ECONOMY, P2 COMPANIES, P4 FREE RATION SCHEME Expenditure dept cautions against more steps burdening fisc INTERNATIONAL, P8 AFTER MODEST START BIG BOOST TO ROAD SAFETY ANOTHER SETBACK Sowing of Kharif crops to pick up pace as monsoon progresses Soon, vehicles will get 'star rating' based on crash tests: Gadkari Boris Johnson under pressure after UK election defeats NEW DELHI, SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 2022 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL XLVIII NO. 99, 18 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: 52,727.98 ▲ 462.26 NIFTY: 15,699.25 ▲ 142.60 NIKKEI 225: 26,491.97 ▲ 320.72 HANG SENG: 21,719.06 ▲ 445.19 `/$: 78.34 ▼ 0.03 `/€: 82.67 ▼ 0.30 BRENT: $111.71 ▲ $1.66 GOLD: `50,567 ▼ `164 IN THE NEWS Raymond aims to be net-debt free in three years BRANDED FABRIC and fashion retailer Raymond Group aims to be netdebt free in three years, even as it would launch the initial stake sale of wholly-owned JK Files and Engineering (JKFEL) this fiscal, reports Rajesh Kurup in Mumbai. Telcos to get a headstart on private networks THE DOT is likely to release the guidelines on private networks in the next few days. The guidelines under phase 1, will relate to setting up of private 5G networks in partnership with telecom operators, reports Kiran Rathee in New Delhi. Public issues of REITs, InvITs: Sebi gives UPI option SEBI ON Friday provided an additional payment option of UPI or unified payments interface mechanism to retail investors to apply in the public issue of REITs and InvITs for application value up to `5 lakh, reports PTI. Future’s objections to proposed RP misplaced, says BoI A COUNSEL for Bank of India (BoI) has termed Future Retail’s objections to appointing Deloitte’s RP for its insolvency proceedings as “misplaced, based on incorrect information”, reports Rajesh Kurup in Mumbai. TWO OTHERS QUIT; MAJOR VICTORY FOR YES BANK Goel exits as Dish TV MD after losing vote at EGM RAJESH KURUP Mumbai, June 24 IN A SETBACK to Dish TV India, its shareholders on Friday voted against the reappointment of managing director Jawahar Lal Goel and two other directors. The development is a major victory for Yes Bank, the largest shareholder in Dish TV with a 25.63% stake, which had opposed Goel’s reappointment. Goel and the two others — wholetime director Anil Kumar Dua and director Rajagopal Chakravarthi Venkateish — relinquished their positions on the board following the outcome of the voting at the company’s extraordinary general meeting ■ Directors relinquish posts after not receiving ‘requisite majority’ ■ Jawahar Lal Goel (in pic) steps down as MD; Anil Kumar Dua has vacated as wholetime director and Rajagopal Chakravarthi Venkateish as director (EGM).However,the company said that Goel would continue asanon-executivedirectorand Dua as the chiefexecutive officer of the company. The outvoting of Goel and the other directors happened ■ Goel to continue as a non-executive director and Dua as CEO ■ SES also did not support Venkateish's reappointment ■ Proxy advisory firm Stakeholders Empowerment Services had asked shareholders to vote against the reappointment ofGoel after the Bombay High Court on Thursday allowed Yes Bank to vote at the EGM. The e-voting forthe resolutions had started on Monday and ended on Friday. The legal tangle in Dish TV ■ DishTVis a part ofEssel Group and is run by Goel, Zee group patriarch Subhash Chandra’s brother OnThursday, a Bombay High Court ruling pavedway for Yes Bank tovote in EGM had started after Yes Bank sought removal of five directors – including chairman and MD Goel – accusing them of corporate governance issues. Continued on Page 2 ● MERCHANTS GET THREE MORE MONTHS RBI extends card tokenisation deadline SHASHANK DIDMISHE Mumbai, June 24 THE RESERVE BANK of India (RBI) on Friday extended the deadline for merchants to delete the card storage data of their customers under the card-on-file tokenisation system by three months till September 30. This is the third time the central bank has extended the timeline for mandatory card tokenisation. The RBI first extended the deadline by six months from June 30, 2021, till December 30,2021,and then by another six months till June 30. Noting that considerable progress has been made on card tokenisation and some merchants have already initiated the use of tokens,the cen- STILLGETTING READY ■ RBI says