BACK PAGE, P18 COMPANIES, P4 INTERNATIONAL, P7 SRH BATSMAN COUNTS ON MENTORS GROUND WORK FOR EVX MODEL FOUND GUILTY ON SEVEN COUNTS With Yuvraj & Lara’s help, Abhishek Sharma hopes to turn it around Maruti to focus on charging infra ahead of its first EV launch Disgraced 'crypto king' Bankman-Fried gets 25 years in jail for FTX fraud LUCKNOW, FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2024 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL 17 NO. 97, 22 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: 73,651.35 ▲ 655.04 NIFTY: 22,326.90 ▲ 203.25 NIKKEI 225: 40,168.07 ▼ 593.66 HANG SENG: 16,541.42 ▲ 148.58 `/$: 83.40 ▼ 0.02 `/€: 89.87 ▲ 0.40 BRENT: $87.34 ▲ $1.25 GOLD: `66,987 ▲ `486 BLACKSTONE AIMS TO add an additional $25 billion of Indian private equity assets over the next five years, reports Bloomberg. ■ PAGE 18 FE S P E C I A L Pictures, as they say, tell a thousand words. Get a glimpse of the Express Awards for Women Entrepreneurs, instituted by FE and Ficci-FLO. The award winners are trendsetters and innovators in their respective fields ■ EXPRESS AWE, P16-17 Sensex 63.4 Nifty ■ Investors’wealth soared nearly 50% in fiscal 2024 to `386.9 trillion Continued on Page 12 Continued on Page 12 60.1 FPIs net bought Indian equities worth ■ $25 billion (`2.06 trillion) ■ DIIs net BSE mid-cap BSE smallcap ■ Realty sectorwith 129.2% return in FY2024 was the top performer among sectoral indices or 655 points. In FY24, the Nifty 50 jumped 29% to close the year at 22,326.90 points, and the Sen- purchased shares worth `2.08 trillion ■ Tata Motorswith 136.1% returnwas top gainer among Nifty50 stocks sex ended with 25% gains at 73,651.35 points. Continued on Page 12 RIL picks up 26% in Adani firm RAGHAVENDRA KAMATH Mumbai, March 28 IN A FIRST-EVER collaboration between the two of the country's largest conglomerates, Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries (RIL) willbuy26%stakeinapowerproject of Gautam Adani's Adani Power for using 500megawattforcaptiveuse. AdaniPoweronThursdaysaidits INSIDE Adani Group raises stake in Ambuja PAGE 4 subsidiary Mahan Energen (MEL) has entered into a 20-year longtermpowerpurchaseagreementfor 500 MWwith RILunderthe captive user policy as defined under the VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO Mumbai, March 28 Electricity Rules,2005. RIL will hold a 26% ownership stake in the captive unit in proportion to the total capacity of the power plant, Adani Power said, adding that RIL will accordingly invest in 50 million equityshares of MEL,aggregating `50 crore for the proportionate ownership stake. 36.6 INDIAN STOCK MARKETS closed on a high on the last trading session of FY24 on Thursday, with both the Sensex and Nifty rising almost 1%. Overall, bulls continued to dominate the INSIDE bourses in BSE sees 90 FY24, despite T+0 trades; geopolitical no NSE data tensions and ■ PAGE 6 inflation continuing to be sticky for most part of the year. The Nifty closed at 23,326, up 0.92% or 203 points, while the Sensex, after hitting 74,000 points,closed at 73,651,up 0.90% Return in % FY2022 FY2023 FY2024 HUL in initial talks for sale of Pureit THE COUNTRY'S LARGEST consumer goods company,Hindustan Unilever, is looking at a potential sale of its Pureit water purifier business, informed sources have told FE, in an attempt to focus on its core FMCG businesses. The company has held initial talks with a few prospective buyers,persons in the know said,with discussions being exploratory in nature at this stage. Among likely buyers tapped include private equity players and global funds who have marked their presence in the category. Existing investor in the space include PE firm Advent International, which acquired a controlling stake in Eureka Forbes in 2021 from its erstwhile owner, the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, at an enterprise value of `4,400 crore. An HUL spokesperson said the company has no comments to offer in response to a query. The talks for the sale of the India Pureit business come amid parent Unilever initiating the sale of its majority stake in Qinyuan Group, a Chinese maker of water purification equipment which it acquired in 2014, according to report by Bloomberg last week.The proposed sale could value Qinyuan at about $300 million, the report stated. BULLS CHARGE UP D-ST -4.5 BLACKSTONETOADD $25 BN IN PRIVATE EQUITYASSETS VIVEK KUMAR M & JOYDEEP GHOSH Mumbai, March 28 19.5 -0.2 SEBI ON THURSDAY cancelled the registration of Karvy Investor Services (KISL) as a merchant banker for breach of eligibility criteria, reports PTI. ■ PAGE 6 Indices end FY24 on a high; Nifty jumps 29% 28.6 SEBI CANCELS REGISTRATION OF KARVY 18.9 -0.6 NEWS INVESTORS SEE `128.8-TRN WINDFALL 18.3 0.7 24.9 IN THE Auto firms feel the chill of Baltimore bridge collapse ‘Too early to assess’, says one; JLR, M&M, Eicher top exporters SWARAJ BAGGONKAR Mumbai, March 28 THE CLOSURE OF Port of Baltimore, the busiest automotive port in the US, following Tuesday’s bridge collapse, will have a ripple effect on Indian automotive companies who use it for exports. Indian auto companies will join several of their global peers in rerouting shipments to the US as clearing of the debris comprising twisted metal from the river bed could take several months rendering the keyshipping route inoperable. “Due to the tragic bridge collapse in Baltimore on Tuesday morning, and the port terminal being closed for passage, we are assessingalternativeroutesintothe country to support delivery of our vehicles to retailers and minimise impact to clients,”said a spokesperson from Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) responding to a query from FE. The US is the single largest market for the Tata Motors-controlled British brands JLR,making up 26% of its global wholesale volumes. Home grown companies, Bajaj RIPPLE EFFECT ■ During FY23, Indian auto parts exports to the US stood at $5.62 billion (nearly `47,000 crore) ■ The US is the single-largest market for the Tata Motorscontrolled JLR ■ It is a key market for niche motorcycle brand Royal Enfield ■ BajajAuto ships mid-engine capacity bikes under the brands Triumph & KTM to the US Auto,RoyalEnfieldand Mahindra& Mahindra are the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) who export to the US from India.Apollo Tyres, one of India’s biggest tyre producers also exports to the country. Continued on Page 12 Accelerate AI applications from the data center to the edge Intel® Xeon® has built-in accelerators to help you process data. Gain critical decision making intelligence with the best CPUs for AI. Scan the code to learn more! © Intel Corporation. Intel, the Intel logo, and other Intel marks are trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries. Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others. Lucknow