VERDICT, P7 COMPANIES, P4 INTERNATIONAL, P3 POLL POSITION RACING AHEAD AFTER TWO DECADES Will give 10 kg free ration to poor if INDIA bloc comes to power: Kharge M&M's XUV 3XO: 50,000 bookings in 60 minutes Lawrence Wong sworn in as Singapore's new prime minister MUMBAI, THURSDAY, MAY 16, 2024 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL LXIV NO. 116, 24 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: 72,987.03 ▼ 117.58 NIFTY: 22,200.55 ▼ 17.30 NIKKEI 225: 38,385.73 ▲ 29.67 HANG SENG: 19,073.71 ▼ 41.35 `/$: 83.50 ▲ 0.01 `/€: 90.42 ▼ 0.30 BRENT: $81.44 ▼ $0.94 GOLD: `72,720 ▲ `591 IN THE NEWS SOUTHWEST MONSOON TO HIT KERALA BY MAY 31 SOUTHWEST MONSOON IS likely to arrive over Kerala around May 31, setting the stage for the four-month rainfall season crucial for the country's farm-based economy. BYJU'S STARTS CALLING STAFF BACK TO OFFICE TROUBLED EDTECH MAJOR Byju's has begun the process of asking a section of employees to return to office, sources told Anees Hussain. The move signals a potential reevaluation of the work-from-home strategy implemented under exIndia CEO Arjun Mohan. ■ PAGE 4 SBI HIKES FD INTEREST RATES BY UP TO 75 BPS STATE BANK OF India (SBI), the largest lender in the country, on Wednesday hiked the interest rates for retail and bulk fixed deposits by 0.25%-0.75%, reports Sachin Kumar. ■ PAGE 10 CAA: GOVT ISSUES FIRST 14 CITIZENSHIP CERTIFICATES TWO MONTHS AFTER the home ministry notified the rules for implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla handed over the first set of citizenship certificates to 14 applicants. ■ PAGE 21 FE S P E C I A L ‘Outcome-based models will trump over fee-for-product’ Interview with Bhawna Agarwal, Country head, strategy & growth, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, India ■ eFE, P9 6.6% IN FY24 FROM 7.2% IN FY23 Unemployment rate in urban areas declines PRIYANSH VERMA New Delhi, May 15 INDIA’S UNEMPLOYMENT RATE in urban areas fell sharply to 6.6% in FY24 from 7.2% in the previous year, helped by the smart growth in the economy. India’s economy is estimated to have grown at 7.6% last fiscal, as per the National Statistical Office’s (NSO) second advance estimates, up from 7% in FY23. Data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) released on Wednesday showed that the urban unemployment rate fell to 6.7% in Q4FY24 from 6.8% in Q4FY23,although it rose sequentially from 6.5% in the December 2023 quarter. “The reduction in urban unemployment is absolutely consistent with the GDP growth. India’s GDP has grown above 8% in the first three quarters of FY24,” said NR Bhanumurthy, vice-chancellor of Bengaluru’s BASE University. “There is a significant impact of the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme as well,” he added. The labour force participation rate (LFPR) improved to 39.5% in Q4 from 38.1% in the year-ago quarter, while the worker population ratio (WPR) went up to 36.9% from 35.6%. Economists attributed the sequential rise in unemployment to the rural workforce migrating to urban areas forjob opportunities during the non-harvest season. IN NUMBERS Unemployment rate (in %) 7.0 6.8 6.8 6.7 6.6 6.6 6.7 6.5 6.4 6.2 Jan-Mar Apr-Jun Jul-Sep Oct-Dec Jan-Mar 2023 2023 2023 2023 2024 Workers distribution (in %) Agriculture Services Manufacturing, construction,mining Jan-Mar 2023 5.8 32.9 61.3 Apr-Jun 2023 5.4 33.1 61.5 Jul-Sep 2023 6.1 32.4 61.5 Oct-Dec 2023 5.9 32.1 62 32 62.2 Jan-Mar 2024 5.8 Continued on Page 11 Winning bidder of Jet planes may fly away SWARAJ BAGGONKAR Mumbai, May 15 FRUSTRATED OVER THE delay in the transfer of three Boeing 777 aircraft operated by long-grounded Jet Airways, Malta-based Challenge Group is consideringwalking away from the deal.The companyalso said itwould want the $5.6 million deposited by it to be returned with interest. ChallengeGroupistheparentfirm of Malta-based Ace Aviation. Two years after the company signed the deal with the monitoring committee of Jet Airways to take possession of the three aircraft based in Mumbai, there has been no headway.This is despite orders from three courts,including the Supreme Court,to hand over the possession of the planes to the Challenge Group. “Our $5.6 million sit with Jet Airways whilst the monitoring committee continues to ignore the court orderto expedite the sale,” MichaelKoish,chiefinvestmentofficer,Chal- FLIGHT DELAY ■ Challenge Group has threatened to walk out ifthere is more delay in handover ofplanes ■ Will look to recover $5.6-million deposit along with interest ■ Had signed dealwith Jet monitoring panel to buy 3 Boeing 777s lenge Group,told FE. “We have now decided enough is enough. If the monitoring committee including the lenders and JKC (Jalan Kalrock Consortium) continue to procrastinate, we would sadly walk away from this deal and take our $5.6 million back with full interest,”he added. Continued on Page 11 BEARISH STANCE OVER ELECTION UNCERTAINTY Foreign investors most short on India stocks since 