the system is yet to gain traction with all categories of merchants ■ Under the tokenisation system, merchants not allowed to store card details but instead generate a token for transaction ■ Deadline was earlier extended by RBI twice tralbankobservedthatthesystem isyet to gain traction with all categories of merchants. Additionally,merchantsareyet to install an alternate system wherecustomerscanchooseto enter the card details manually,the central bank said. “It has been decided to extend the timeline forstoring of CoF (card-on-file) data by three months, till September 30,afterwhich such data shall be purged,” the RBI said in a notification. In 2020, the RBI had directed merchants to delete users’card data stored on their platforms for protection of financial information of the customers. Under the tokenisation system merchants will not be allowed to store the card details such as the 16-digit number,expirydates and CVV, but will instead generate a token through which the transaction will take place. Several industry players had voiced concerns on the skewed preparedness of the merchants for implementing tokenisation. While larger ecommerce platforms and companies have alreadybegun the shift to generating tokens, smaller merchants did not have the readiness to migrate to the new system. Additionally, concerns were also raised that tokenised transactions may not be able to match the requisite speed and complexity for card payments. Continued on Page 2 Man who ran Swachh As edible oils run low,rice bran Bharat is new Niti CEO becomes a hot commodity FE BUREAU New Delhi, June 24 made on the same terms and conditions as were applicable for Kant. THE GOVERNMENT ON FriIyer will steer the thinkday appointed former drink- tank at a time when frictions ing water and sanitaare visible between tion secretary the Centre and Parameswaran Iyer, Opposition-ruled who steered the states on many Swachh Bharat Misissues, social and sion, as the CEO of economic. top government He will play a key think-tank Niti role along with Aayog. He will recently appointed take over from Parameswaran Niti Aayog viceAmitabh Kant, who Iyer will take chairman Suman will demit office on charge on July 1 Bery to lay the June 30. groundforcollaboraIyer, 63, has been tive action forhigher appointed for two years or till growth with sustainability, further orders, whichever is creation of jobs, education, earlier,the department of per- ease of living and reforms sonnel said. in agriculture. According to the order, Iyer’s appointment has been Continued on Page 2 Special Feature The previous Venue had its flaws (like a cramped rear seat and boring exterior design). In the new Venue, Hyundai has rectified these. It has given Hyundai the muscle to stay ahead of Tata in monthly sales. ■ Motobahn, P8 RICE BRAN HAS become a sought-after commodity in India as the world’s biggest importerofvegetable oils tries to overcome an edible oil shortage caused byglobal supply disruptions. A by-product in rice milling,rice bran has been traditionally used for cattle and poultryfeed.Inrecentyears,oil mills have started extracting rice oil, which is popular among health-conscious consumers but historically more expensive than rival oils. Rice bran oil accounts for a small portion of overall vegoil consumption in India but is one of the fastest-growing among edible oils, industry officials say, and production and imports are set to increase to meet the demand. Therecentrallyinglobaledible oil prices fuelled by Indonesia’s restrictions on palm oil exports anddisruptionstosunflower oil shipments from Ukrainehaswipedoutricebran oil’s traditional premium over rival oils. That has triggered a surge in demand for bran oil which has similar taste properties to sunfloweroil. As sunflower oil imports plunged from Ukraine, consumersstartedreplacingitwith ricebranoil,saidBVMehta,secretary-general of the International Association of Rice Bran Oil(IARBO).Indiausuallyfulfils morethantwo-thirdsofitssunflower oil requirements throughimportsfromUkraine. “Because of Covid-19,Iwas looking for healthier food options.Ifirstusedricebranoil for health benefits six months ago and since then I’ve been using it,” said Aditi Sharma, a Mumbai-based homemaker, who switched to rice bran oil from sunflower oil. Continued on Page 2 Mid-size SUV production to start in August VARUN SINGH New Delhi, June 24 