COMPANIES | PAGE 4 THE BIG IDEA | PAGE 24 Pocket FM’s 10 pivots & multiple iterations INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 5 Tata Motors, M&M outpace Korean rivals AHMEDABAD, MONDAY, APRIL 7, 2025 Meta releases new AI model Llama 4 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XIX 259, 24 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 IN THE NEWS Credit card NPAs increase 28.4% to `6,742 cr in 2024 CREDIT CARD USAGE has gone up significantly in the last three years. However, NPAs in the credit card segment have also risen by 28.42% to `6,742 crore in the 12-month period ended December 2024, show latest RBI data, reports George Mathew. ■ PAGE 6 US agency projects India’s wheat output at record 115 MT INDIA IS HEADING for its third consecutive record wheat harvest in the coming marketing year (2025-26) at 115 MT due to record planting and favouyrable weather conditions in major growing states, the United States department of agriculture has said, reports Sandip Das. ■ PAGE 2 OMCs likely to report weaker refining margins in Q4FY25 OIL MARKETING COMPANIES are likely to report a muted fourth quarter for FY25, primarily due to weaker gross refining margins, say analysts, reports Arunima Bharadwaj. ■ PAGE 2 Amul brand’s total revenue may touch `1 lakh cr in FY26 DAIRY BRAND AMUL’S revenue is expected to rise more than 10% to about `1 lakh crore this fiscal due to rising consumer demand for milk and its products, reports PTI. Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) sells dairy products under the ■ PAGE 4 ‘Amul’ brand. FE S P E C I A L S From sideshow to mainstream ‘NEEDTO INITIATE REGULATORYIMPACTASSESSMENT’ Internal panel to review all regulations, says Sebi chief PRASANTA SAHU & JOYDEEP GHOSH Mumbai, April 6 PHILIP BLENKINSOP Brussels, April 6 SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE Board of India (Sebi) chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey will set up an internal panel to review current regulations and weed out those that have lost relevance. The exercise would be similar to the one carried out by the Income Tax department while drafting the Direct Tax Code, 2025. Terming it as an organisational mission, Pandey said he would accelerate the process within the next three months.While the exercise will be done internally, Sebi would consult sector experts to refine the process.“Optimum regulation is the key”, Pandey said. He alsobelievesthatthereshouldbean impact analysis of current regulations.“This is a relatively new area. We also need to figure out who can do the regulatory impact assessment and how”,he said. Pandey was finance secretary and revenue secretary when the simplified DirectTax Codewas presented to Parliament on February 13 (two weeks later he was appointed Sebi chairperson). In his first interviewaftertaking charge as Sebi chief, Pandey said market integrity and fair play are extremely important. While regulations developed in consultationswithstakeholdersmay stayforalongertime,sometimes,regulations can be brought in for six to A FRAMEWORK FOR MONITORING IS NEEDED. IF ANYONE HAS RECUSED, THERE SHOULD BE SOME READYMADE DATABASE ANALYTICALLY, WE NEED TO BE STRONG. THE ART OF MODERN REGULATION IS LESS COMPLIANCE BURDEN BUT MORE EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION TUHIN KANTA PANDEY, SEBI CHAIRMAN »INSIDE« Q&A ON PAGE 6 eight months only to fix newer challengesthatemergeinaverydynamic marketandthenwithdrawnafterthe issues have been resolved,he said. He also emphasised that the intent of forming a committee to draftconflict-of-interestguidelines will provide clarity and dismissed speculations that private sectortalent will find it extremely hard to helm regulatory bodies.