ECONOMY | PAGE 2 INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 7 COMPANIES | PAGE 4 Private capex hit by a crisis of confidence: Pronab Sen Each demerged entity can be $100-bn firm:Vedanta chief MUMBAI, TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2025 Trump-Putin talks today on ending war in Ukraine FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL LXV NO. 64, 20 PAGES, `12 P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E SENSEX: 74,169.94 ▲ 341.03 NIFTY: 22,508.75 ▲ 111.55 NIKKEI 225: 37,396.52 ▲ 343.42 HANG SENG: 24,145.57 ▲ 185.59 `/$: 86.80 ▲ 0.21 `/€: 94.62 ▲ 0.04 BRENT: $71.18 ▲ $0.60 GOLD: `87,722 ▲ `1,312 FINANCE MINISTER NIRMALA Sitharaman on Monday urged India Inc to step up their participation in the PM Internship Scheme, hailing it as “a national cause”, reports Manu Kaushik. ■ PAGE 3 Contours of trade pact with US to be finalised in 3 weeks INDIA HAS NOT brought up the issue of reciprocal tariffs in its talks with the US, and the focus is on the bilateral trade pact and the ways to increase it to $500 billion by 2030, reports Mukesh Jagota. ■ PAGE 2 FE SPECIAL Are QCOs the new non-tariff barriers? There are concerns that quality control orders are being misused ■ EXPLAINER, P9 ing investigations by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). The fair trade regulator has ordered a probe into FlipkartandAmazonfollowingallegationsofmalpractices,including deep discounting and tie-upswithpreferredsellerson theirplatforms. Continued on Page 19 MUKESH JAGOTA New Delhi, March 17 INDIA’S MERCHANDISE TRADE deficit slumped to $14.05 billion in February,the lowest since August 2021, as imports of petroleum crude and gold fell sharply, and the uncertainty over US tariffs hampered global trade. Exports were down 10.8% SANJIV BAJAJ CHAIRMAN & MD, BAJAJ FINSERV BAJAJ FINSERV HAS signed share purchase agreements (SPAs) with Allianz SE to acquire the German insurer’s 26% stake in their two joint ventures — Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company (BAGIC) and Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company(BALIC) — for a total consideration of `24,180 crore. The transaction marks the end of a partnership spanningovertwodecades between the Bajaj Group and Allianz. “The agreed consideration for a 26% stake in BAGIC and BALIC is `13,780 crore and `10,400 We are confident the acquisition will become a big driver of value for our stakeholders in the years to come crore respectively,” Bajaj Finserv said in a regulatory filing on Monday. The two companies had entered into a JVin 2001,with Allianz holding a 26% stake — the maximum allowed to foreign investors at that time. Although India laterraised the FDI cap in the insurance sector to 74%,tensions had emerged between the partners in recent years,withAllianzkeentoraise its stake, while Bajaj was unwilling to dilute its control. In October, Bajaj Finserv hinted that Allianz had expressed its intent to exit the JVs in both life and general insurance. “The execution of the SPAs marks the culmination of constructive and amicable discussions to ensure a seamless transferofthestakeofAllianz,” Bajaj Finserv said. Continued on Page 19 Stock market decline casts a shadow over buying enquiries Bearsturntheirfocustorealestate RAGHAVENDRA KAMATH Mumbai, March 17 ASHOK AMBADE, A property brokerinThane nearMumbai, says he has seen a 10-20% drop in buying enquiries in the last six months.“Therearevery fewbuyers now,”Ambade,who has been in the business for20 years now, adds. Vineet Matlani, another broker, pegs the decline in enquiries at an even higher 30-35%. The luxury segment where apartments are priced over `5 crore have been impacted the most, he says, adding that developers are slowly coming out with offers such as 30:70 or 20:80 and so on to make sure that the phone calls don’t stop afterthe initial enquiries. Most agree. Home sales were driven by the demand to upgrade, which, in turn, was partly driven by the wealth effect created by the stock market. But the markets have been declining, with the Sensex losing 14% since its peak in September last year. SLOWING DOWN ■ Luxury ■ Some property developers in Maharashtra have seen up to 30% drop in enquiries in the last 6 months segment, where apartments are priced over `5 cr, has been impacted the most ■ Bengaluru has also witnessed two quarters of decline in units sold despite launch growth HSBC Securities said in a report last month that while the National Capital Region (NCR) continues to do better than the others, Hyderabad’s deterioration is evident with the drop in the number of units and value sold, and four consecutive quarters of declining project launches. Even Bengaluru is slowing, with two quarters of decline in units sold despite launch growth. The average apartment size is peaking in some cities. Real estate researchers such as Pankaj Kapoor, managing director at Liases Foras, a real estate ratings and research firm, agree with local brokers. “After 15-16 quarters, we saw a 1.5% decline last quarter (Q3FY25) in sales on a sequential basis,”Kapoor said, adding that the sales would plateau or decline in the coming months. Earlier, people were booking profits in stock markets and investing in properties which is not the ■ Realty players say the declining stock market has affected the demand for upgrades ■ Hyderabad has seen four quarters of declining project launches, show HSBC data ■ Mumbai property registrations fell 4% in February on a yearly basis, as per Knight Frank trend now, he said, adding that the sharp run-up in prices has also impacted the property market. However, Kapoor said the mid-income segment (priced between `75 lakh and `2.5 crore)is growing slowly. “There may be better growth in this segment as the government has given concessions on income tax for people earning up to `12 lakh,” he said. Continued on Page 19 Trade deficit ($ bn, LHS) 35 25 15 5 515Feb, 2024 to $36.9 billion during the month, registering the fourth straight month of contraction. Imports