WITH TODAY’S EDITION Meet the country's financial sector leaders as they talk about the future of India's lending landscape, in a special magazine COMPANIES, P4 ASSOCIATE PARTNER PRESENTS GE KNOWLED PARTNER INTERNATIONAL, P7 ‘VARIOUS OPTIONS’ ON THE TABLE READ TO LEAD MARCH 2024 SEEKING STABLE BILATERAL TIES HUL bucks global trends of separating businesses for growth US CEOs should invest in China, economy hasn’t peaked, says Xi NEW DELHI, THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2024 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM VOL. L NO. 22, 24 PAGES, `12.00 (PATNA & RAIPUR `12.00) 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 READ TO LEAD SENSEX: 72, 996.31 ▲ 526.01 NIFTY: 22,123.65 ▲ 118.95 NIKKEI 225: 40,762.73 ▲ 364.70 HANG SENG: 16392.84 ▼ 225.48 `/$: 83.38 ▼ 0.09 `/€: 90.28 ▲ 0.13 BRENT: $85.83 ▼ $0.42 GOLD: `66,501 ▲ `62 MOST BROKERAGES OPT FOR WAIT-AND-WATCH POLICY T+0 kicks off with 25 scrips VIVEK KUMAR M Mumbai, March 27 WITH INDIA LAUNCHING the beta version of the T+0 cycle for 25 stocks, including 10 Nifty stocks from Thursday, it will become the second country in the world after China to do same-day settlement. Currently,the optional T+0 settlement will run parallel to the existing T+1 settlement cycle. While the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch has been talking about it since last June,it would be interesting to see how the new system functions. The markets regulator will review the progress at the end of three months and six months,and TRADING DAY Top firms for T+0 (market cap, ` cr) SBI 655,111 ONGC 329,415 Bajaj Auto 259,715 Nestle India 247,538 JSW Steel ■ The price in the T+0 The market timing for trading in this settlement cycle will be segment will operate with a band of plus or minus 100 basis points from the price in regular T+1 market 9.15 am to 01.30 pm ■ India will become the second country in the world after China to do same-day settlement 199,989 Source: NSE, BSE decide on the next course of action. The stock exchanges have given out the list of 25 stocks. Amid big names included in the list are State Bank of India,Ambuja Cements, Hindalco, ONGC and Bajaj Auto. However, investors seeking to participate in the T+0 process may find it difficult to do so as many brokerages are following a wait- and-watch policy. FE spoke to a few brokers who were quite unsure about the process either. Continued on Page 15 Rupee nears all-time closing low; RBI steps in GLOBAL TREND ■ The rupee fell to 83.45 against the dollar – lower than the alltime closing low of 83.43 but closed at 83.38 per dollar RUPEE vs DOLLAR Intra-day, Mar 27 83.25 83.30 83.33 83.35 ■ The rupee followed global trend as nine out of 12 Asian currencies 83.40 Previous depreciated against close the dollar. It has fallen 83.29 0.20% YTD – the 83.45 second lowest in Asia Open (Inverted scale) « “RBI stepped in today by selling dollars to reduce sharp volatility in rupee. The central bank intervenTHE RUPEE FELL to 83.45 against tion was on expected lines because the dollar on Wednesday – lower while it has stated that it does not than the all-time closing low of target any level, but it aims to curb 83.43 on March 22 – as the year- sharp volatility,” said Kunal Sodend demand from importers cre- hani,vice-president-treasury,Shinated a shortage of the greenback. han Bank. However,it closed 83.38 per dollar, He added that the central bank reflecting a fall of 9 paise. has been absorbing inflows coming According to currency from both debt and equity INSIDE traders,the sharp fall durwhich is visible from all ing the day forced the Yen falls to time high forex reserves Reserve Bank of India 34-year low data. (RBI) to step in to stem ■ PAGE 7 the fall. Continued on Page 15 SACHIN KUMAR Mumbai, March 27 0.11% 83.38 Close Baba Kalyani’s firm says suit aims to tarnish his image FE BUREAU Pune, March 27 BHARAT FORGE IN a statement released onTuesdaysaid the allegations made by Baba Kalyani’s nephew, Sameer Hiremath and niece Pallavi Anish Swadi, in a suit filed at a Pune sessions court were false and baseless. “The claims by the petitioners have been made with the intent to malign the image of Baba Kalyani,his family and the Group. We categorically deny these allegations and state that the aversions made are factually incorrect and baseless," the company spokesperson said. The spokesperson also said they have not been served the suit yet and will take action once it is done. "As and when the suit is served on us, we will defend our position before the court of law, including initiatingappropriatecivil/criminal defamation proceedings for tarnishingthe imageofMrKalyani,his family and the Group,” the spokesperson said. The statement was in response to the suit filed on March 20 by SameerHiremath and PallaviAnish SwadiforpartitionofKalyani'sfamily assets.The assets include shares of several listed and private limited companies under the Kalyani Group. Continued on Page 15 AI may narrow loss to `7,000 crore in 2nd yr under Tata Carrier’s FY23 loss was at `11,381 cr ROHITVAID New Delhi, March 27 TATA GROUP-OWNED AIR India is likely to narrow its losses in FY24 to around `7,000 crore. This would imply a 38.49% reduction in losseswhichhadtouched`11,381 crore in FY23. According to sources, healthy growth in passenger traffic boosted revenues during the year,while costsavingmeasuressuchasautomation loweredtheexpenses. The fiscal year 2023 was the first full financial year when the airline functioned under the Tata Group, which acquired it in January 2022. TheFY23lossesat`11,381crorewas 18.6% higher than the previous fiscal,when the losses stood at `9,591 crore after accounting forwrite-offs andexceptionalitems. The revenues from operations doubled to `31,377 crore in FY23 from`16,763croreinFY22. AirIndia’sCEO,CampbellWilson, in a message to its employees last week,said,“Like all airlines,we have enjoyed good tailwinds with healthy demand and yields since Covid abated,and ourtopline performance hasbeenverycreditableacrossallrev- New Delhi HINT OF A TURNAROUND ■ The revenues from operations doubled to `31,377 cr in FY23 from `16,763 cr in FY22 ■ Tata Group acquired Air India in January 2022 with a winning bid of `18,000 crore, surpassing the `12,906 crore reserve price CAMPBELLWILSON, CEO, Air India LIKE ALL AIRLINES, WE HAVE ENJOYED GOOD TAILWINDS WITH HEALTHY DEMAND AND YIELDS SINCE COVID ABATED enuesegments”. Tata Group acquired Air India in January 2022 with a winning bid of `18,000 crore, surpassing the `12,906 crore reserve price.The airline's significant debt of `61,562 crore as of August 31, 2021, was divided, with Tata taking `15,300 crore,and the remaindertransferred to AI Asset Holding, amounting to around`46,000crore.