“A framework for monitoring is required. If someone has recused,there should be some readymade database,” he said. The names of the high-powered committee to decide on the guidelines will be notified soon. EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES will seek to present a united front in the coming days against US President Donald Trump's tariffs, likely approving a first set of targeted countermeasures on up to $28 billion of US imports from dental floss to diamonds. Such a move would mean the EU joining China and Canada in imposing retaliatory tariffs on the United States in an early escalation of what some fear will become a global trade war, making goods more expensive for billions of consumers and pushing economies around the world into recession. The 27-nation bloc faces 25% import tariffs on steel and aluminium and cars and "reciprocal" tariffs of 20% from Wednesday for almost all other goods. Trump's tariffs cover some 70% of the EU's exports to the United States — worth in total 532 billion euros ($585 billion) last year — with likely duties on copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and timber still to come. The European Commission, which coordinates EU trade policy, will propose to members late on Monday a list of US products to hit with extra duties in response to SACHIN KUMAR Mumbai, April 6 SUPPORTING GROWTH RBI net liquidity injection/ absorption THE RESERVE BANK of India (RBI) is widely expected to shift its monetary policy stance from neutral to accommodative and cut the repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) at its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on April 9. This move would signal the central bank’s growing focus on supporting economic growth amid moderating inflation and global headwinds.Tariffs imposed by the United States on Indian 3,15,618.48 Jan 23, 2025 (in ` crore) 1,04,974.41 -2,16,118 Jan 1, 2025 Apr 3, 2025 oomberg Source: RBI, Bloomberg imports could further dampen growth, strengthening expectations that the RBI may introduce additional measures to stimulate the economy. TheRBIhadshifteditsmonetary policy stance from "withdrawal of accommodation" to "neutral" in Octoberlastyear.Akeyreasonbehind the anticipated move to an accom- modativestanceisthecentralbank’s aim to ensure more effective transmission of past and potential future rate cuts bybanks. Adopting an accommodative stance would signal to banks that the central bank is comfortable with lower interest rates and ample liquidity. Such conditions encourage banks to pass on the benefits of rate cuts to borrowers, thereby supporting credit growth and economic activity. Continued on Page 5 Adani, Vedanta, Patanjaliamong Jaiprakashsuitors ● AN INFRASTRUCTURE MARVEL BILLIONAIRE GAUTAM ADANI'S group, mining mogul Anil Agarwal's Vedanta, and yoga guru Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurveda are among the 26 suitors looking to acquire Jaiprakash Associates. ■ BRANDWAGON, P7 Kisan credit card NPAs fall across bankingchannels ‘AI and robotics will define new health’ MemoTag can track signs of cognitive decline early on Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates New Pamban Bridge — India’s first vertical lift sea bridge on the occasion of Ram Navami, at Rameswaram (Tamil Nadu) on Sunday Story on Page 12 NON-PERFORMINGASSETS among Kisan credit card (KCC) accounts across various banking sectors have consistently declined in recent years, reflecting a strengthening credit culture and improved credit discipline. PAGE 2 TURBULENT TIMES ■ The countermeasures from EU nations will affect up to $28 bn of US imports ranging from dental floss to diamonds ■ The feared trade war could make goods expensive for consumers ■ France has suggested the suspension of all investments by European firms into the US ■IrelanddoesnotsupportEU's retaliatoryapproachtotariffs Trump's steel and aluminium tariffs rather than the broader reciprocal levies. It is set to include US meat, cereals,wine,wood and clothing as well as chewing gum, dental floss, vacuum cleaners and toilet paper. One product that has received more attention and exposed discord in the bloc is bourbon. Continued on Page 5 Over50 nations reach India’s FTAswith EU, outtoUS fortradetalks UKto get expedited Continued on Page 5 MPC may change stance, cut rate Brands line up `550 cr for influencer marketing this IPL ■ eFE, P10 EU seeks unityin first strike back atTrump tariffs MORE THAN 50 countries have reached out to the White House to begin trade talks, a top economic adviser to US President Donald Trump said on Sunday as officials sought to defend sweeping new tariffs that have unleashed PAGE 5 global turmoil. AS THE SHAKE-UP of the world trade by US President Donald Trump has brought back tariffs at the centre stage again, "many developed countries" have indicated to India that they are willing to relax their stands on PAGE 2 non-trade issues. Ad surge powers q-comm players AYANTI BERA Bengaluru, April 6 QUICK COMMERCE