BRANDWAGON, P9 MARKETS, P7 INTERNATIONAL, P3 BETTING BIG ON RURAL MARKETS ‘FOCUS ON ADEQUATE LIQUIDITY’ ASSET SALE ONE OF THE OPTIONS Renault must revisit the 5 Ps to propel itself back into the reckoning HDFC Bank to grow advances slower than deposits, says CEO Warner Bros Discovery to split streaming and studios from TV biz MUMBAI, FRIDAY, JULY 19, 2024 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL LXIV NO. 171, 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: 81,343.44 ▲ 626.89 NIFTY: 24,800.85 ▲ 187.85 NIKKEI 225: 40,126.35 ▼ 971.34 HANG SENG: 17,778.41 ▲ 39.00 `/$: 83.66 ▼ 0.07 `/€: 91.45 ▼ 0.35 BRENT: $85.07 ▼ $0.01 GOLD: `73,926 ▲ `606 NEWS RUPEE FALLS 5 PAISE TO LOWEST-EVER CLOSING OF 83.63 THE MEGA EVENT RBI governor to kick off FE’s BFSI summit today RUPEE DEPRECIATED 5 paise and settled at its all-time low of 83.63 against the US dollar on Thursday, as the strength of the American currency in the overseas market and overnight surge in crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiments, reports PTI. ■ PAGE 7 FE BUREAU Mumbai, July 18 ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED events of the year — the FE Modern BFSI Summit — kicks off in Mumbai on Fridaywith India’s ace financial sector regulators and A-listers from the industrybrainstorming on the country’s future growth trajectoryand maintaining financial stability, just four days ahead of the Union Budget to be presented next Tuesday. The highlight of the day-long annual event at the President STAYTHE COURSE TO REACH 4% CPI TARGET: RBI PAPER IT IS PRUDENT to eschew the temptation of time inconsistency and stay the course on the straight and narrow path of aligning inflation with the target of 4%, given the high uncertainty shrouding the inflation outlook, the RBI staff said in a bulletin, reports Priyansh Verma. ■ PAGE 2 SECURITY BREACH FORCES WAZIRX TO HALTWITHDRAWALS MAJOR CRYPTOCURRENCY EXCHANGE WazirX on Thursday said it has “temporarily” suspended rupee and crypto withdrawals from the platform after being hit by a major security breach in one of its multi-signature wallets, reports Piyush Shukla. ■ PAGE 7 STALIN’S SON TO BE ELEVATED AS DEPUTY CM UDHAYANIDHI STALIN, TAMIL Nadu’s Youth Welfare and Sports Development Minister and son of CM M K Stalin, is set to be elevated as the deputy CM before August 22, according to top sources in the DMK government, reports Arun Janardhanan. ■ PAGE 6 FE S P E C I A L Why Sebi’s new asset class makes sense The proposed category will offer investors a regulated option with strategies like the PMS but at a lower entry point ■ EXPLAINER, P9 INFY ADR SPIKES IN EARLY TRADE Infosys tops Q1 estimates; ups FY25 guidance Large deal wins fall to $4.1 bn; sales pegged to grow 3-4% PADMINI DHRUVARAJ Bengaluru, July 18 REPORT CARD SOFTWARE MAJOR INFOSYS on Thursday reported better-thanexpectedearningsof`6,368crorefor the June quarter and also surprised the Street byupping its sales forecast for FY25 to 3-4% in constant currency terms from 1-3% earlier. The higher forecast indicates clients are starting to spend more on technolINSIDE ogy in a resilient global Headcount falls for 6th environment. Sequentially, quarter Infosys’ net ■ PAGE 4 profit fell 20%, mainly due to an income tax refund boosting the last quarter number.Banking,financial, services and insurance (BFSI) vertical were the top profit drivers in the current quarter. The Infosys ADR stock jumped 9% in early trade on the NYSE as the Bengaluru-headquartered company reported a near 4% sequential increase in the consolidated revenue to `39,315 crore in April-June, beating estimates of `38,810 crore by Revenue (` cr) Q4 FY24 Q1 FY25 %, q-o-q 37,923 39,315 3.7 PAT (` cr) Ebit margin 7,969 6,368 IN THE 20.1 (%) 20.1 21.1 1 SALIL PAREKH, CEO, INFOSYS WE HAD VERY STRONG PERFORMANCE ON LARGE DEALS IN THE FIRST QUARTER