NEWS POINT | PAGE 24 COMPANIES | PAGE 4 BigBasket bets on an execution specialist EFE | PAGE 9 Brar sees BMWdeliveries crossing 20,000 in India KOLKATA, THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2026 Sarvam's language moat could power India'sAI FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL 35 NO. 194, 34 PAGES, `12 (NORTH EAST STATES `12 & ANDAMAN `20) 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: 77,155.62 ▲ 347.14 NIFTY: 24,085.70 ▲ 96.65 NIKKEI 225: 69,902.25 ▲ 497.75 HANG SENG: 24,312.16 ▼ 181.79 `/$: 94.53 ▲ 0.03 `/€: 109.69 ▲ 0.01 BRENT: $80.05 ▲ $1.09 GOLD: `149,738 ▼ `454 IN THE NEWS COMPANIES PAGE 4 TELEGRAM'S DUROVTARGETS JIO, CITES RCOM TELEGRAM FOUNDER Pavel Durov accused Reliance Jio of disrupting access to the platform in the UAE, but the evidence he cited pointed to Reliance Communications, exposing a case of mistaken identity, reports Ashutosh Mishra. Bengal embraces Fasal Bima, Bihar may join soon WEST BENGAL, the biggest rice producing state, will join the highly subsidised - Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)from the current kharif season, amidst the prospects of below normal monsoon rains this season, reports Sandip Das. ■ PAGE 2 HDFC Bank lands tightest-ever dollar spread HDFC BANK SECURED the tightest-ever spread on its dollar bond issuance, aided by RBI measures to draw foreign capital.The move comes as banks seek cheaper overseas funding amid robust credit growth that continues to outpace deposit mobilisation, reports Bloomberg. ■ PAGE 7 LARGESTOFFER IN INDIA’S CAPITALMARKETHISTORY 10-yrwaitends:NSEfiles forIPO,mayraise`30Kcr FE BUREAU New Delhi, June 17 THE NATIONAL STOCK Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board ofIndia(Sebi),settinginmotion its long-awaited initial public offering (IPO). The IPO will comprise entirelyanOfferforSale(OFS)of up to 148.90 million equity shares with a face value of `1 each. State Bank of India (SBI), the largest selling shareholder, plans to offload 24.75 million shares. Overall, the shares on offerrepresent about 6% of the post-offer paid-up capi»INSIDE« tal,implying a NSE’S LONG ROAD TO IPO relatively limited free float. STARTING LINE According to people PAGE 7 familiar with thematter,the issueisexpectedtoraisearound `30,000 crore (based on prevailing unlisted market valuations),making it the largest IPO inIndia’scapitalmarkethistory. Besides SBI, the selling shareholders include Bank of India,MS Strategic (Mauritius) Ltd, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Aranda Investments (Mauritius),Bank of Baroda, Stock Holding Corporation of India, General Insurance Corporation of India,TheNewIndiaAssurance Company, National Insurance Company and United India Insurance Company. Continued on Page 16 SET FOR D-ST DEBUT (` cr) 2025 Total Income 2026 Growth (%, y-o-y) 19,177 18,713 49.24 41.62 2 EPS(`) Profit before tax from continuing operations 15,475 13,896 10 Profit after tax 12,188 10,302 15 Top five Issue size (` crore) Year ■ Up to 148.9 million shares will be sold by existing shareholders, LIC will not participate in the share sale Hyundai Motor India 27,859 2024 LIC ■ SBI is the largest seller, offloading 24.75 mn shares; shares offered account for roughly 6% of NSE's equity capital, implying a relatively small public float 20,557 2022 One 97 Comm 18,300 2021 Tata Capital 15,512 2025 Coal India 2010 ■ The exchange’s revenue from operations fell 3% in FY26 to `16,601 crore while the total income was down 2% at `18,713 crore CANADA PENSION PLAN Investment Board (CPPIB) on Tuesdayannounced a partnership with CtrlS Datacenters, committing up to `7,000 crore to scale its digital infrastructure footprint in the country. As part of the partnership, CPP Investments will invest `4,000 crore to acquire an 8.2% stake in CtrlS, which operatesadatacentreplatform with significant contracted capacity, long-term customer relationships, and a growing development pipeline. In addition, CPP Investments and CtrlS will form a joint venture to develop hyperscale data centre campuses across the country. CPP Investments has committed up to `3,000 crore for the joint venture and will hold 48% equity ownership, with CtrlS owning the remaining 52%. The partnership aims to speed up the development of next-generation data centre infrastructure to meet rising demand from hyperscalers, 15,199 As part of the partnership, CPP Investments will invest `4,000 cr to acquire an 8.2% stake in CtrlS ■ In addition, it will form a joint venture with CtrlS to develop hyperscale data centre campuses ■ Its India investments stand at `1.85 lakh cr as of end of March 31 cloud services,AI applications, and India’s rapidly expanding digital economy. Recently,AirTrunk, backed byBlackstoneandCPPIB,saidit