THE BIG IDEA | PAGE 20 INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 5 How cash-on-delivery issues sparked a payment startup idea US at war not with Iran but its nuclear programme:Vance NEW DELHI, MONDAY, JUNE 23, 2025 BRANDWAGON | PAGE 9 New rugby league can take a leaf out of IPLplaybook FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL. L1 NO. 96, 46 PAGES, `12 (PATNA & RAIPUR `12, SRINAGAR `15) 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 Value retailers outdo premium apparel chains VALUE APPAREL RETAILERS reported stronger revenue growth in comparison to premium retailers in FY25 — at a time when discretionary spending had been weak, especially in urban areas — data showed, reports Viveat Susan Pinto. ■ PAGE 4 More renewable energy projects cross PPA hurdle THE BACKLOG OF renewable energy projects that lack power purchase agreements (PPA) has declined to 30 gigawatt, compared with around 40 GW in April, official sources said, reports Arunima Bharadwaj. ■ PAGE 2 In falling markets, investors pick passive funds INVESTORS HAVE BEEN seeking the safety of passive funds on days when indices decline, exchange data compiled by Mirae Asset Mutual Fund showed, reports Ananya Grover. ■ PAGE 6 DGCA tightens weather safety guidelines AVIATION WATCHDOG DGCA has revised its operational guidelines for adverse weather conditions, emphasising that safety should take precedence over "schedule adherence", reports PTI. ■ PAGE 3 FE SPECIAL Why FDI inflows aren’t promising India ranked 15th in FDI inflows last year ■ EXPLAINER, P6 Vi-ASTSpaceMobile deal US strikes Iran, raises fears faces regulatoryhurdle ● As US bombed three nuclear sites in Iran,at stake for India is the potential fallout from surging oil prices,capital outflows and investor risk aversion Crude prices may spike further as tensions rise Markets on the edge, see gap-down opening ARUNIMA BHARADWAJ New Delhi, June 22 CRUDE OIL PRICES are expected to go up further as a result of the escalating geopoliticaltensionsinWestAsiafollowing the US air strikes on three Iranian nuclearfacilities. As India procures a large part of its oil and gas demand fromWestAsia,it remainsvulnerable to potential supply and price shocks. The concerns intensified on Sunday after reports that Iran’s Parliament, the Majlis, has approved the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. However, the final decision on the closure of the Strait of Hormuz lies with Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.The Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, and is one of the world’smostimportantoiltrade routes,accountingforover20% ofworld oil and gas supply. Petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Sunday said India's oil companies have stocks that would last for several weeks.With its diversified oil sourcing, the country is equippedtodealwithanyeventualities, he said, adding that thegovernmentwasstillclosely monitoring the situation. Satellite image shows a close view of the Isfahan Nuclear Technology in Iran after US strikes »INSIDE« IRAN SETTO BLOCK STRAIT OF HORMUZ, EXPORTERS MAYUSE OTHER ROUTES PAGE 2 Any disruption of the shipping routes near the region is likely to result in increased crude prices. A rise in prices would impact the demand and profitability of the downstream companies and hurt the country as it imports as much as 88% of its crude oil requirements, analysts say. They expect Brent to “remain upwards of $75/barrel in the near term.” Continued on Page 5 AP/PTI JOYDEEP GHOSH Mumbai, June 22 THE ESCALATION IN the Iran-Israel conflict is likely to weigh on the stock markets on Monday. Most participants expect the markets to open with a gap down. Nilesh Shah, MD, Kotak Mutual Fund, while warning traders to be extremely cautious, said: “Indian markets find themselves in a peculiar situation, with domestic factors supporting currentvaluations for long-term investors while global factors like US President Donald Trump’s policies and oil prices are keeping them on the edge.” Dhiraj Relli, MD, HDFC TataMotorsturbochargesEV planstoregainmarketshare SWARAJ BAGGONKAR Mumbai, June 22 CLAWING BACK TATA MOTORS IS preparing to go full tilt in the electric vehicle (EV) space to claw back lost market share as rivals turn up the heat with an aggressive pipeline of products spread over the next few years. In addition, merging the EV arm with the passenger vehicle entity is also on the anvil. “In the mid- to longterm, we should come back to 50% share,” Shailesh Chandra, MD, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, shared at the recently-held Investor Day in Mumbai. The new plans include pushing up the drive range of the EVs by 60% to expanding its sales reach by four times to achieving price par- ■ Merging the EV arm with the passenger vehicle entity on the anvil ■ New plans include pushing up the drive range of the EVs by 60% ■ It aims to expand its sales reach by four times and achieve price parity with internal combustion engine cars Continued on Page 5 connectivitynot allowed currently RISHI RAJ New Delhi, June 22 ROUGH PATCH ■ Vodafone cannot legally lease its spectrum to AST without new policy directives ■ Existing rules do not allow for sharing terrestrial spectrum with satellite operators ■ Vodafone’s mobile spectrum is VODAFONEIDEA’SRECENTLY announced partnership with AST SpaceMobile to deliver satellite-baseddirect-to-mobile (D2M) connectivity is likely to face regulatory and policy hurdles,makingimmediaterollout of the service highlyunlikely. Accordingtoanalysts,unless the department of telecommunications(DoT)andtheTelecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) initiate a separate consultation process to define spectrumsharingandleasingnorms for hybrid satellite-terrestrial networks, the agreement will remain largelyaspirational. licensed