Bloomberg. Moreover, the earnings before income and tax (Ebit) margin, rose a whopping 100 basis points quarter-on-quarter to 21.1%, aided by the company's margin expansion programme,Project Maximus. Continued on Page 6 CAs EXPRESS ‘DISMAY’ OVER ISSUES Portal glitches back as filing of I-T returns enters last leg PRIYANSH VERMA New Delhi, July 18 ASTHE DEADLINE forfiling income tax returns (ITRs) forthe assessment year2024-25 approaches,taxpayers have flagged persistent technical issues in the e-filing portal, developed by Infosys. Chartered accountants (CAs) have expressed‘dismay’at several difficultiesfacedduringtheITRfilingprocess, includingmismatchinpre-filleddata related to salary and interest income, technical glitches at the time of submission of returns and in accessing essential forms such as 26AS,annual information statement (AIS),and tax information summary(TIS). The last date for filing ITRs for FY24 is July 31. As of July 14, more than 27 million ITRs were filed,which was 13% more compared to the returns filed LOADING... ■ The glitches include continuous buffering, mismatch in pre-filled data related to salary and interest income, non-receipt of OTPs ■ As ofJuly 14, more than 27 million ITRswere filed,whichwas 13% more compared to the returns filed during the same period last year during the same period lastyear.The number of ITRs filed per day has crossed 1.3 million on July 13 and is increasing everyday as the due date of July31 is approaching,the income tax department said in a bulletin. Earlier this week, many CAs expressed their displeasure with the ■ Infosys developed the portal,which provides a single-window access to tax-related services for taxpayers and other stakeholders, in 2021 ■ The last date for filing ITRs for FY24 isJuly 31 e-filing portal on X. Many of them tagged Infosys co-founderNarayana Murthyin theirposts,and asked him todeploythe Infosys'teamtoworkat least‘one hour’everyweek to ensure the portal runs‘smoothly’. Continued on Page 6 hotelatCuffeParadeinSouthMumbai will be the inaugural address by Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das whose comments will be closely followed by all the stakeholders on India’s economy andbusiness.Afterall,whenthegovernor speaks on what could unfold tomorrow,everybody listens. A ballroom full of the leading lights of the financial sector and industry will also get a first-hand feel of the width and depth of the changes that could transform the Indian insurance industry, with a special address by Debasish Panda, chairman, Piramal Group, will address the gathering on the opportunities and challenges in a sector synonymouswith constant change. To manywhoseeIndiaasaglobal North in digitisation of financial transactions, there will be much to learn on the road ahead from Dilip Asbe, the chief executive officer of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), known more for its UPI (Unified Payments Interface).It is arguablyIndia’s answerto achieving financial inclusion at scale. chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India(Irdai)onthetheme‘Insurance for all by 2047’. Lending weight to the summit, currently in its third edition, are some of the biggest names from the Indian private sector. Ajay Piramal, Continued on Page 6 (From L to R) RBI governor Shaktikanta Das, Irdai chairman Debasish Panda, Piramal Group chairman Ajay Piramal, SBI chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara, NPCI MD & CEO Dilip Asbe, Standard Chartered Bank India CEO Zarin Daruwala, IDFC First Bank MD & CEO VVaidyanathan, HDFC Bank non-executive director Keki Mistry and BSE MD & CEO Sundararaman Ramamurthy Sensex soars past 81,000-mark IT, FMCG stocks drive markets to new highs VIVEK KUMAR M Mumbai, July 18 THE SENSEX SURPASSED 81,000 for the first time onThursday,hitting yet another milestone this year, as