wouldinvest$30billion(nearly `3 lakh crore) in the next three to four years to build 5 GW of data centres in India. Continued on Page 10 Waterrationingsetto hitrealtorsinMumbai RAGHAVENDRA KAMATH Mumbai, June 17 CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY IN Mumbai is likelyto come to a halt with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) suspending water supply to such sites in the city effective Wednesday. The BMC,one of the richest civic bodies in Asia, also said it will not sanction any fresh connections till further orders. BMC’s move is a result of reservoir levels declining 10.35% of their capacity as rains have been below par in June so far.The municipality also cut 20% of the watersupplytoindustrial, commercial and sports facilities. Water supply to all swimming pools has also been shut.A10% citywide water supply cut has been in place since May 15. Continued on Page 10 THE RESERVE BANK of India (RBI) on Wednesday temporarily removed interest-rate caps on select non-resident external (NRE) and Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Bank) [FCNR(B)] deposits, giving banks greater flexibility to attract overseas funds at a time when policymakers are seeking to strengthen foreign currency inflows and support external-sector stability. Under the revised framework, banks will be free to offer higher interest rates on fresh NRE deposits with maturities of three years and above. The RBI has also withdrawn the ceiling on interest rates for fresh FCNR(B) deposits with maturities of three to five years. The relaxation will remain in force until September 30 and will apply both to fresh deposits mobilised during the period FOREIGN CURRENCY SUPPORT ■ Under the revised framework, banks will be free to offer higher interest rates on fresh NRE deposits with maturities of three years and above ■ Banks were not allowed to offer interest rates on NRE deposits higher than those available on comparable domestic rupee term deposits ■ The move follows a broader package of measures announced by the RBI earlier this month to attract foreign currency and to eligible renewals upon maturity. Until now, banks were not permitted to offer interest rates on NRE deposits higher than those available on comparable domestic rupee term deposits. On FCNR(B) deposits, banks could offer a maximum rate equivalent to the overnight ■ The central bank has already announced that it would bear the full hedging cost on fresh FCNR(B) deposits of three to five years alternative reference rate or swap rate for the respective currency plus 350 basis points. With these restrictions now lifted, lenders are expected to compete aggressively for NRI deposits by offering more attractive returns. Continued on Page 10 PTI exchange in terms trades in cash equities and contracts traded in equity derivatives in FY26 Source: Prime Database Reliance Jio set to file for IPO this week URVI MALVANIA Mumbai, June 17 RELIANCE JIO PLATFORMS is expected to file draft papers for a roughly `38,000-crore initial public offering (IPO) with markets regulator Sebi within days, moving the largest telecom operator a step closer to what MANU KAUSHIK New Delhi, June 17 DATA CENTRE BET KSHIPRA PETKAR Mumbai, June 17 ■ NSE was the largest multi-asset class could become the country's biggest-ever stock market listing. According to a Financial Times report, the filing could come just ahead of Reliance Industries' annual general meeting on June 19, where investors will be watching for fresh commentary from Chairman Mukesh Ambani on the group's listing plans and the future of its digital businesses. While Reliance has not officially announced a timeline for the IPO, preparations for the offering are understood to be at an advanced stage. Continued on Page 10 CPPIB inks CtrlS Non-IITsleavetheirmark deal for`7K cr onQSuniversitylist2027 RAGHAVENDRA KAMATH Mumbai, June 17 RBI lifts rate caps on select NRI deposits INDIA'S IMPROVED PERFORMANCE in the global university rankings is no longer being driven by the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) but a broader set of public and private universities, shows the QS World University Rankings 2027,which hints at a broad-based progress rather than one concentrated with a select marquee institutes. The latest rankings feature 52 Indian varsities, up 271% from just 14 a decade ago,making India the world's fifth-most represented higher education system. Crucially, the ranking gains have not just been registered by a few elite engineering institutes. KNOWLEDGE HUB QS World University Rankings 2027 2027 2026 1 2 2 4 5 118 134 170 205 221 221 1 3 2 4 5 123 129 180 215 222 219 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Stanford University Imperial College London University of