ECONOMY, P2 COMPANIES, P4 INTERNATIONAL, P7 STANDOFF MAY CONTINUE REGULATORY RED FLAG CREDITORS CONCERNED Prepared to levy 28% GST on online gaming from Oct 1: CBIC chief ChatGPT, Google Bard may pose challenges to data traceability Evergrande chairman under probe for alleged 'illegal crimes' CHENNAI/KOCHI, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2023 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XLIV 124, 16 PAGES, `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: 65,508.32 ▼ 610.37 NIFTY: 19,523.55 ▼ 192.90 NIKKEI 225: 31,872.52 ▼ 499.38 HANG SENG: 17,373.03 ▼ 238.84 `/$: 83.19 ▲ 0.04 `/€: 87.69 ▲ 0.21 BRENT: $95.96 ▼ $0.59 GOLD: `57,756 ▼ `507 CAD WIDENS TO $9.2 BILLION IN JUNE QUARTER INDIA’S CURRENT ACCOUNT deficit narrowed to 1.1% of the GDP in April-June quarter of the current fiscal year, from 2.1% in the year-ago quarter, but widened sequentially from 0.2% registered in the fourth quarter of last fiscal, according to the data released by RBI on Thursday, fe Bureau. ■ PAGE 2 ASHWIN DANI,ASIAN PAINTS CO-FOUNDER, PASSESAWAYAT81 ASHWIN DANI, A secondgeneration scion of the family that co-founded Asian Paints and served as the non-executive director of the company, passed away on Thursday at the age 81, reports Viveat Susan Pinto. ■ PAGE 4 IT clouds darken over Accenture’s guidance 2-5% revenue growth for full year below analyst estimates REPORT CARD Q3 FY23 Q4 FY23 ($ bn) Operating income Growth (%) 2.3 0.36 SAMEER RANJAN BAKSHI Bengaluru, September 28 IN A CLEAR SIGN that inflationary pressures continue to weigh on technology spending, US-based Accenture on Thursday forecast a full-year earnings and first quarter revenue for FY24 that was below analyst estimates. The company has guided revenue growth of -2 to 2% in Q1FY24. For the full year, it expects revenue growth to be in the range of 2-5%. ThecompanyfollowsSeptember-August financialyear,and onThursdayposted revenues of $16 billion in the Q4 FY23,down 0.36%quarteronquarter(q-o-q).Netprofit at $1.4 billion during the period was down 30% q-o-q.Forthe fullyear,revenuewas at $64.1 billion,up by 4.2% and net profit at $7 billion,was marginallyup by1.4%. Accenture’s numbers are seen as a bell- 1.9 30 2 Revenue 1.4 Net income wetherforthe global ITsector,and give an indication of how Indian IT companies’ numbers are likely to fare with the earnings season for the quarter kicking off on October 11. The impact on Indian IT companies was immediately visible, with the American depository Receipts (ADRs) of Infosys dropping over 3% to $16.91,while those ofWipro fell 2.73% to $4.81 on the NYSE. Continued on Page 12 MUBADALA IN TALKS FOR STAKE IN MANIPAL HOSPITALS FESTIVE SPIRIT MUBADALA IS IN talks to acquire a stake of less than 10% in India's Manipal Hospitals, in what could be the Abu Dhabi sovereign fund's first investment in the booming Indian healthcare space, people with direct knowledge said. ■ PAGE 4 Devotees carry idols of Lord Ganesha for immersion in the Arabian Sea, marking the end of the 10-daylong Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai on Thursday. TCS INDIA’S MOST VALUABLE BRAND FOR SECOND YEAR PTI TCS HAS HELD on to its number one spot in marketing data and analytics firm Kantar’s BrandZ Top 75 Most Valuable Indian brands report for the second consecutive year, reports Christina Moniz. ■ PAGE 5 ICICI LOMBARD GETS `1,728-CR GST DEMAND NOTICE GST INVESTIGATION AGENCY DGGI has served a `1,728 crore demand notice on ICICI Lombard General Insurance for non- payment of tax in certain supplies between July 2017 and March 2022. ■ PAGE 6 FE S P E C I A L S Connection is key for nostalgia marketing Revisiting old and iconic material is easier said than done ■ BRANDWAGON, P9 The questions over Aadhaar’s reliability, and answers Moody’s called Aadhaar unreliable in a hot and humid country. The government rejected the claims ■ EXPLAINER, P9 ARCs for bigger slice of stressed assets SACHIN KUMAR Mumbai, September 28 BOOK VALUE OFASSETS ACQUIRED BYARCs ASSETRECONSTRUCTION COMPANIES (ARCs),which buy non-performing assets (NPAs) orbad loans from banks,are eyeing a larger slice of stressed assets. In a letter