COMPANIES | PAGE 4 COMPANIES | PAGE 4 Ola unveils self-built ferrite motor amid rare earths crisis INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 8 Bajaj Freedom 125 fails to spark commuter interest CHENNAI/KOCHI, SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2025 China’s economy lags in ominous sign for outlook FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XLVI 87, 10 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 SBI, IOB cut MCLR across tenures STATE BANK OF India (SBI) and Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) have revised their marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) by 5 bps and 10 bps, respectively, across all tenures as notified on websites, reports fe Bureau. ■ PAGE 5 S&P upgrades ratings of 10 financial entities S&P GLOBAL RATINGS on Friday upgraded ratings of top 10 financial institutions, including SBI, HDFC Bank and Tata Capital, a day after the US-based agency raised India's sovereign credit rating, reports PTI. ■ PAGE 5 More states may join Centre's crop insurance scheme CENTRE PROPOSES RATES OF5% & 18%,CESS REMOVAL; SOME SIN GOODS MAYATTRACT40% LEVY Diwali gift foraam aadmi:Two-tierGSTregime byOctober PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, August 15 THE GOODS AND services tax (GST)regimewillseeamajorresetbyearlyOctober,whereanew two-slab structure will reduce the tax incidence on daily use items,and give a solid consumption boosterto the economy. Among the items that could become cheaper could be food items,medicines,cement,small cars, air-conditioners, and several fast-moving consumer goods. Almost 99% of goods under the 12% slab, including essential commodities consumed by the common man, will attract 5% tax, while the remaining ones will move to 18%. Similarly, 90% of goods LESS TAXING Two-tier rate structure proposed by the Centre Large SUVs may attract 40% tax, still lower than 48% (including cess) now Cement, small cars, air conditioners may move from 28% to 18% slab Tobacco items, paan masala which attract GST as high as 60-70% (cess included), may come under a new 40% bracket sans cess Several mass consumption items, including certain packaged foods, may be shifted from 12% to 5%, some FMCG goods may attract 12% GST instead of 18% now attracting28%willmovetothe 18% slab (see chart). While Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the 5% 18% GST revenue mop-up from each slab at present (%) High-end FMCG, consumer durables, industrial inputs, furniture, etc, may be retained at 18% slab revamp of the eight-year indirect tax in his Independence Day speech here on Friday, as a “Diwali gift” to India's con- sumers, the finance ministry later posted on X that the move would “enhance affordability, boost consumption, and make NHAI ROLLED OUT the FASTag annual pass on Friday, providing private vehicle owners a convenient way to avoid multiple toll payments on NHs & e-ways, reports Mukesh Jagota. It issued 140,000 such passes and collected `42 crore upfront till 7 pm. ■ PAGE 2 essentialandaspirationalgoods moreaccessibletoawiderpopulation”.The ministry added the proposed overhaul of the GST concerned would firm up the proposals in the coming weeks, so as to make it convenient for the GSTCouncilto meet in September-October (much before Diwali on October 20) to take thedecisions,thesourcesadded. Currently,GSThasafour-tier tax structure of 5%,12%,18% and28%(pluscess),besidesthe special rates for gold and gems. Essentialitemsincludingunprocessed food are exempt,while anumberofmassconsumption items are taxed at the lower tax bracket of 5%.Aclutch demerit and luxury items are taxed at 28% plus cess,with the actual tax incidence for some tobacco products beingas high as 88%. Continued on Page 5 ● Models to be ● Task force soon on ● Made-in-India chips next-gen reforms by end of this year unveiled on new global platform ● Self-reliant growth model is the focus SWARAJ BAGGONKAR Mumbai, August 15 STARTING2027,MAHINDRA& Mahindra (M&M) will roll out four new sports utility vehicles (SUVs) across petrol, diesel and electric powertrains on a new global platform. Nu.IQ,thenewplatform,will producesmall-sizedSUVs,complementingtherelativelybigger platform INGLO that the company had unveiled a few years ago. The new platform allows M&M to have more products in the sub-4 metercategory. Rajesh Jejurikar, executive director, M&M, said: “We can have an ICE (internal combus- INDIA IMPORTED 1.8 million barrels per day of Russian oil in the first 15 days ofAugust even as a 50% tariff by the US looms over the country, reports Arunima Bharadwaj. This is even higher than the purchase of 1.6 million barrels per day in the entire month of July. ■ PAGE 2 Day 1 of FASTag annual pass: NHAI