JAPANESE AUTO MAJORS Toyota MotorCorporation and Suzuki Motor Corporation are deepening their collaboration beyond the cross-badgedvehicles they currently offer. The two companies will start production of a new sports utility vehicle (SUV) developed by Suzuki at Toyota’s manufacturing facilityat Bidadi in Karnataka,from August. The joint initiative will strengthen theirproduct portfolioin a segmentwhich iscurrently driving passenger vehicle(PV)salesandwhereKorean manufacturers Hyundai and Kia have a strong presence. FE was the first to report,in its May 23 edition, that a new SUV is being co-developed by the two companies to compete with Hyundai’s hugely successful Creta. Suzuki’s Indian subsidiary, Maruti Suzuki India, and Toyota'sdomestic arm,Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM), will market the new model in India as Suzuki and Toyota models, respectively, the two said in a joint statement on Friday.The NEW ROUTE Production to start at Toyota's plant in Karnataka from August ■ Maruti Suzuki India and Toyota Kirloskar Motor to market the vehicle in India as Suzuki and Toyota models ■ Two power trains to be available: one with mild hybrid configuration from Suzuki, other as a strong hybrid from Toyota New model to be sold in India and exported to markets, including Africa two powertrains of the new model will be mild hybrid developed by Suzuki and strong hybrid developed by Toyota,the statement added. “By bringing together the strengths of both Toyota and Suzuki through the collaboration,the two companies will be abletoprovideawidevarietyof vehicle electrification technologiestocustomersandcontribute to the acceleration of electrification and the realisationofacarbon-neutralsociety in India,”the statement added. “Furthermore, the two companies are planning to export the new model to markets outside India, including Africa,”it said. At present, the SUV segmentaccountsforalmost40% of the overall domestic PVvolumes.Within this,the share of compact SUVs is 22% and that of mid-size is of 18%. With only two models — Vitara Brezza and S-Cross — in its portfolio, out of the industry-wide total of 47, Maruti’s share in the SUV segment standsataround12%.Though Vitara Brezza is the leader in the compact SUV space, the companydoes not havea highselling product in the mid-size segment.Its onlyproduct here, S-Cross, never was a volume leader and the company is phasing it out. In the last seven years, SCross sold merely 165,000 units, at an average of about 2,000 units per month. In comparison, Hyundai, which launched the Creta around the same time, has sold about 700,000 units — at over8,000 units per month. Continued on Page 2 Zomato seals Blinkit deal with `4,447-cr share swap FE BUREAU Bengaluru, June 24 Q-commerce boost THE BOARD OF directors of online food delivery major ZomatoonFridayapprovedthe acquisition of Blinkit (formerly Grofers) for a total purchase consideration of `4,447.48 crore in a share-swap deal. The dealvalueof `4,447.48 crore (around $570 million) is 43% lower than Blinkit’s last valuation of over$1 billion and also lower than $700-750 million,thevaluationwhentheinitial level of talks for the merger had started. “This acquisition is in line with our strategy of investing in the quick commerce business,”Zomato said in a regulatory filing. Zomato’s filing about the transaction also revealed Blinkit’s annual turnovers in thelastthreefiscals:`263crore inFY22,`200croreinFY21and `165 crore in FY20.Blinkit has been struggling to raise funds, which has led it to lay off employees and shut down its warehouses to conserve cash. In March, Zomato had announced an investment of $150 million in Blinkit in form ofdebttohelpittomeetitsdues to vendors and other creditors. ■ Deal value is 43% lower than last valuation of over $1 bn ■ Blinkit has been struggling to raise funds, has laid off staff, shut down its warehouses Value even lower than $700-750 million, valuation during initial talks Zomato had then said that the loan to Blinkit will be disbursed in multiple tranches witha12%annualinterestrate. Prior to that, Zomato had invested around $100 million in Blinkit in August 2021. At that time, Zomato had said that it has plans to invest a total of $400 million in Blinkit, a part of which would be structured as convertible notes.Zomato had at that time hinted at a potential mergerin the days to come. With