buying in defensive sectors helped the 30-stock index rally 1,000 points in just 10 days. The top five Sensex gainers in the last 10 sessions were ITC,Hindustan Unilever, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and HCL Technologies. TheSensexandNiftyrose0.8% each onThursdayto close at record high levels of 81,343.46 and 24,800.85 respectively. Intraday, Sensexhit81,522.55andtheNifty SENSEX MILESTONES 1,000 points rally TOP GAINERS Days taken (% gain) May 27 75K-76K 31 ITC 9.7 June 10 76K-77K 10 HUL 9 June 25 77K-78K 10 TCS 8.8 June 27 78K-79K 2 July 3 79K-80K 4 80K-81K 10 July 18 rose to 24,837.75. Chokkalingam G, founder of EquinomicsResearch said itshows investors’ preference for defensives when the market is on peak. The uptick in IT stocks has also been fuelled by better-than- HCL Tech BYJU'S HAS MOVED the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) contesting the recent orderpassedbythe National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), allowing Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to initiate insolvency proceedings against it, sources privy to the development said. Sources said Byju’s had challenged the order in the appellate tribunal on Thursay and that the matterisscheduledforJuly22.The Bengaluru bench of the NCLT had admitted the cricket board's plea to start insolvency proceedings against Byju’s parent company Think and Learn, after the edtech firm failed to pay `158.9 crore dues.The dues relate to a sponsorship agreement. NCLT has appointedPankajSrivastavaasthe interim resolution professional. Senior advocate Abhishek SURVIVAL BATTLE ■ This NCLTorder had resulted in founder Byju Raveendran losing immediate control of the company expected earnings growth in the latest quarter and hopes that the worst could be behind for the sector amid expectations of rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve, market participants said. With Thursday’s gains, the ■ The tribunal had named Pankaj Srivastava as the IRPto oversee the company during the proceedings ■ The NCLATis expected to hear the appeal onJuly 22, though Byju's has sought an urgent hearing BYJU'S THROUGH SENIOR ADVOCATE ABHISHEK MANU SINGHVI THE COMPANY REMAINS SOLVENT. I AM PREPARED TO COMMIT TO DEPOSITING THE ENTIRE `158 CRORE IN ONE INSTALMENT WITHIN ONE MONTH Manu Singhvi, representing Byju's, told the appellate tribunal, "The company remains solvent withthousandsofemployees.Iam prepared to commit to depositing the entire `158 crore in one instalment within one month." The sponsorship agreement Between Think and Learn and the 7.6 Between July 3 and 18 Byju’s moves tribunal on insolvency order ANEES HUSSAIN Bengaluru, July 18 8.1 Infosys cricket board was entered into in July, 2019 and gave the company exclusive rights, inter alia, to display its trademark and brand name on the kits of the Indian cricket team and also place advertisements during the telecast. Continued on Page 6 benchmark indices have nowrisen to record highs for the fourth consecutive session. Experts do not expect the momentum to slow down,especially in the large-caps. Continued on Page 6 Vedanta’s `8K-cr QIP gets bids worth `23K cr MINING CONGLOMERATE VEDANTA'S qualified institutional placement(QIP)of`8,000croregot around three times subscription of around`23,000crore,institutional brokers said, reports PTI. The QIP witnessed significant interest from foreigninstitutionalinvestors(FIIs), mutual funds and insurance companies,among others. ■ Page 4 Incentives for electronics sector sought INDIA NEEDS TO overhaul import tariffs,providefiscalincentives,and work out schemes to become a significant player in the global electronicsvaluechainandgrowthesize of electronics manufacturing to $500 billion by 2030 from a little over$100billionatpresent,according to a report byNitiAayog,reports Mukesh Jagota. ■ Page 2