BENGALURU, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2026 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XXXIX 168, 30 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: 75,692.78 ▲ 1,233.25 NIFTY: 23,440.80 ▲ 387.70 NIKKEI 225: 63,081.86 ▼ 208.25 HANG SENG: 23,393.32 ▲ 98.90 `/$: 94.90 ▲ 0.06 `/€: 106.46 ▼ 0.13 BRENT: $108.89 ▼ $4.54 GOLD: `1,36,907 ▼ `2,923 ANISH SHAH, Group CEO & MD, Mahindra Group PARTH JINDAL, MD, JSW Cement & JSW Paints VIVEK RAGHAVAN, Co-founder, Sarvam AI NAGA BHARATH DAKA, Co-founder, Skyroot Aerospace OUR CULTURE BRINGS TOGETHER A FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT WITH A FOCUS ON PERFORMANCE. PURPOSE COMES FIRST, & PROFITS FOLLOW I HAVE NO DOUBT INDIA WILL BE A `10-LAKH-CRORE, `20-LAKH-CRORE ECONOMY IN MY LIFETIME WE TOOK THE RISK TO BUILD TECHNOLOGY IN THE COUNTRY AND FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT INDIA CAN BUILD FULL STACK AI WHEN WE STARTED OUT THERE WAS NO POLICY FOR THE SPACE SECTOR. BY SIMPLY UNLOCKING THE SPACE SECTOR, OPPORTUNITIES HAVE BEEN UNLEASHED FE LEADERSHIP AWARDS FMweighscaseforforeigncapitalinBudget SITHARAMANSAYSTATAGROUPSHOULDSETTLEDISPUTEAMICABLY,HIGHLIGHTSPARSICOMMUNITY’SCONTRIBUTIONTOBUILDINGAGLOBALCONGLOMERATE FE BUREAU Mumbai, November 2 FINANCEMINISTERNIRMALA Sitharaman on Monday acknowledged growing concerns among retail investors and equity market participants over the performance of Indianstocks,stretchedvaluations and the capital gains tax regime, saying the governmentwouldconsidertheirrepresentations ahead of the next Union Budget. Her remarks come amid sustained foreign portfolio investor (FPI) outflows and mounting calls for a review of long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax on equities. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN, FINANCE MINISTER I realise the sensitivity and anxiety prevailing among retail investors, especially equity participants, while not being biased either way… The stakeholders are voicing their concerns louder. I will consider all this Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, The Indian Express Group Executive Director Anant Goenka, and winners of the inaugural FE Leadership Awards, in Mumbai on Monday SANKHADEEP BANERJEE In a conversation with Financial Express Editor Shyamal Majumdar at the FE Leadership Awards 2026, Sitharaman said she recognised the anxiety among investors andwould heartheir concerns before deciding on possible policy interventions. However, she cautioned against viewing tax concessions as the primary driver of capitalmarketperformance.“I realisethesensitivityandanxiety prevailing among retail investors, especially equity participants, while not being biased eitherway,”she said. Pointingoutthatthecapital gains tax structure had remainedunchangedin202324,when India also witnessed strong foreign portfolio inflows, she said markets ultimatelydependedoneconomic fundamentals rather than tax incentives. However, she remained paramount, the minister said, stressing that India needed capital to maintain its growth trajectory. While policy attention in recent years had focused on deepening the country’s underdeveloped corporate bond market, she acknowledgedthatequitymarketsalso needed support.“Equity marketalsoneedssupport,Irecognise that voice,”she said. Continued on Page 10 NARENDRAVASKAR (Close) (Cl e) ) Sensex (intra-day, Nov 2, 202 2026) 026) KISHOR KADAM Mumbai, November 2 1.66% 74,459.53 (Previous close) Net equity investments (in ` crore) FPIs DIIs Nov 2 Oct 30 Oct 29 Oct 28 Oct 27 -964 2,610 10,584 -1,250 2,124 643 -803 1,924 4,458 -818 3,115 -392 2.37 NTPC (% gain) (Nov 2, 2026) Oct 26 Top Sensex gainers 2.71 RELIANCE INDUSTRIES POWEREDtheSensexpastthe 75,000 mark on Monday,as its stronger-than-expected quarterlyearningssentsharessoaring nearly 12%. A sharp $10per-barrel decline in crude