COMPANIES | PAGE 5 MARKETS | PAGE 6 Inflation expected to be well aligned to 4% target: RBI guv INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 7 Tesla still weighs India entry on duty concerns BENGALURU, THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2025 EU fines Meta,Apple for violating antitrust rules FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XXXVII 312, 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 SENSEX: 80,116.50 ▲ 520.91 NIFTY: 24,328.95 ▲ 161.70 NIKKEI 225: 34,868.63 ▲ 648.03 HANG SENG: 22,072.62 ▲ 510.30 `/$: 85.42 ▼ 0.23 `/€: 97.54 ▲ 0.36 BRENT: $67.30 ▼ $0.14 GOLD: `95,641 ▼ `2,587 LG pauses India IPO plan due to market volatility LG ELECTRONICS HAS paused work on the IPO of its Indian unit, partly because of volatility in markets, according to people in the know, reports Bloomberg. ■ PAGE 6 Negotiations on India-US trade pact begin in Washington THE FIRST IN-PERSON meeting between the chief negotiators for the India-US bilateral trade agreement got underway in Washington on Wednesday, reports fe Bureau. ■ PAGE 2 THE COUNTRY'S TOP four IT services firms are adopting conservative-yetsteady hiring plans for FY26, amid global uncertainty, reports Padmini Dhruvaraj. ■ PAGE 4 remarks followed optimistic comments he made on Tuesday that a deal to lowertariffswas possible. THE US WOULD look at lowering Taking a cue, global markets tariffs on imported Chinese goods surged.ChinesestockstradedinHong pending talkswith Beijing,a source Kong closed 2.1% higher on optifamiliar with the matter said on mism that tensions with the US may Wednesday, adding that any action soften.WallStreet’smainindexesrose would not be made unilaterally, onWednesdayasinvestorswelcomed according to a Reuters report. signs of a thawin the US-China trade The source’s comwar.European shares ments followed a Wall climbed to a near DONALD TRUMP, Street Journal report three-week high on US PRESIDENT that the White House Wednesday,as easing is considering cutting trade tensions its tariffs on Chinese between the United imports in a bid to deStatesandChinalifted escalate tensions. investor sentiment China tariffs could globally. comedownfromtheir Earlier on Tuescurrent level of 145% day, speaking to to anything between reporters in Wash50% and 65%, the ington,the US Presipaper said, citing a dent said, “145% is White House official. very high and it “We are going to won’t be that high.It have a fair deal with won’t be anywhere China,” Trump told near that high. It’ll reporters on come down substanWednesday, but tially. But it did not address won’t be zero.” the specifics of the newspaper Continued report. His on Page 7 ● 2019 2020 2021 TARIFFS & TRADE WARS HURT ECONOMIC ORDER: XI PAGE 7 DAYAFTER, GRIEF &ARED LINE 12,717 15,921 Startup shutdowns Startup launches »FULL COVERAGE ON BACK PAGE« INDIA DOWNGRADES DIPLOMATIC TIES WITH PAKISTAN, SUSPENDS INDUS WATER TREATY SEVEN TERRORISTS, INCLUDING FOURFIVE FROM PAKISTAN, BEHIND ATTACK, INDICATES INITIAL PROBE AIRFARES TO SRINAGAR TANK; AIRLINES ANNOUNCE MEASURES TO AID TOURISTS & healthtech sectors have seen the maximum startup shutdowns, sources say 259 125 2023 2024 2025 fit (PMF) stage,oftenwithout a substantial white space to solve. Once market discipline returned, the inevitable occurred — the pool filtered itself,”Agarwal told FE. Manycompaniesalsoraisedcapital at hefty valuations, because of which they failed to mop up follow- oninvestments,especiallywhenthe business wasn’t doing well. In fact, investors turned very cautious in 2023-2024, and are investing only in ventures with healthy financials and a proven PMF. Continued on Page 15 Sensexreclaims80,000 peakafterfourmonths KISHOR KADAM Mumbai, April 23 Home minister Amit Shah pays his last respects to those killed in the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu & Kashmir PTI THE WORST HIT ■ Agritech, fintech, edtech, 5,264 8,454 9,600 2022 ratherthanafailureoftheecosystem. PearlAgarwal,founderandmanaging partner, Eximius Ventures, pointedoutthat2021-2022sawan influx of capital that chased opportunities rather than outcomes. “Numerous companies received funding at the pre-product market We are going to have a fair deal with China... »INSIDE« NO PLANS TO FIRE FED'S POWELL: TRUMP PAGE 7 2,101 13,839 867 THE WORLD’S THIRD-LARGEST startup ecosystem has notched up an unenviable record.Over 28,000 startupshaveshutupshopinthelastcouple of years — 15,921 in 2023 and 12,717 in 2024.While some of them havefiledforbankruptcy,othershave remained inactive for more than a year.That’sanover 12-foldjumpfrom 2,300 shutdowns in the previous three years — 2019-2022,according todataintelligenceplatformTracxn. There’smore.Thenumberofstartups launched fell to just 5,264 in 2024fromover9,600ayearbetween 2019 and 2022.Thisyearso far,only 125 startups have been founded. Experts attribute these trends to a “delayed correction”or a calibration 18,074 THE TIDE TURNS THE 30-SHARE SENSEX reclaimed the 80,000-mark after four months onWednesday,asbenchmarkindices extended their winning run for the seventhconsecutivetradingsession. While there was some turbulence intra-day with the Sensex briefly slipping into negative territory, it rebounded later, recouping allintra-daylosses,largelydrivenby arallyinITshares.TheSensexclosed at 80,116.49, up 520.90 points or 0.65%, and the Nifty at 24,328.95, gaining 161.70 points or 0.67%. Over the seven sessions, realty, auto,metal,consumerdiscretionary, industrials, and financial services BENGALURU WINNING RUN 81,000 Sensex 79,000 80,116.5 77,000 « « Top four IT firms eye cautious hiring amid global uncertainty AGENCIES Washington, April 23 S SHANTHI Bengaluru, April 23 1,270 LUXURY ITEMS SUCH as handbags, footwear and wrist watches, priced above `10 lakh, will now attract 1% tax collected at source (TCS), the government said, reports fe Bureau. ■ PAGE 2 Trump signals thaw on China import tariffs Startup shutdowns increase 12-fold 12,232 Watches, handbags, shoes worth above `10L to draw 1% TCS GLOBALMARKETSTAKETHECUE,RALLY 1,934 IN THE NEWS 8.5 % 75,000 73,000 73,847.2 Apr 9 Apr 25 emergedasthetop-performingsectors,each gaining over 10%. Continued on Page 15