plunged by a sharper 16.3% to $50.96 billion, the (% chg, y-o-y, RHS) Exports Imports 22.98 narrows to $14 bn, lowest since 2021 SHIPMENT WATCH -10.8 -16.3 14.05 ● Trade deficit Bajaj buys outAllianz from life,general insurance JVs NARAYANAN V Chennai, March 17 $11.9 billion, while gold imports were down 62% to $2.3 billion. The decline in prices of crude weighed on exports too. Petroleum product exports during the month were down 29.2% to $5.8 billion. Invalueterms,thedropwas $2.4 billion. Another drag on exports were chemicals, which were down 24.5% to $2.2 billion, and gems and jewellery,where shipments contracted 20.7% to $2.5 billion. Continued on Page 15 Continued on Page 15 ignore.Ola must issue a clarification, otherwise, how can investors trust any of its numbers?” He added that both the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and the stock exchanges must seek explanation from the company on the discrepancyin the numbers. Continued on Page 15 Trumptariffs:Febexportsdown11% 31.8 probe into Flipkart & Amazon after allegations of malpractices sales data. AnOlaElectricspokesperson did not respond to FE’s queries on the discrepancy till the time of going to the press. Experts say the discrepancy is significant enough to erode investor confidence. Shriram Subramanian,founderand MD of InGovern Research Services, told FE:“The gap is too large to 21.9 ■ CCI has ordered a *Includes some registrations from Feb 24.1 ability to maintain direct inventory among key factors for the likely move ADVANCE TAX COLLECTIONS from the corporate sector,otherfirmsandindividuals in the current fiscal stood at `10.45 lakh crore as on Sunday, up 14.6% on year. In the corresponding period of last fiscal, these collections—a proxyofcorporateprofitability and the state of the economy— stood at `9.11 lakh crore. The last instalment of the advance tax payment was due on March 15,2025,forFY25. Significantly, advance tax collections growth in Q4 moderated to about 2.4% on year from 16.8% in Q3. In Q1 and Q2, the growth was 27% and 20.6%,respectively. The Centre’s direct tax collectionsnetofrefundshavestill risen 13.1%year-on-yearso far in FY25 to `21.3 lakh crore, finance ministry data showed. The collections till March 16 account for 95% of the revised estimates (RE) forFY25. Advancetaxesunderthecorporatetax(CIT)categoryroseby 12.5%to`7.57lakhcroresofar in the current fiscal,while noncorporates, mainly personal income tax (PIT), saw a 20.5% growth to `2.87 lakh crore.The CIT mop-up after refunds between April 1-March 16 rose 7.1% on year, against 7.6% growth pegged in the revised estimates (RE). Registrations as on March 17 on Vahan there have been nil sales so far this month. AspertheMotorVehicleAct, vehicles need to be registered with the transport department of the states concerned within seven days of being retailed. The Central government’s Vahan portal records all registered vehicles, which forms the basis of capturing retail FY25advance taxesgrow 14.6%;Q4rise atjust2.4% PRIYANSH VERMA New Delhi, March 17 8,230* Total registrations as on Feb 28 on Vahan portal 19.7 ■ Data localisation needs, 8,651 28.1 ■ Deliberations coincide with recent leadership changes at India division sales number announced by Ola on Feb 28 23 reached out to multiple investment banks; has also engaged with JP Morgan OLAELECTRIC MAYface regulatory scrutiny over a potential mismatch in its reported sales figures and actual registrations with state transport departments. The company has announced that it sold 25,000 electric scooters in February. However, according to data on the Vahan portal, at the end of February, only 8,651 scooters were registered — a gap of 16,349. As on March 17, the portal shows registrations of 8,230 scooters.This is likely to include some sales of February aswell,stillleavingasubstantial gap, as it is not possible that 25,000 20.8 More firms should participate in PM intern scheme: FM ■ Amazon said to have NITIN KUMAR New Delhi, March 17 NOT ADDING UP 22.1 RELIGARE ENTERPRISES on Monday said it has commissioned a governance review of the firm and subsidiaries, Religare Finvest and Religare Housing. It also sought immediate funds from promoters — the Burman family — to sustain operations. ■ PAGE 6 E-COMMERCE MAJOR AMAZON isexploringthepossibility of spinning off its India operations and listing it,according to industrysources.The company, which is the second-largest playerinthee-commercesector after Flipkart,has initiated preliminary talks with investment banks to assess the feasibilityof such a move,the sources said. According to a report in YourStory,Amazonhasreached out to multiple investment banks in the country and has alsoengagedwithJPMorgan,its Wall Street banking partner. “Amazon has begun conversations with banking advisers regarding a potential spinoff and local listing in India. Data localisation requirements and the ability to maintain direct inventory are among the key factors driving this consideration,” one of the sources said. “Last week,Amazon’s management,includingseniorexecutives from India and the US, held discussions with 8-10 investmentbanks,buttheseare still in the initial stages,” the source added. However,somelegalexperts told FE thatAmazon is unlikely to get the valuation it may be lookingforbecauseoftheongo- IN THE CART Feb sales number & registrations 18.9 Religare, arms set to undergo governance review RAGHAVAGGARWAL New Delhi, March 17 ● Big mismatch in 18.7 MARUTI SUZUKI SAID on Monday it plans to hike the prices of its cars by up to 4% starting April 1 to offset the impact of higher input costs and operational expenses, reports Swaraj Baggonkar. This would be the third such hike in four months. ■ PAGE 4 Amazoneyes spinoff,IPO ofIndiabiz ThecaseofmissingOlae-scooters 15.6 Maruti to hike prices by up to 4% from April CCI PROBE MAYHITVALUATION Feb IN THE NEWS Feb, 2025 25 20 15 10 5 0 -5 -10 -15 lowest since April 2023. The fall in global commodity prices also impacted the trade numbers. Crude oil imports fell 29.6% to