COMPANIES, P5 MARKETS, P6 INTERNATIONAL, P7 DOUBLE FROM 2019 EVENT UNHEALTHY PRACTICE ENTERING NEW DOMAIN World Cup spot ad doubled to `30 lakh for every 10 seconds Excessive dominance by 1-2 board members even in banks: Das OpenAI gives ChatGPT the ability to speak in five different voices NEW DELHI, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2023 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL XLIX NO. 179, 30 PAGES, `12.00 (PATNA & RAIPUR `12.00) 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: 66,023.69 ▲ 14.54 NIFTY: 19,674.55 ▲ 0.30 NIKKEI 225: 32,678.62 ▲ 276.21 HANG SENG: 17,729.29 ▼ 328.16 `/$: 83.15 ▼ 0.21 `/€: 88.42 ▼ 0.21 BRENT: $93.64 ▲ $0.37 GOLD: `58,912 ▲ `42 IN THE NEWS E-COM POLICY: FINAL DRAFT SKIPS DATA PROTECTION THE NATIONAL ECOMMERCE Policy would steer clear of issues around protection of personal data, and would not prescribe any norms for use of data by the thriving sector, sources said, reports Mukesh Jagota. ■ PAGE 2 DUNZO TO CUT COSTS BY 40% THROUGH LAYOFFS DUNZO IS UNDERTAKING a fresh round of layoffs as it wants to reduce its cost by around 30-40%, some employees have told FE, reports Anees Hussain. ■ PAGE 4 S&P RETAINS 6% GROWTH FORECAST FOR INDIA IN FY24 S&P GLOBAL RATINGS on Monday retained India's growth forecast for the fiscal at 6%, reports fe Bureau. ■ PAGE 2 EXPLAINER Oil on the boil: Why prices are scalding ■ PAGE 9 once again 2.5 MILLION LIKELYTO BENEFIT `60,000 crore home loan subsidy soon Rollout by banks in a couple of months SARITA CHAGANTI SINGH & SIDDHI NAYAK New Delhi/Mumbai, September 25 THE GOVERNMENT IS considering to spend `60,000 crore to provide subsidised loans for small urban housing over the next five years, two government sources told Reuters. Banks are likely to roll out the scheme in a couple of months, ahead of keystate elections later this year and general elections due in mid-2024. Last month, the government cut cooking gas prices for households by about 18% to rein in inflation ahead of elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the plan in a speech in August to mark the country's Independence Day, but its details have not been previously reported. The scheme will offer an annual interestsubsidyof between 3-6.5% onupto`9lakhoftheloanamount. INTEREST RELIEF ■ The scheme will offer an annual interest subsidy of between 3-6.5% on up to `9 lakh ofthe loan amount ■ Lenders have not been provided targets but a meetingwith govt officials is likely soon ■ Asimilar scheme ran between 2017-2022 covering 12.27 mn homes The move could help increase lending in the affordable housing segment within the home loan portfolio ■ Housing loans below `50 lakh availed for a tenure of 20 years will be eligible forthe proposed scheme, the sources said. Continued on Page 7 INSIDE Realty stocks rise on govt’s subsidy plan ■ PAGE 6 Byju’s set for cultural change: CEO Fundraising,valuation no more a priority,user is, says Arjun Mohan IVINDER GILL & SHUBHANGI SHAH New Delhi, September 25 BYJU'S NEW CEO Arjun Mohan,in his book Educating A Billion published by Penguin Random House, is highly optimistic of the edtech sector in India. He drips the same sentimentinaconversationwithFE when he emphasises online learning is here to stay, and how his first task as CEO will be to change the narrativeatByju'stodrivecustomer outcome along with scale. “It will take me some time to bring the organisation into that focus in the current noise, but the direction is clearly set up. And I am confident that the same thing can be done profitably.Fundraising andvaluation are no more a priority; whatever happened has happened. Now the focus is on ensuring that the customer gets what she is looking for through our large variety of products.” Determined to walk his talk,he says,“I don't believe in just professing. I practice what I profess”, even if it means bringing abouta“culturalchange”atByju's. Commenting on the current crisis in the edtech sector, he said, “The biggest thing is that we are accepting a problem. The focuswas on growth at any cost, and how do I get the next customer, and not on how I service the existing customer. In the current founders, whether at Byju's or ❝ IT WILL TAKE ME SOME TIME TO BRING THE ORGANISATION INTO FOCUS IN THE CURRENT NOISE, BUT THE DIRECTION IS CLEARLY SET UP otheredtechs,I see that acceptance, and that'swhen the solutionsstart.” One such solution, he said, is that Byju's has stopped partnering for EMIs to customers. EMIs not only caused backlash from customers, they also caused a delay in declaring of companyresults previously due to incorrect factoring in of EMIs in declaring profitability. Mentioning in his book as well thatthe currentreversalin thesector is temporary,with no demand-side problems, and companies' internal issuescausingtheedtechcrisis,hetold FE,“Howmanyedtechs in the past or even today measure their success as outcomes provided to students? Unless we start doing this and stop botheringaboutrevenueandgrowth, the problems will not change.So,are youreadytochangeandmoveinthat directionisthewholequestion.” Continued on Page 16 Burmans seek control of Religare OFFER FOR 26% STAKE AJAY RAMANATHAN Mumbai, September 25 THE BURMAN FAMILY, promotersof Dabur, has made an open offer to acquireupto26%additionalstakein ReligareEnterprises. Theopenofferwastriggeredafter thefourBurmanfamilyentities—MB Finmart,PuranAssociates,VICEnterprises and MilkyInvestment &Trading—placedanordertobuy5.27%or 17.32millionshares.Earlier,theyheld 21%inthecompany. The open offerhas been made for 90 million shares at a price of `235 ■ The Burmans Sept 22, 2023 271.55 hold 21% stake in Religare, biggest by a single entity ■ The open offer is for 90 million shares at `235 per share Sept 25 (close) Religare Enterprises pershareandthefamilywillspendup to`2,116croreincash. If the offer is successful,the Burmans will hold a controlling stake of 253.15 7.08% over 51% in the company on the expandedcapital. Following the announcement, shares of Religare Enterprises closed nearly 7% down on the National StockExchange,astheofferpricewas at a 13% discount to the stock’s last closingpriceof`271.55. In an exchange filing, Religare Enterprisestermedthemoveasa“positivestepreflectiveofthestrongbusiness platform onwhich the company stands.Weareconfidentthatthisstep willbeacatalystinstrengtheningthe position of the companywhich shall continuetoachievegreaterheightsin theindustryundertheleadershipand controloftheacquirers. Continued on Page 7 Roz thoda thoda aage badhna hai zindagi ki SIP Zindagi ke liye SIP Adhik jaankari ke liye apne MFD/RIA se sampark karein ya scan karein SIP ke fayde Market ki timing se azadi Nivesh raashi chunne ki azadi An Investor Education and Awareness Initiative SIP - Systematic Investment Plan. Visit https://www.hdfcfund.com/information/key-know-how to know more about the process to complete a one-time Know Your Customer (KYC) requirement to invest in Mutual Funds. Investors should only deal with registered Mutual Funds, details of which can be verified on the SEBI website (www.sebi.gov.in/intermediaries.html). For any queries, complaints & grievance redressal, investors may reach out to the AMCs and / or Investor Relations Officers. Additionally, investors may also lodge complaints on https://scores.gov.in if they are unsatisfied with the resolutions given by AMCs. SCORES portal facilitates investors to lodge complaint online with SEBI and subsequently view its status. Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully. New Delhi
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