collects `42 cr 8-10 12% 4 18% 70 28% 15-18 5% *All figures approximations Imports of Russian oil rise despite US tariff threat INDIAN E-WASTE RECYCLERS are looking to urban mining as a viable path to extract rare earths from discarded electronics and batteries, reports Urvi Malvania. ■ PAGE 4 under 40% tax would rest on three pillars— structural reforms, rate rationalisation and ease of living. Officialsourcessaidtheministryhassenta“holistic”proposal to a Group of Ministers on Rate Rationalisation,wherebythetax couldhavea5%meritrateanda standard levyof 18%.Besides,a small number (five to seven) “demerititems”couldbemoved toaspecialrateof40%,thehighest threshold allowed underthe currentGSTlaws. Therestructuringwouldalso leadtoremovalofthe‘compensation cess’by December,given cess proceeds to be collected by November would suffice to repaytheloanstakentobridgea shortfall in the relevant kitty. The GoM and other groups PM:Won’tacceptanypact Big & bold: M&M gears up to launch 4 SUVs againstfarmers’interests SEVERAL STATES INCLUDING Bihar, Telangana, Nagaland, Mizoram and Ladakh are likely to join the highly subsidised Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana from the next rabi crop season, sources said, reports Sandip Das. ■ PAGE 3 E-waste recyclers eye urban mining for rare earths ‘Sin and demerit’ goods to be brought The SUVs, to be rolled out in 2027, will be across petrol, diesel and electric powertrains tionengine)orabornEV(electric vehicle)fromthesamearchitecturewhich gives us huge fungibilitybythewayofmixofEVand ICE,becausetheplatformisgenerated upfront to meet the globalstandardofsafetyandcrash.” The firm is setting up 240,000unitsayearcapacityfor the four new products at the Chakan plant in Pune,pushing theeventualcapacityto760,000 unitsayear.“Wehave56,500per month on ICE and 8,000 on EV, of which 5,000 are operational and the rest will happen in the restoftheyear,”NalinikanthGollagunta,CEO-auto,M&M,said. Continued on Page 5 Trump set to meet Putin in ‘high stakes’Alaska summit Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with students during the 79th Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort on Friday FE BUREAU New Delhi, August 15 PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI on Fridayindicated that Indiawould not makeanyserious climbdown on its trade talkswith the US despite being faced with a 50% additional tariff, by asserting that the country would not accept any agreement that could harm its farmers, cattle rearers and fishermen. Modi said his government would “stand like a wall” against any policy detrimental to farmers’interest. Delivering his 12th Independence Day speech, Modi underscored the need to move faster on the path of selfreliance in aworld“where economic selfishness is rising”. The PM said India would need to manufacture everything— from fertilisers to jet engines NARENDRA MODI PRIME MINISTER Self-reliance is not limited to import-export, rupees, pounds or dollars but linked to our own strengths and capabilities »INSIDE« ‘Sudarshan Chakra’to shield India Scheme to create 35 mn jobs launched PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI announced a 10-year project to develop an indigenous defence shield to protect India’s vital military and civilian installations and deliver a decisive response in case of any enemy threat, reports PTI. ■ PAGE 2 PM NARENDRA MODI launched the employmentlinked scheme aimed at creating over 35 million jobs in the next two years, reports Manu Kaushik. Under the scheme, the Centre will provide `15,000 to every individualwho secures a job intheprivatesector.■ PAGE 2 EDIT: TOWARDS ATMANIRBHARTA PAGE 6 and EV batteries. The country is on its way to become selfreliant in newforms of energy, including solar, hydrogen and nuclear,he added. In the background of Oper- PTI ation Sindoor, he launched a new mission--‘Sudarshan Chakra’—to "expand, strengthen, and modernise" the country's defence systems. Inhislongest,103-minute- STEVE HOLLAND, ANDREW OSBORN & DARYA KORSUNSKAYA Aboard Air Force One/ Moscow, August 15 long I-Day speech, Modi also soundedcautionona“conspiracy to change the demographic makeup of the country”, and hinted at a drive to thwart it. US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMPheadedtoAlaskaonFriday for what he called a “high stakes” sum»INSIDE« mit with Russia’s Vladimir TARIFFS ON STEEL, CHIP Putin to disSOON:TRUMP cussaceasefire deal for UkPAGE 8 raine to help end the deadliest war in Europe sinceWorldWarTwo. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy, who was not invitedtothetalks,andhisEuropeanalliesfearTrumpmightsell outUkrainebyessentiallyfreezingtheconflictandrecognising, if only informally,Russian control overone fifth of Ukraine. Continued on Page 5 Continued on Page 8 ■ The two presidents are due to meet at a Cold War-era air force base in Alaska ■ Both seeking wins from first face-to-face talks since Trump returned to White House In I-Day message, Putin praises India’s ‘well-deserved authority’ RUSSIAN PRESIDENT Vladi- mir Putin praised India's "well-deserved authority" in global affairs, in his I-Day messages to President Droupadi Murmu and PM Narendra Modi, reports PTI. He also underlined Russia's commitment to strengthening the "special privileged strategic partnership" between the two nations. French President Emmanuel Macron and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu also extended their greetings. ● PRASOON JOSHI, CHAIRMAN, MCCANN WORLDGROUP, ASIA PACIFIC, AND CEO & CCO, MCCANN WORLDGROUP, INDIA ‘Creativity will live wherever data ends & daring begins’ From decoding rural idioms for Coca-Cola’s campaigns to advising brands on artificial intelligence’s role in the creative process,Prasoon Joshi has long beenattheintersectionofculture, commerceandcommunication. Joshi, who is chairman, McCann Worldgroup,AsiaPacific,and CEO & CCO, McCann Worldgroup, India, believes that authenticity remains a brand’s most valuable currency. In an interview,hetellsGeetikaSrivastava why human leap beyond data will continue to define creativity.Excerpts: Mark Zuckerberg’s AI vision foradvertisingleavesnoroom for the traditional creative agency.Yourtake. IbelieveAIsharpensratherthan diminishes human creativity. AI,afterall,isrootedin humanproduced data, our words, our images, our histories, our decisionsdistilledintomaterial. It feels transformative because it recombines the familiar with unprecedented speed and some polish.What sets human creativity apart is our ability to make irrational leaps—the instinctive break of pattern. This is something AI will find hard to replicate. AI can refinewhat is known, but it cannot reach into the “avyakt” — the unexpressed. That which is yet unsaid, the instinct to wander where there & are no paths, to hear what has notbeenheard.Creativityisnot atidyarrangement;itisrupture. Humans,uniquely,can disobey even their logic.That disobedience—theabilitytosurprisenot onlytheworldbutourselves—is theheartbeatofimagination.As machines master the obvious and tidy the familiar,they leave us free to explore what lies beyondpattern:theambiguous, the unformed, the unspoken. Creativitywilllivewhereverdata ends and daring begins. Where does ‘culture’ fit in in allthis? Cultures exist in different life stages—economically,socially and historically. Some are nascent, some maturing and others rooted in cen- turies-oldtraditions.Anuanced understanding of both the global brand as well as the local cultureiscrucial.Localcultureis not a constraint; it’s a source of depth.Thekeyliesinfindingthe culturalcuesthatletyourbrand resonate meaningfully. This approach widens the reach and connects the contours of the brandwith the consumer. For instance, in Coca Cola’s ❝ ‘Thanda’ campaign, I used the image of mangoes being dunked in a well—a rural method of cooling—to parallel CocaColabottlesbeingcooledin thesamemanner.Itwasaglobal brandspeakinginalocalidiom. It was relevant and confidently presented in a local context. Wheneachmarketfindswaysto express the brand through its own lexicon,symbols,and ritu- WHEN EACH MARKET FINDS WAYS TO EXPRESS THE BRAND THROUGH ITS OWN LEXICON, SYMBOLS AND RITUALS, ITS GLOBALVALUE GROWS ORGANICALLY als,itsglobalvaluegrowsorganically, not as an imposition but as a cultural co-creation. Thatwas2003/04.Withmedia consumption now scattered acrossmultipleplatforms,how has your approach to building abrandnarrativechanged? In the age of shorter attention spans, limitless content and multipletouchpoints,theriskof a fragmented narrative is real. The audience is no longer passive, it’s a collaborator. Hyperpersonalisation and moment marketingcanbepowerfultools and data can help maintain coherence. But here’s the challenge: Is the central narrative being worked upon and being strengthened? It’s very well to say,“Let’s craft a tune and then, CHENNAI/KOCHI like jazz, let each platform improvise and build. But even jazz has a deliberate chords sequence.New notes work only whenanchoredinasharedharmonicfoundation.Themultiple platformsandtechtoolsneedto accentuate the central brand voice and core message. So,even in the tactical‘here and now’, I try to be conscious of an overall brand image, to check if every execution reinforces the brand’s soul. Without a central brand custodian, the core can get opaque rather than amplified. The thread is emotional coherence—wherever audiences encounteryou, they should sense the same brand spirit. Continued on Page 5