the pandemic leading more and more people to take to online grocery shopping, Zomato Intra-day on BSE (`), June 24 72.0 71.5 71.5 70.35 71.0 70.5 70.0 69.5 Open Close ■ In March, Zomato had announced an investment of $150 m in Blinkit in form of debt analysts feel the trend is here to stay and tier-two cities and beyondwill be the next growth frontier for the segment players. Zomato has been actively looking at the e-grocery space as it feels that there’s a large opportunity here. Last year, executives at the firm had said that the strategy behind the company’s investment in Blinkit was to get more exposure to the space and build a strategy around the e-grocery business. Shares of Zomato closed up at `70.35 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Friday. CPI INFLATION MAY EASE TO 4% IN 2 YEARS Inflation fight won’t be painless, says RBI deputy governor FE BUREAU New Delhi, June 24 With newVenue, Hyundai is back in driving seat RAJENDRA JADHAV Mumbai, June 24 Toyota,Suzuki to take on Korean might in SUVs RETAIL INFLATION WILL likelygetbacktothemid-point of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) medium-term target of 2-6% in two years, given the raft of measures initiated by the monetary and fiscal authorities, deputy governor Michael Patra said on Friday. He expressed optimism that the“required monetary policy actions in India will be more moderate than elsewhere in the world”. However, the fight against inflation is unlikely to be “painless”, Patra cautioned, indicating its adverse impact on the economy. Responding to the com- ments, yields on 10-year government securities rose 5basis points in intra-day trade before easing a tad to settle up marginallyat7.43%onFriday. Commenting on the rupee depreciation, Patra said the central bank is intervening in theforexmarkettocurbundue volatility and it won’t allow “disorderly, jerky movement” of the domestic currency. The rupee hit a fresh low of 78.33 against the greenback on Friday. He also stated that the depreciation in the rupee is among the lowest in theworld. The local currency has shed more than 5% against the dollar this year, against over 7% forthe Philippine peso and 8% for the South Korean won. PATRA-SPEAK ■ Central bank will follow the government's instruction on any rupee-rouble mechanism ■ India's monetary steps could be more moderate than the rest of the world Inflation may be peaking; India to win inflation war despite losing the battle ■ RBI not targeting any particular rupee level but won't allow ‘jerky movements’ AddressingaPHDCCIevent here, Patra said,“If the monsoon brings with it a more benign outlook on food prices, India would have tamed the inflation crisis even earlier ■ Inflation outlook tethered to the Ukraine war but RBI won't sit idle ■ Depreciation in rupee among the lowest in the world (than two years).” Retail inflation eased to 7.04% in May from a 95month high of 7.79% in April, as price pressure across core and food products moderated, partly aided by a somewhat conducive base. It, however, still remained above the RBI’s comfort zone for a fifth straight month. The inflation outlook is “tetheredtothewarinUkraine”, he stressed, but indicated that the central bank won’t “sit on our hands and do nothing in a fatalistic acquiescence”. Patra, however, stated that there were “indications that inflation may be peaking” in India.Atthesametime,hestuck to the latest assessment of the monetary policy committee that retail inflation could stay above the central bank’s target forthe next three quarters. “Without a doubt, the impactofgeopoliticalriskswill cause a very grudging decline in inflation…but India would succeed in bending down the future trajectory of inflation, winning thewarin spite of losing the battle,”Patra,who isthe New Delhi deputy governor in charge of monetary policy,said. The central bank has already hiked the repo rate by 90 basis points since May and is widely expected to raise it further in August as it battles to control elevated inflation. If real GDP growth averages between 6% and 7% in this fiscal and the next (the RBI’s latest GDP growth forecast for FY23 is 7.2%) , the recovery that is increasingly solidifying gets a fairchance of traction. “The RBI will have fulfilled its mandate of prioritising price stability while being mindful of growth,” the deputy governor said. Continued on Page 2