to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) earlier this month,ARCs have urged the central bank to allow them to acquire financial assets from asset management companies (AMCs) and alternative investmentfunds(AIFs).Thiswillnotonlyhelpin thespeedyresolutionofstressedassetsbut will also provide exit option to mutual funds andAIFs,theysaid. Presently ARCs are only allowed to acquire stressed assets from banks and financial institutions.It is usual forAMCs andAIFstoinvestindebenturesandbonds of companies. After these firms or their ■ PresentlyARCs are only Mar 2021 5.18 Mar 2023 7.66 Mar 2022 5.88 Source: Association ofARCs in India assets turn into NPAs, the AMCs and AIFs get stuck in such bad assets. If ARCs are permitted to buy these assets, it will give exit option to such investors.“Allowing ARCs to buy assets from AMCs, AIFs and FPIs will help in comprehensive solution (in ` trillion) ■ ARCs have allowed to acquire stressed assets from banks and financial institutions urged RBI to allow them to acquire financial assets from asset management companies (AMCs) and alternative investment funds (AIFs) for all players in the financial system and lead to better outcome in resolution of assets,”Hari Hara Mishra,CEO of theAssociation of ARCs in India told FE. Continued on Page 12 Private equities, VCs cash in on mkt rally Offers for sale in last five $10 BN OF STAKE SOLD Promoter stake sale in NSE-500 stocks, 5 years much higher calendar year-ends (2018-23) than fresh issuances FE BUREAU New Delhi, September 28 17.3 15.9 NEWS INFOSYS, WIPRO ADRS SLUMP ON HINTS OF MORE STRESS 16.5 IN THE Promoter selling OFFERS FOR SALE by private equity (PE) and venturecapital(VC)firmshavebeensignificantly higher than fresh issuances of capital between 2018and2023.SalesbyPEsandVCsamounted to around $26 billion compared with about $10.4billionworthofcapitalissuances,accordingtoananalysisbyKotakInstitutionalEquities (KIE).In2023sofar,PEsandVCshavesoldstock worthmorethan`25,000crore. Moreover, sales of their holdings by promoters at `87,000 crore or about $10 bn, has beenthehighestinthepastsixyears.Ofthisthe promoters of the Adani Group sold shares worth`37,000croreorabout40%ofthetotal promoter selling in 2023.Among the sectors that have seen the bulk of the selling so far in the current year are automobiles and components,capitalgoods,electricutilities,ITservices and transportation. Companies in the insurance and IT services sectors accounted for a largeportionofpromotersellingover2018-23. “Thesell-downisquiteconcentratedinthe case of promotersales but broad-based across sectorsinthecaseofPEinvestors,”theanalysts wrote in a note.They observed that while the selling by promoters largely reflects strategic compulsions such as debt management, the selling by PE players reflects tactical or price considerations. (` bn, LHS) No of deals (#, RHS) 1,000 50 800 874 40 600 30 499 400 317 301 397 20 200 159 0 10 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 0 (CYTD) Source: Prime Database, Kotak Institutional Equities PE and VC players have made exits via the initialpublicoffering(IPO)routeandalsosold share in block deals in the secondary market. The exits have accelerated in the current year, thanks to a strong rally in the markets.A good appetitefrombothforeignanddomesticinstitutional investors as also retail investors has helped them sell either their entire stake or pare their holdings. Continued on Page 12 Oil spill spoils market mood; VIX rises 11% SWASTIKA MUKHOPADHYAY Mumbai, September 28 DOWNWARD TREND BENCHMARK INDICES ENDED lower on Thursdayas rising crude oil prices andweaker global cues dampened the market mood.The market was dragged down by declines in IT, technology, fast moving consumer goods, consumer durables and automobile stocks. The BSE declined over 610 points, about 0.92%, to close at 65,508.32, while the NSE fellabout193points,about 0.98%,toendthe day at 19,523.55. S&P BSE Information Technology index fell 1.84% followed by S&PBSE FMCG index, whichfell1.74%.S&PBSETeck,S&PBSEConsumer Durables and S&P BSE Auto indices declined 1.49%, 1.29% and 1.24%, respectively on Thursday. The fall resulted in investorwealth declining by`2.95 trillion to `316.7 