only for groundbased use, not satellite transmission ■ Circle-wise spectrum creates risk of interoperator interference via satellite The tie-up, announced on June18,isbeingseenasabreakthrough in satellite communicationbecauseitaimstodeliver broadbandconnectivitydirectly to standard smartphones via space-based infrastructure. Unlike other satellite partnerships, such as Bharti Airtel and Jio’s deals with Starlink,which focus on fixed wireless access (FWA) terminals installed on rooftops,theVodafoneIdea-AST SpaceMobile collaboration seeks to eliminate the need for anyspecial userequipment. Continued on Page 5 No obstacle for NSE’s IPO: Sebi chief FE BUREAU Mumbai, June 22 TUHIN KANTA PANDEY, CHAIRMAN, SEBI THE SECURITIES AND Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) are very close tosettlingissuesandlegalcases that were hindering the initial public offering (IPO) of the exchange, according to Sebi chairmanTuhinKantaPandey. Speaking at the FE CFO Awards, he said, “There is no obstacle remaining in the case of the NSE.” He added that the Thereisnoobstacleremainingin thecaseoftheNSE.Thereissome legalsettlementsandotherthings. Someamountwillhavetobe paid...andsoon exchange and the markets regulator are settling some of the key issues. “There is some legal settlements and other things.Some amount will have to be paid and those cases would have to be withdrawn, and so on.” Continued on Page 5 An Investor Education and Awareness Initiative Get the advantage of a 3-in-1 Fund ■ Tata Motors’ market share in the EV space more than halved to 35% by the end of May 2025 ity with internal combustion engine cars. The launch of two new EVs in the mid-term are also planned, in addition to those that are being developed under the Avinya brand of premium offerings. While further details are Securities, believes that domestic markets may respond unfavourably and open lower by approximately half a percentage point to one percentage point before attempting to recover. Investment analyst Arun Kejriwal sees the market openingwith a gap down,drying up the optimism generated after Friday’s trading. He believes that the market will probably be in no man’s land for at least the next few trading sessions. Relli said this development could propel oil prices to even greater heights while triggering an immediate flight to safety, as investors evaluate how this latest escalation might cascade through the interconnected global economy.And one cannot discount the possibility of unpredictable contagion effects across global markets should hostilities continue to intensify. All the experts believe that the action around crude oil prices and availability will be carefullywatched by markets, as a country like India which imports the majority of its requirements will come under duress. ● Direct-to-mobile awaited on the new launches, Tata Motors is calling them ‘bespoke EVs’ that are to be introduced in the next 18 months and beyond.The first from theAvinya range will get launched by the end of 2026. Continued on Page 5 Hands-on training, campus tie-ups, global collaborations some ofthe strategies Semiconductorstartupstackletalent crunchwithhomegrownsolutions S SHANTHI Bengaluru, June 22 BUILDING SOLUTIONS FACED WITH TALENT shortage, semiconductor startups arecomingupwithinnovative, homegrown strategies to bridge the skills gap.With the domestic semiconductor industry projected to face a shortfall of 250,000-300,000 professionals by 2027,according to a TeamLease Degree Apprenticeshipreport,startups are no longer waiting for systemic change,but are building solutions from the ground up. While India has long been a global hub for chip design, drawing major players like Intel,Qualcomm and Nvidia to set up design facilities, the crunch is most acutely felt in manufacturing and allied verticalssuchasadvancedpackaging, process engineering and fabrication. To address this, companiesarenowinvestingin ■ Semiconductor industry is projected to face a shortfall of professionals by 2027 ■ Bengaluru-based Agnit is offering intensive 90-120-day role-specific training programmes to equip employees with the necessary skills ■ Crunch is most acutely felt in mfg and allied verticals such as advanced packaging, process engineering and fabrication ■ Similarly, Mindgrove Technologies is actively collaborating with students through internships and finalyear projects 250,000-300,000 ■ Firms are now investing in targeted training, re-purposing talent from adjacent domains, and collaborating with academia to create new pipelines targetedtraining,re-purposing talent from adjacent domains, and collaborating with academia to create new pipelines. For instance, Bengalurubased Agnit, is offering intensive 90-120-day role-specific training programmes to equip employees with the necessary skills.“This close integration allows us to efficiently upskill ouremployeesandensurethey are aligned with the technical demands of their roles,” said Hareesh Chandrasekhar, CEO and co-founder of Agnit. Recognising that talent is particularlyscarcebeyondverylarge-scale integration (VLSI) design,Agnit has also turned to India’s growing expat engineer network for expertise. Chandrasekharpointedoutthatuniversities have traditionally focused on areaswith job availability,leavingcriticaldomains like fabrication and process control under-explored. MULTI ASSET ALLOCATION FUNDS * Multi Asset Allocation Funds may invest in Gold or such other asset classes as maybe decided by the To know more, Visit: www.iciciprumf.com Visit www.icicipruamc.com/note to know more about the process to complete a one-time Know Your Customer (KYC) requirement to invest in Mutual Funds. Investors should only deal with registered Mutual Funds, details of which can be Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully. Continued on Page 5 New Delhi