COMPANIES, P5 BACK PAGE, P12 INTERNATIONAL, P7 RENEWABLE ENERGY PUSH 8 MONTHS BEFORE HINDENBURG REPORT SHAPING THE LANDSCAPE TILLTODAY France’s Total likely to invest $700 million in Adani Green projects Mauritius regulator FSC revoked licences of firm behind 2 Adani investors Lehman Brothers: 15 years of 2008 crisis that changed it all KOLKATA, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2023 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL 32 NO. 271, 12 PAGES, `12.00 (NORTH EAST STATES & ANDAMAN `13.00) P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K A TA , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E SENSEX: 67,838.63 ▲ 319.63 NIFTY: 20,192.35 ▲ 89.25 NIKKEI 225: 33,533.09 ▲ 364.99 HANG SENG: 18,182.89 ▲ 134.97 `/$: 83.18 ▼ 0.14 `/€: 88.70 ▲ 0.39 BRENT: $93.14 ▼ $0.56 GOLD: `58,790 ▲ `349 INFOSYS SIGNED AN MoU to provide modernisation and other technological services, including AI-based solutions, to a global company, with an estimated total contract value of $1.5 billion over a period of 15 years, reports Sameer Ranjan Bakshi. ■ PAGE 5 FOREX RESERVES FALLTO 11-WEEK LOW OF $593.90 BN INDIA’S FOREIGN EXCHANGE reserves fell by $4.99 billion on a weekly basis to $593.90 billion as of September 8, the RBI’s weekly statistical supplement showed on Friday, reports fe Bureau. ■ PAGE 6 WINDFALLTAX ON PETROLEUM CRUDE RAISED TO `10,000 THE CENTRE ON Friday raised the windfall tax on petroleum crude to `10,000 per tonne, from `6,700, which will will come into effect from September 16, reports fe Bureau. The windfall tax onATFwas also reduced to `3.50 per litre from `4. FE S P E C I A L MotoGP: The Formula’s different behind fastest bikes In MotoGP, the rider’s skills play a far greater role than a driver’s skills in Formula 1. ■ MOTOBAHN, P7 TATASTEELANDtheUKgovernmentonFriday announcedajointinvestmentpackageof£1.25 billiontoconverttheformer’scoal-basedsteelmanufacturing at PortTalbot plant into loweremission electric arc furnace (EAF). While the UK government will grant up to £500 million, Tata Steel would invest about £700 million from its internal accruals in the steel manufacturing facilitycoming up at Port Talbotoverthenextfouryears.Thenewelectric furnaces will help reduce emissions by 50 million tonne over a decade.The companyis planning to set up a 3-million-tonne EAFatTalbot. Port Talbot steelworks is the UK’s single biggest carbon emitter, and the government has been looking to replace dirty blast furnaces.Reports suggest that the money would help finance the new EAF at Tata Steel’s Port Talbot plant, safeguarding 5,000 of the more than8,000jobs.However,itraisestheprospect of 3,000 job cuts,as the lower-carbon electric furnaces are less labour-intensive.“The project is the first major step towards decarbonisation of the UK’s steel industry. This would also bolsterthat country’s steel securityas the facilitywould leverage domestically available scrap steel,”Tata Steel said in a statement. AccordingtoTataGroupchairmanNChandrasekaran:“The agreementwith the UKGovernment is a defining moment for the future of the steel industryand indeed the industrial value chain in the UK. It has been an absolute pleasure to work with His Majesty’s government and the Honourable Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in developing the proposed tran- CLEAN SWITCH ■ Britain said Friday's £1.25-billion funding package is for Britain's biggest steel works ■ ButTata Steel UK ■ The ■ Package includes £750 million fromTata to switch to lower-emission electric arc furnaces deal would help to safeguard 5,000 jobs currently employs over 8,000, raising the prospect of3,000 job cuts ■ The steel grant for Port Talbot unit is one of the largest state support packages in UK’s history Share of food in CPI may fall Revised retail inflation COMPOSITION CHANGE Weight in CPI index only in 2025 1.36 PRIYANSH VERMA New Delhi, September 15 THESHAREOFfoodintheConsumerPrice Index (CPI), which is employed to gauge retailinflation,maycomedownbyupto10 percentage points,and the composition of sub index for food will also change significantly,anofficialprivytotheongoingexercise to update the index told FE.“It (food index)willshiftfromcerealstonon-cereals. The current 9% weight for cereals in CPI maymarkedlyreduce,” the source said. Currently,theConsumerFoodPriceIndex constitutes 39.06% of the overall CPI and‘'cerealsandproducts’sub-groupmakes up 9.67%.This sub-group has 20 items of the total 299 that form the CPI basket. Sub-groups of CFPI 2.50 Meat & fish 2.38 6.04 9.67 Consumer food price index in CPI 39.06% 6.61 Egg Milk & products Oils & fats Fruits 3.61 2.89 3.56 Cereals & products 0.43 Theofficialfurthersaidthattherevision of the CPI on the basis of the Household ConsumerExpenditureSurvey(HCES)that iscurrentlyunderwayisunlikelytohappen Vegetables Pulses & products Sugar & confectionery Spices before2025,becausethesurveyisexpected to be completed onlybyJulynextyear. Continued on Page 9 Low bids: NHAI scraps TOT tender MUKESH JAGOTA New Delhi, September 15 sition pathway for the future of sustainable steelmaking in the UK.” “The proposed investment will preserve significant employment and presents a great opportunity for the development of a green technology-based industrial ecosystem in South Wales,”he added. Continued