Oxford Harvard University IIT Delhi IIT Bombay IIT Madras IIT Kharagpur IIT Kanpur Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru Among the 18 domestic universities which achieved their highest-ever positions this year,13 are non-IIT institutions.In fact,the number of ranked non-IITs has jumped from only seven in 2017 to 43 now, the rankings show. Continued on Page 10 Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France on Wednesday India,US close to trade deal for a while:Trump MUKESH JAGOTA New Delhi, June 17 US PRESIDENT DONALD TrumponWednesdaysaidIndia and the US have been very close tofinalisingatradedealforsome time and that Prime Minister NarendraModihasbeenatough negotiatorontheagreement. “We have had some very good conversations with Prime Minister Modi. We are doing trade deals. A lot of things are happening between the US and India,” Trump told the media after his meeting with Modi on thesidelinesoftheG-7Summit atEvianinFrance. This was the first in-person meeting between Modi and »INSIDE« UK DEAL ROLLOUT ON JULY 15; EU FTA BYYEAR END PAGE 2 Trump following the May2025 India-Pakistan military conflict after the Pahalgam terrorist attack. To give final touches to the interim trade agreement and hold discussions on a wider BilateralTradeAgreement(BTA), US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will visit India nextweekfromJune23-24.The USTR visit follows the four-day talks held earlier this month between negotiators from both sides.TheUSsideinthetalkswas led byAssistant USTR Brendan Lynch. The interim trade deal is based on the framework agreement reached between the two sides in February that brought downadditionaldutiesonIndian products to 18% from 50% in returnforduty-freeaccessforits manufactured products in Indian markets.The agreement also talks of India buying $500 billion worth of goods from the USoverfiveyears. The interim agreement wouldbeasteppingstonetothe more comprehensive BTA that bothsideshadagreedoninFebruary2025. Continued on Page 16 ● HARI MENON, OUTGOING CEO, BIGBASKET ‘I want to build something in music in future’ After helping build BigBasket into India's largest online grocery platform and steering it through the rise of quick commerce, Hari Menon is stepping away from day-to-day operations. In an interview with S Shanthi, the cofounder reflects on the company's journey, the quick commerce boom, his role after stepping down as CEO and what comes next. Excerpts: When you started BigBasket in 2011, did you imagine it would become a multi-billion-dollar business? Grocery is a business that only works at scale. From day one,we knew we had to build a very large company. Whether it would become a multi-billion-dollar business was impossible to predict, but we always believed it could become a billion-dollar company.We got there much faster than we expected. What was the defining milestone in BigBasket's journey? The turning point came when we got the fundamentals right.We focused on four metrics: fill rates, on-time delivery, in-stock availability and freshness. By 2014,we had achieved our targets across all four. Fresh was the biggest challenge because we decided to build that capability from day one. Today, 93% of our fruits and vegetables come directly from farmers.We built a net- & be on scaling sustainably now is profitability.Average while preserving those order values have fallen strengths. while delivery expectations have become much more What should BigBasket's demanding.The business priorities be over the will continue to grow, »INSIDE« next few years? but companies that The most imporchase market share at THE LONG tant objective is profany cost will find it BET ON ONLINE itability. Scale is critdifficult to make GROCERY ical, but profitable money. PAGE 4 growth is even more important. If we can What would be your sustain healthy growth advice to Amit Nanda and while improving economthe new leadership team? ics, we will be in a very The fundamentals don't strong position. change. Customer trust remains the most important thing. Private labels are What role will you play going forward? a big strength for us and BigBasket is my baby. I am contribute roughly 30% of only stepping away from revenue. We have built strong capabilities in sourc- day-to-day operations. ing, supply chain and fresh products. The focus should Continued on Page 10 work of 40,000 farmers and over 100 collection centres. Once customers started trusting us on fresh produce, the business really took off. You have said BigBasket underestimated quick commerce.What did you learn from that? Quick commerce has become a habit.There is no going back.The challenge ❝ “BIG BASKET IS MY BABY. AMITWILL RUN THE COMPANY... BUT I'LL STAY INVOLVED FOR AS LONG AS NEEDED” Kolkata