PLATFORMS like Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart are increasingly turning to advertising revenues to chart a path to profitability, as brands flock to these platforms to tap into a new category of urban, impulse-driven shoppers. With millions of consumers using these platforms for everything from last-minute grocery top-ups to household essentials and even fashion, ad revenues are becoming a key lever for profit, say analysts. Despite grappling with high cash burn, quick commerce players are building a lucrative revenue stream by monetising their fast-growing user base through targeted advertising. Quick commerce platforms are now generating an estimated `3,000-3,500 crore in annual recurring revenue (ARR) from advertisements,according to brokerage Elara Securities. Of this, Blinkit commands the GROWTH PATH ■ They are now generating an estimated `3,000-3,500 cr in ARR from advertisements ■ Q-comm players building a lucrative revenue stream by monetising user base Amazon India’s ad revenue for FY24 stands at `6,700 cr lion’s share at 45%, followed by Zepto at 35% and Swiggy Instamart at 20%.In comparison,Amazon India’s ad revenue for FY24 stands at `6,700 crore, only twice as much, even though quick commerce accounts for just 8% of the country’s online shoppers. The surge in ad revenue has been driven by a fundamental shift in consumer behaviour. Continued on Page 5 Emerging tech players adopt digital solutions to enhance productivity Coding on auto-pilot: Startups eye 85% automation by2025 S SHANTHI Bengaluru, April 6 CODING AUTOMATION IS on a super-fast track across the startup ecosystem,with companies reporting automation levels between 1550% and targeting 40-85% by the end of this year. What once seemed like a distant vision has quickly become a strategic priority as startups adopt generative AI tools to reimagine the way software is written,tested, and deployed. From e-commerce and fintech toSaaSandAI,startupsareracingto streamline development workflows, enhance productivity, and free up engineering teams to focus on higher-value innovation. Adtech firm InMobi is already halfway to its goal, having automated 50% of its software coding. CEO Naveen Tewari recently said in a LinkedIn post that the companyis targeting 80% automation by the end of the year. B2B e-commerce platform Udaan is not far behind, with 90% of its front-end development and 30% to 50% of its backend systems already automated. The company’s senior vice presidentandheadofengineering,KSid- ACCELERATING INNOVATION ■ The idea is to free up engineers so that they can focus on highvalue innovation ■ The rapid pace of automation is seen in traditionally tech-heavy sectors as well as ed- tech startups, among others ■ Startups are racing to streamline development workflows ■ Automation is ■ Automation involves embedding generative AI throughout the software development lifecycle dhartha Reddy, told Fe that Udaan isempoweringeverydeveloperwith AI-driven tools to increase produc- being deployed to eliminate repetitive, low-value tasks tivity ten-fold and redirect focus toward architecture, innovation, and user-centric problem solving. ■ Many firms are investing in reskilling to transition developers into roles requiring deeper technical expertise SaaS unicorn LeadSquared, backed by WestBridge Capital, has integrated AI tools such as GitHub Copilot and Claude Code to automate 20% to 30% of routine coding tasks, such as writing boilerplate code, generating unit tests, and handling CRUD operations. The company is targeting 75% automation of undifferentiated code, including quality assurance, DevOps, and unit testing, and aims for 50% automation of core production code by the end of the year. Vikas Boggaram Setty, vice president of engineering at LeadSquared,said the company’s strategy involves embedding generative AI throughout the software development life-cycle – from project planning to post-release analysis – using smarter models that can better interpret developer intent and integrate seamlessly into development environments. Conversational messaging platform Gupshup has automated 35% of its coding workflows and plans to scale that to 70-75% in the coming months.The company is focusing on early-stage testing, reusable code components, and expanding its use of AI-assisted development tools. Continued on Page 5 Ahmedabad