oil prices added fuel to the rally, helping benchmark indices extend theirwinning streak to a third consecutive session. The Sensex surged 1,233.25 points, or 1.66%, to close at 75,692.78. The Nifty jumped 387.70 points, or 1.68%, to settle at 23,440.80, its biggest gain since June 12. Thegainsmarkedastrongstart toNovember,withbothindices rising more than 3% over the past three trading sessions. Reliance Industries (RIL) soared 11.64% to `1,299 on the BSE, its biggest single-day SBI DESPITE TWO YEARS of market volatility and lacklustre returns, individual investors have strengthened their grip on the mutual fund industry, with their share of total assets climbing to 64% in September, the highest since July 2024, reports Kushan Shah. ■ PAGE 6 fuel optimism; investorwealth grows `7.96L cr 75,692.78 WINNING RUN EXTENDS 2.75 Retail investors tighten grip on MF assets ● Lower oil prices 5.64 PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA Modi on Monday said India's investments in clean energy over the past decade had helped the country avert a severe energy crisis amid the conflict in West Asia, reports Saurav Anand. 11.64 RE INVESTMENTS SHIELDED INDIA DURING WAR: PM Reliance jumps 12%, powers market rally Tata Steel UltraTech Cement PAGE 3 Reliance Industries IN THE NEWS ECONOMY acknowledgedthatthecircumstances had since changed, withsustainednetFPIoutflows adding to investor concerns. “The stakeholders are voicing their concerns louder. I will considerall this,”she said. Sustaining economic growth at 7% or above »INSIDE« DAILY F&O TURNOVER BONDS LOG BEST DAY JUMPS 24% IN OCT P6 gain since April 7, 2020, after the oil-to-telecom conglomerate posted a 40.6% year-onyear jump in net profit and 29% growth in revenue forthe SINCE EARLYAPRIL P6 September quarter. The surge addedarecord`1.83lakhcrore to its market capitalisation. Continued on Page 6 LAWYER DECLINES REAPPOINTMENTAFTERTERM ENDS NEXTWEEK KhambatasettoleaveTataTrusts URVI MALVANIA Mumbai, November 2 SENIORADVOCATE DARIUS J KhambataonMondaydeclined reappointment as a trustee of both the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT) and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT),citing the need to preservehisindependenceand expressing concerns over the futureoftheTataGroup’sownership model. In a letterTata Trusts ChairmanNoelTataandChiefExecutive Officer Siddharth Sharma, Khambatasaidhewasunwilling to seek the consent of fellow trustees for his reappointment, asrequiredunderthelaw.FEhas reviewed a copyof the letter. Khambata joined the boards DARIUS J KHAMBATA, TRUSTEE, SRTT & SDTT The sad events of 17 September 2026, a day that will live in infamy, have sullied Tata Sons’ reputation of the two key Tata trusts in November 2023.This is his secondstintasatrusteeofSRTTand SDTT. FE had first reported in JulythatKhambatawaslikelyto step away from the trusts once his tenure ended in November. Following his departure, SRTT will be left with four trustees — Noel Tata,JimmyTata,Jehangir HC Jehangir, and Venu Srinivasan. Barring Srinivasan, whose term ends in December thisyear,allthreetrusteeshave trusteeship in perpetuity. Khambata said he had accepted the two trustee positionsattheinvitationofthelate Ratan Tata and bore no ill will towards fellow trustees.While acknowledging that Noel Tata and Sharma had expressed a wishforhimtocontinue,hesaid his positions had at times differed from those of other trustees,including NoelTata. “ThatistheoldTataway.Yet in law even a trustee’s reappointment requires the agreement of all othertrustees.That is a consent that it is not in my character to seek as it would compromise my independence to do so,”he wrote. Khambata also reiterated his opposition to listing Tata Sons, arguing that it would threaten the relationship between the holding company and the charitable trusts. Continued on Page 3 BENGALURU