trillion during the session. Ambareesh Baliga, independent market analyst, said that along with higher oil prices andweakglobalcues,thehawkishstanceofUS Federal Reserve,where there are fears of a rate Sensex 27 Sept, 2023 66,119 28 Sept (close) 65,508 0.92% 610 points hike at the end of 2023, continues to worry investors.This will have a negative impact as more institutional moneywill flowout. Continued on Page 12 Brent hits $97 amid global supply worries OIL PRICES surged 3% on Wednesday to the highest settlement in 2023, after a steep drop in US crude stockscompoundedworries of tight global supplies. Brent crude futures closed up $2.59, or 2.8%, at $96.55. It breached $97 a barrel during the session. USWestTexasIntermediate crudefutures(WTI)climbed $3.29, or 3.6%, to $93.68. The session high was over $94. US crude stocks fell by 2.2 million barrels last week to 416.3 million barrels, government data showed, far exceedingthe320,000-bar- reldropanalystsexpectedin a Reuters poll. Crude stocks at the Cushing,Oklahoma,storagehub, deliverypoint forU.S.crude futures,fellby943,000barrels in the week to just under 22 million barrels, the lowest since July 2022, data showed. --REUTERS M S Swaminathan,father of Green Revolution,passes away SAJAN C KUMAR Chennai, September 28 AS A YOUNG scholar, Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan’s (popularly known as MS Swaminathan) speciality was potato breeding, which prompted the University of Wisconsin to invite him to spend time as a postdoctoral fellow.But he declined the university’s offer of a teaching position and returned to the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in 1954.“I asked myself, whydid I studygenetics?”he said in 1999. “It was to produce enough food in India.So I came back.” The legendary agricultural scientist and a key architect of the country’s Green Revolution kept that promise till he passed away on Thursday at his residence in Chennai,at the age of 98. Swaminathan,a plant geneticist by training, and founder chairman and chief mentorof the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai,has long been an advocate of sustainable agriculture, of the move from the ‘green’ to an ‘evergreen revolution’ to ensure food and nutrition securityforall,alongside the sustainability of global food systems. Hehas servedas the chairman of the government of India’s National Commission on Farmers,president of the Pugwash Conferences on Science andWorldAffairs,chairman of the High-Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) of the World Committee on Food Security (CFS),member of the Indian Parliament (Rajya Sabha), and former director general of Indian Council of Agricultural Research and International Rice Research Institute among others. He was the recipient of the first INSIDE Bringing science & humanity together, writes Ashok Gulati PAGE 16 M S SWAMINATHAN 1925-2023 World Food Prize for his leadership in India’s Green Revolution and numerousothernationaland international awards, including Padma Vibushan, Ramon Magsaysay award. He is survived by three daughters. PresidentDroupadiMurmupaid tribute to the crop geneticist. Applauding his efforts for ensuring food securityin India,the President said,"A visionary who worked endlesslytoachievefoodsecurity,hewas rightly called the Father of Green Revolution that ensured our country’s self-reliance in food grains.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said,"At a very critical period in our nation’s history, his groundbreakingworkinagriculturetransformed the lives of millions and ensured food security for our nation." Swaminathanwas acclaimed by the TIME magazine as one of the twenty most influential Asians of the 20th century and one of the onlythree from India,the othertwo being Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore. The United Nations Environment Programme described him as “the Father of Economic Ecology”for his leadership of the evergreen revolution movement in agriculture and by Javier Perez de Cuellar, Secretary General of the United Nations,as“a living legend who will go into the annals of history as a world scientist of rare distinction”. Continued on Page 12