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XXXVII 153, 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 WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD SENSEX: 81,224.75 ▲ 218.14 NIFTY: 24,854.05 ▲ 104.20 NIKKEI 225: 38,981.75 ▲ 70.56 HANG SENG: 20,804.11 ▲ 725.01 `/$: 84.07 < > 0.00 `/€: 91.17 ▲ 0.13 BRENT: $73.11 ▼ $1.34 GOLD: `77,164 ▲ `644 — BASE PRICE MUST BE CUT TOO: TELCOS BANKING ON THE BEST TWO SPECIAL PAGES ON P14 & 15 IN THE NEWS RBI LIFTS CURBS ON JM FINANCIAL PRODUCTS THE RESERVE BANK of India (RBI) has lifted restrictions placed on JM Financial Products, the company said in a stock exchange filing late on Friday. ■ PAGE 6 GOLD SHINES BRIGHT, PRICE NUDGES `80K GOLD PRICES HIT a record high of `79,900 per 10 gram on Friday, rising by `550 on strong festive season demand, according to the All India Sarafa Association. ■ PAGE 6 GOVT MULLS TARIFF CUTS IN GREEN HYDROGEN PUSH THE GOVERNMENT IS considering cuts to tariffs on imports of machinery needed to manufacture green hydrogen in a push to become a major hub for the cleaner fuel. ■ PAGE 2 Govt may halve spectrum lease tenure to 10 yrs THE DEPARTMENT OF telecommunications (DoT) is considering reducing the tenure of spectrum leased to telecom operators through auctions to 10 years from the current 20 years. This is being evaluated as the life cycle of technology is getting shorter and the value of spectrum getting eroded over a longer period,resulting in operators not being able to realise its full value, officials said. If the proposal is finalised,it will be implemented in future auctions. Telecom industry sources, however, said thatincasethetenureiscut,thegovernment needs to bringdown the reserve price aswell. Thefirstauctionsinthecountryhappened in 2010 for 3G spectrum through which the government mopped up over `1 lakh crore. Today,3G technology is dead with operators shutting down these services and moving on to4Gand5G,making3Gspectrumvalueless. Usually, in such cases, there is a process to re-farm the spectrum.This means that if the same spectrum can be used for, say 4G services, operators will have to pay the auction-determined prices for it after a 4G auction to use it for these services.“So, the economic value of spectrum will be better realised if it's sold for lesser number of PRESS TRUST OF INDIA Mumbai, October 18 years,”an official said. The officials also pointed out that on a yearly basis, telecom operators are spending anywhere around 15-40% of their adjusted grossrevenue(AGR)onspectrum-relatedpayments.This includes yearly investments on spectrum auctions and the payments for the spectrum acquired in the previous auctions. METAL AND MINING major Vedanta onFridayannouncedaninvestmentof `1 lakh crore in Odisha to set up an alumina refinery and an aluminium plant in the state.TheAnilAgarwal-led group has already invested `1 lakh crore across assets in the state. The new investment will be in setting up a 6-million tonne per annum (MTPA) alumina refinery and a 3 MTPAgreen aluminium plant,a statement from Vedanta said. It will create 200,000 jobs in the state and help Odisha achieve its goal of becoming a $500-billion economy by 2030,it added. Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal met Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi earlierduring the dayin Mumbai.Majhi is in the financial capital for a road show to be held on Saturday,ahead of an investor summit in Odisha in January 2025. Commenting on the new investment commitment, Agarwal said Odisha has always played an important role in Vedanta's growth and affirmed the company's commitment todrivelarge-scaleindustrialisationin the state. The new investment will create "massive industrial complex" for downstreamindustries,thestatement said,adding that there are hundreds of applications foraluminium including in the auto, power, construction and railways sectors. As per the statement, demand for aluminium — a metal of the future — is likely to double by 2030. Continued on Page 7 Continued on Page 7 Technology gets obsolete KEEPING IT SHORT ■ First auctions over current 20-year ■ 3G happened in 2010 for spectrum period, say officials 3G spectrum through nowvalueless JATIN GROVER New Delhi, October 18 Vedanta to invest another `1 lakh crore in Odisha which govt mopped up over `1 lakh crore with operators shutting down services to move on to 4G and 5G ■ In case of refarming, telcos have to pay auctiondetermined prices for same spectrum after a 4G auction ■ So, a shorter time period will help in better price realisation for telcos, officials point out Rate cut at this point risky,premature: Das ANUP ROY & PREETI SONI October 18 RESERVE BANK OF India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said an interest rate cut at this stage would be “very, very risky”and he’s in no hurryto join thewave of easing by global policymakers. While inflation is expected to moderate, thereare“significantrisks”totheoutlook,Das told Bloomberg at the India Credit Forum in Mumbai. Inflation and growth dynamics are well-balanced,he said,but policymakers need to remainvigilantabout price pressures. RBIhaskeptitskeyinterestrateunchanged for almost two years, though it signalled last week that it may be preparing to ease after changing its policy stance to ‘neutral’. That comes as central banks around the world follow the US Federal Reserve in reducing interest rates,with Thailand the latest to surprise with a cut thisweek. Responding to a question about global centralbankseasing,Dassaid“wewillnotmiss the party,we don’twant to join anyparty.” Bonds extended losses after his comments,withthe10-yearyieldsrisingasmuch as 4 basis points — the most in two weeks — to 6.82%. "WE WILL NOT MISS THE PARTY, WE DON’T WANTTO JOIN ANY PARTY" RBI GOVERNOR SHAKTIKANTA DAS on rate cuts by global central banks Das pushed back against some analyst views that RBIwas“behind the curve”in cutting rates.Market expectationswere aligned with the central bank actions,he said,citing lastweek’spolicydecisionthatwaspredicted by most economists. “Thegovernor’scommentsshowratecuts may not happen before February, or it may get even delayed if actual inflation does not align with the target,” said Gaurav Kapur, chief economist at IndusInd Bank. Continued on Page 7 `4K-cr deal: JSW Steel Kotak Bank to buy to buy thyssenkrupp StanChart’s `4K-cr Electrical Steel via JV personal loan book JSWSTEELON Fridaysaidithasenteredinto asharepurchaseagreementforthepurchase of100%equitysharesinthyssenkruppElectricalSteelIndiafor`4,051.4crorethrougha 50:50 joint venture with Tokyo-headquartered JFESteelCorp.Theacquisitionwill take placethroughJsquareElectricalSteelNashik, a subsidiary of JSW JFE Electrical Steel, the Sajjan Jindal-led companysaid. ■ Page 4 KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK on Friday announced that it will buy Standard Chartered Bank’s personal loan business in India, a move that will help the country’s fourthlargestprivatebanktostrengthenitsposition in the affluent customer segment, reports Sachin Kumar. StanChart’s personal loan book in India had an outstanding balance of `4,100 crore as of September30. ■ Page 6 BENGALURU
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