2012 2023 FOREIGN INVESTORSARE the most pessimistic in over a decade on Indian stocks amid speculation over the ruling BJPwinning fewerseats in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections than previously estimated. Net short positions — measured as the difference between the number of index futures contracts on which global funds are long to those on which they hold a short position — surged to 213,224 contracts, data compiled by Bloomberg showed. The gap is the widest since data going back to 2012. Thebearishpositionsinthederivatives markethavecomeatatimewhenoverseas investors have pulled out about $4 billion from local stocks since earlyApril,reflecting a cautious outlook about the outcome of the elections. Thathappenedasadipinvoterturnout duringtherecentphasesofpollingspurred CAUTIOUS OUTLOOK FPIs net equity investments (in $ mn) FPI net position in index futures (no of contracts in open interest) May 5,008 Jun 6,717 1,000,000 Jul 4,140 22,413 1,726 Aug 750,000 Sep -2,273 Oct -2,657 500,000 Nov 2,301 -213,224 7,024 Dec 250,000 Jan -3,141 483 Feb 0 3,733 Mar -815 Apr -250,000 Jan 03, 2012 May 14, 2024 May* -3,249 2024 CHIRANJIVI CHAKRABORTY & DAVID MARINO May 15 *up to May 14 some speculation that a less decisive performance by Prime Minister Narendra Modi may hamper his ability to carry out policy reforms, including boosting infrastructure and manufacturing. “What is not priced in is disruption, which could lead to a sharp and swift correction in the Nifty Index,similar to what Source: NSDL, Bloomberg we saw in 2004,” strategists led by Frank Benzimra and Rajat Agarwal at Societe GeneraleSAwroteinanoteonWednesday. Thecountryconcludedthefourthphase ofvoting on Mondaywith the seven-phase polling to be concluded on June 1. Continued on Page 11 Green power on super-fast track Next 10 GW capacity to come much faster than the first 10 RAGHAVENDRA KAMATH Mumbai, May 15 ADANI GREEN ENERGY has taken eight yearstogobeyond10GWcapacityinrenewable energy.The next 10 GWwill,however, take just two years.The Adani Group company,which has an operational capacity of 10.93 GW, is looking to add 6 GW in FY25 and 6-8 GWeveryyearthereafter. Other renewable energy majors are also on a super-fast track on adding green power capacity. ReNew took 12 years for its first 10 GW. The company plans to double its operational portfolio in the next three years. ReNew last week said it has signed five power purchase agreements (PPAs) totalling 2.2 GW of green capacity, expanding its fully contracted renewable energy portfolio.“Our focus is now on efficient execution, so that we reach the 20 GW mark by 2027-28,” Sumant Sinha, founder, chairman and CEO, of ReNew said. SUMANT SINHA, CHAIRMAN & CEO, RENEW PRAVEER SINHA, MD & CEO, TATA POWER WE WILL REACH THE TARGET (THE COUNTRY’S RENEWABLES TARGET OF 500 GW BY 2030) FOCUS IS ON EFFICIENT EXECUTION TO REACH THE 20 GW MARK BY 2027-28 AMIT SINGH, CEO, ADANI GREEN ADANI GREEN HAS SETA HIGHER TARGET OF 50 GW BY 2030 Amit Singh, chief executive officer, Adani Green, said the company remains steadfast in its commitment to deliver affordable clean energy at an unprecedented scale and velocity and has set a higher target of 50 GW by 2030, which will contribute towards India’s non-fossil fuel capacity target of 500 GW. The company did greenfield capacity addition of 2.8 GW in FY24, representing 15% of the country’s total renewable energy capacity addition. Onits part,ReNew’soperationalcapacityisnearly10GWandgrossportfolionow stands at 15.6 GW. In addition, the com- pany has received letters of award for an additional ~5.8 GWof RE capacity.During FY24,itadded1.94GWofcapacity,among the highest capacity additions in the sector. It had a 10% share of the country’s solar and wind power generation during the financial year. Another RE major Tata Power has a portfolio of 10 GW, including 4.5 GW of operational and 5.5 GW under various stages of implementation. The company is looking to have a capacityof15GWofcleanenergybyFY27. Continued on Page 11 LIC gets 3 more years to meet Low base helps exports 10% public shareholding norm remain in the green in Apr LIFE INSURANCE CORPORATION (LIC) onWednesdaysaid markets regulatorSebi has granted an additional three years’time till May 16,2027,to comply with the 10% public shareholding norm.Currently, the government holding in LIC is 96.50%, while the public holding is 3.50%.“Sebi vide its letter dated May 14, 2024, has conveyed its decision,to grant additional time of 3 years to LIC to achieve 10% public shareholding...,”LIC said in a filing. INDIA’S MERCHANDISE EXPORTS have started theyearonapositivenote,expandingamodest1.06% on year in April to $34.99 billion, aided by a low base, data released on Wednesday showed, reports MukeshJagota.InApril 2023,exports had contracted 12.8% on yearto$34.62billionfrom$39.6billioninApril2022.Importsin April, however, saw a 10.2% growth to $54.09 billion with gold contributing the most to the expansion. ■ Page 2