingo’s co-founder and CEO AnkitiBose,whoisembroiledin alegaltusslewiththeboard,has begun exploratory talks with new investors to buy out a majority stake including the 25% equity owned by Sequoia Capital,sources close the developmenttoldFE,reportsSalman SH. The talks come at a time when the board of Zilingo is SLOWDOWN FEARS Key commodities prices witness a sharp fall FE BUREAU New Delhi, April 25 Bloomberg Commodity Index APPREHENSIONS OF A slowdownintheglobaleconomy,led by a deceleration in the US and China, has led to a fall in the prices of several commodities over the past week or so.There are concerns the Chinese economy would lose momentum in the wake of lockdowns to fight Covid and the US economy will decelerate as interest rates rise. Oil prices fell nearly 5% on Monday,hittingtheirlowestlevels in a fortnight. The price of metalslikepalladiumhavetumbled in the spot market, while copperhasfallen7%infivesessions.Silverpriceshavecomeoff by close to 9% over the same period; gold prices are down about 4%. Analysts said the broader commodities sell-off is aresultoffearsthatdemandwill falloffasmajoreconomiesslow. 135 138 134.99 126.57 132 129 123.88 126 123 120 April 1, 2022 `/$ April 18 April 25, 2022 Inverted scale Nifty50 18,500 75.0 76.69 75.5 16,953.95 18,000 76.0 17,500 76.5 17,000 77.0 77.5 76.92 March 8, April 25, 2022 2022 Source: Bloomberg 16,500 16,000 16,663 March 15, 2022 April 25, 2022 FORMULA TO FIGHT INFLATION RBI will have to raise rates, not anti-national to do so: Rajan FE BUREAU Mumbai, April 25 TAKING A DIG at his critics in a social media post, former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan said that bureaucrats and politicians need to realise that raising policy rates does not amount to anti-national activity that benefits foreign investors. As inflation is on the rise, Rajan is of the view that India’s central bank would have to start raising policy rates too. He writes,“At some point, the RBI will have to raise rates, like the rest of the world is doing (I will refrain from trying to predict when). At such times, politicians and bureaucrats will have to understand that the rise in policy rates is not some anti-national activity benefiting foreign investors, but is an investment in economic At such times, it helps to let the facts talk. And the correct facts are important to guide future policy. It is essential that the RBI does what it needs to, and the broader polity gives it the latitude to do so RAGHURAM RAJAN FORMER RBI GOVERNOR stability,whose greatest beneficiary is the Indian citizen.” The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will have to eventually raise interest rates amid a worldwide upsurge in inflation the former RBI governor said. Rajan was alluding to a term often bandied about by a section of the ruling dispensation and their sympathisers to describe a range of actions, opinions and people that they perceive to be inimical to India’s interests. In a two-page LinkedIn PTI post, Rajan said it is important to remember that the war against inflation is never over. RajaniscurrentlyKatherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. InitsAprilmonetarypolicy, the RBI has shifted its focus to inflation as its first priority from growth. It will remain accommodative with a focus on the withdrawal of accommodation, governor Shaktikanta Das has said. Markets areanticipatingareporatehike in the June policy. Rajan referred to “politically-motivated critics” who say that the RBI held back the economy during his term, just as some of his predecessors were also criticised. Continued on Page 2 New Delhi Ankiti Bose, co-founder & CEO, Zilingo expectedtomeetinthecoming weeks to decide the fate of the company’s leadership changes. Detailed report on Page 4