on Page 12 THE NATIONALHIGHWAYSAuthorityof India (NHAI) has scrapped the tender process for monetisation of two bundles of highways due to lower-than-expected bids and decided to start the process afresh,a senior official said on Friday. The highest bids of `6,031 crore that were received for the highways,grouped together in two bundles for monetisation through the toll operate transfer (TOT) model, were lower than the concession value estimated by the NHAI,the official added. On Friday, the NHAI issued fresh ten- ders forBundle 11 and Bundle12.The last date for submitting bids in the second attempt is October 16. Under the TOT model,the right to collect toll on anasset builtwith public funds istransferredtoanoutsideinvestorinlieu of an upfront payment.This right is valid for30years and afterthat the assetwould revert to its owner – NHAI. Under TOT bundle 11, Allahabad bypass of the total length of 87 km and in Bundle 12, highway stretch of 316.8 km from Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh to Lakhnadon in Madhya Pradesh will be transferred to the successful bidder. Continued on Page 9 ROAD MAP ■ Highest bid of `6,031-cr was below the concession value ■ Fresh tenders issued with October 16 as last date for submission ■ NHAI is expecting to raise up to `15,000 crore from asset monetisation through TOT Trade deficit climbs to 10-month high in Aug MUKESH JAGOTA New Delhi, September 15 MERCHANDISE TRADE DEFICIT in August climbed to a ten-month high of $24.16 billion though the pace of decline in exports came downduringthe month,strengthening hopes of a rebound in the near future. Alongwith exports,the rate of contraction in imports also declined sharply during the month,data released on Friday showed. After remaining in double digits in the first fourmonths of the financialyear,the rate of decline in exports in August was 6.86%. Merchandise exports stood at $34.48 billion in the month. Imports declined 5.23% on year to $58.64 billion but were highest in the past five months. “With the monthly merchandise trade deficit prints averaging much higher during JulyAugustvis-à-visApril-June2023,India’scurrent accountdeficitislikelytowideninQ2FY24from the $10-12 billion expected in Q1FY24,”Aditi Nayar,chief economistat Icra,said. The government is,however,lookingatthe lower rate of decline in exports to draw hope for the future. GOODS TRADE (% rise, y-o-y) Trade deficit ($ bn), LHS 32 Exports (RHS) Imports (RHS) 24 12.6 24 8 0 12 0 -5.3 16 4.7 -12 2022 -6.9 Aug INFOSYS SIGNS $1.5-BN DEAL FOR AI SOLUTIONS RAJESH KURUP Mumbai, September 15 18.8 18.5 24.2 THE FERTILISER SUBSIDY in FY24 is likely to exceed the budgeted `1.75 trillion owing to a recent rise in global prices of urea and several inputs for farm nutrients, a surge in consumption and the possibility of future spike in energy prices, reports Sandip Das. ■ PAGE 3 May 22 Jun July FERTILISER SUBSIDY LIKELYTO EXCEED BUDGET ESTIMATES Tata Steel to get £500 mn from UK Mar 18.1 Apr 15.5 NEWS £1.25-BN DEAL FOR PORT TALBOT PLANT Sep 28 Oct 26.3 Nov 22.1 Dec 23.2 Jan 16.4 Feb 16.2 IN THE -24 2023 Source: Commerce ministry releases Continued on Page 9 SALES MAY RISE 20% TO OVER `90,000 CR E-tailers set for best festive season BINDU D MENON New Delhi, September 15 ONLINE RETAILERS ARE expected to see their festive season sales rise up to 20% this year to touch a gross merchandise value(GMV)ofover`90,000crore,according to market research firm RedseerStrategy Consultants. This, according to the market research firm, will be on the back of consumer spending, which is gradually normalising after three years of Covid-led disruptions. Redseersaid that thisyear’s festive season can potentially be the most efficient one ever in terms of margins, with evolving category mix and higher advertisements and promotion revenues. Thefirmsaidthatthesalewillbedriven byabout 140million onlineshoppers,who are expected to be transacting online at least once during this festive season. “Pre-Covid, the year-on-year growth rates of nominal private final consumption expenditure (PFCE) used to be around 8-9%. However, due to continuous external shocks like Covid-19 and Russia-Ukraine conflict, there was a significant flux in the market.And in the last BOUNCING BACK GMV of India e-commerce during festive month GMV (` crore) % growth 48.6 35 CY19 52 CY20 25 17 61 CY21 18-20 91 76 ~140 million Minimum shoppers expected during the festive month ~17% Of annual GMV of CY23 to be expected in festive month CY22 CY23P GMV: Gross merchandise value Source: Redseer couple of quarters of FY23, there was a material consumption slowdown due to tightening liquidity conditions,” the report said. However,they-o-ygrowth forPFCE has bounced back to 9% and several stabilising factors are kicking-in. “Forinstance,interest rates are maxing out, countries aiming to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Indian economic growth numbers are coming in strong.So,there are meaningful tailwinds tosupportarelativelystrongfestiveperiod this year,”the report added. Thisyearmarks the 10thyearof Indian e-commerce festive season sales.And over these years, Indian e-commerce GMV has grown about 20 times with an approximately 15 times jump in annual transacting user base,Redseer said. Continued on Page 9 Kolkata