BRANDWAGON, P9 COMPANIES, P4 INTERNATIONAL, P20 SPEEDING DOWN A NEW ROAD MANY PROJECTS ON TRACK REALTY CHECK Kia hopes to see a big boost from its leasing foray Majority of `17,000-crore Tata Steel capex to be spent in India: Narendran China mulls record fine for PwC over Evergrande audit MUMBAI, FRIDAY, MAY 31, 2024 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL LXIV NO. 129, 38 PAGES, `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 SENSEX: 73,885.60 ▼ 617.30 NIFTY: 22,488.65 ▼ 216.05 NIKKEI 225: 38,054.13 ▼ 502.74 HANG SENG: 18,230.19 ▼ 246.82 `/$: 83.32 ▲ 0.03 `/€: 90.08 ▲ 0.37 BRENT: $83.16 ▼ $0.44 GOLD: `71,751 ▼ `427 US ECONOMIC GROWTH REVISED LOWER FOR Q1 THE US ECONOMY grew more slowly in Q1 than previously estimated, reports Reuters. It grew at an 1.3% annualised rate, down from the advance estimate of 1.6% and much slower than 3.4% a year ago. ■ PAGE 20 PEAK POWER DEMAND HITS NEW HIGH OF 246 GW INDIA’S PEAK POWER demand hit a new high of 246.1 GW on Wednesday as the temperatures rose across states, reports Arunima Bharadwaj. ■ PAGE 3 RBI ISSUES FINAL GUIDELINES FOR FINTECH SRO THE RBI HAS released the final norms for fintech firms to create a self-regulatory organisation in order to enforce standards and foster transparency, reports Sachin Kumar. ■ PAGE 6 ONLINE TRADING: APPROVALTIME CUT TO SEVEN DAYS MARKETS REGULATOR SEBI has expedited the process of stock brokers getting approval from stock exchanges for internet-based trading to 7 days from the current 30 days, reports Akshata Gorde. ■ PAGE 6 WEWORK CAN NOW EXIT BANKRUPTCY, SLASH $4 BN IN DEBT A US BANKRUPTCY judge has approved WeWork's Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan, allowing it to eliminate $4 billion in deb, reports Reuters. ■ PAGE 20 EXPLAINER What ails India’s car exports? ■ PAGE 9 SACHIN KUMAR Mumbai, May 30 GAINING CURRENCY THE RESERVE BANK of India (RBI) will allow rupee accounts to be opened outside the country this year in what appears to be a move to promote the use of the Indian currency overseas.The central bank will allow lending in rupee by Indian banks to persons resident outside India. The central bank will also enable foreign direct investment and portfolio investment INSIDE through special Upside risks accounts,such as special non-resito headline CPI inflation dent rupee and special rupee ■ PAGE 2 vostro accounts, the RBI said in its annual reportreleasedThursday. Besides, it will promote the use of the rupee and other domestic currencies in theAsian Clearing Union (ACU) mechanism,” the RBI said.“As part of the RBI’s quest for enhancing the role of the rupee globally, and given the department’s (the department of external investments and operations) uniquepositioninassessingtheinternationaleconomicandmonetaryenvironment, it would work towards fur- ■ Non- ■ Forex norms residents may be allowed to open rupee accounts outside the country concerning rupee accounts for non-residents are being reviewed ■ Looking at rupee lending by domestic banks to nonresidents ■ May enable FDI and FPIvia special non-resident rupee and special rupeevostro accounts ther internationalisation of the INR,” the RBI’s annualreport said. With the objective of promoting bilateral trade in local currencies, the RBI in July2022,had permitted banks to open and maintain Special Rupee Vostro Accounts (SRVAs) for partner banks from othercountries. Continued on Page 10 Foreign income aided RBI’s record dividend PIYUSH SHUKLA Mumbai, May 30 HIGHEST-EVER PAYOUT ASHARP71% riseinincomefromforeign holdings boosted the Reserve BankofIndia’s(RBI’s)profitsforFY24, whichtogetherwithacutinprovisions enabled it to pay the government a record dividend of `2.1 trillion. The interest income from foreign sources, comprising mainly investments in bonds and deposits, jumped to `1.03 trillion, the central bank said in its annual report releasedonThursday. While the total income fortheyear increased by17.04% to `2.75 trillion, thetotalexpendituredeclinedby56% to `64,694 crore on the back of a big 67% drop in provisioning. Consequently,theRBI’snetincome rose141%to`2.11trillioninFY24,up from `87,416 crore in FY23.Contrary to expectations, the central bank’s gains of `83,616 crore from foreign exchange transactions were smaller thaninFY23.Interestincomefromforeign securities rose to `65,328 crore. Thecentralbankcuttransferstoits contingency fund by 67%, which added to the profits. A provision of `42,819.91crorewasmadeandtransferred to the ContingencyFund (CF) in FY24,sharplylowerthan`1.30trillion RBI surplus transferred to the central government (` crore) 175,988 FY19 FY20 FY21 57,128 99,122 FY22 30,307 FY23 87,416 Source: RBI INSIDE Value of bank frauds fall 47%, volume jumps 166% PAGE 6 ayearago.Thisisaspecificprovisionto help meet contingencies, including depreciationinvalueofsecurities,risks arisingoutofmonetary,exchangerate policy operations and systemic risks. The balance in the CF as on March 31, 2024,was `4.28 trillion. Continued on Page 10 IndiaAI makes it possible for Intel,AMD to take on Nvidia GLOBAL PLAYERS INTEL and AMD will have a level-playing field with market leader Nvidia for supplying graphics processing units (GPUs) underthe `10,372-croreAI mission. The ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) will follow the tender route to procure GPUs instead of any direct engagementwithNvidia,officialsourcessaid. Nvidia currently dominates the GPU marketwith an about 80% share.As a result, supplies from the company is comingwith a lag of several months. The details of the tender will be finalised once the new government takes charge next month.The development will come as a huge relief to Intel,AMD and others,who feel that any direct engagement with Nvidia will deprive them of the opportunity AI ON THE PRIZE ■ Intel,AMD, others not too keen on direct engagement with Nvidia `10,372 cr IndiaAI mission ■ Tender details to be finalised after the new govt takes charge ■ US-based Nvidia dominates the GPU market with about 80% share ■ GPU supplies from Nvidia comewith a lag of several months to participate in the programme. GPUs are essential for creating AI models as these require large-scale computing,which cannot be done by centralprocessingunits(CPUs).Under the IndiaAI mission, MeitY has set a target to make available at least 10,000 GPUs byMarch 2026. Given the price of high-end GPUs Top dividend paying companies in FY24 Dividend amount (` crore) 34.83 43.59 44.14 41.97 38.87 Dividend payout ratio (%) 34.74 Dividend paying cos TCS Infosys ITC NTPC WOULD SEEK to raise around “a billion dollars” — over `8,300 crore — at current exchange rate through the initial public offering (IPO) of itswhollyowned subsidiary NTPC Green Energy(NGEL),chairman and MD Gurdeep Singh told FE. The NGEL issue is scheduled to hit the market early in the second half of the current fiscal, Singh added.“Our balance sheet is very robust and healthy, and we can raise money easily. However, as a statedobjective,wewillgofor10% NGEL issue to start with, followed by 15% through an offer for sale,” Singh said, adding that the green arm is tipped to outgrow the parent. The OFS will enable NGEL to meet the regulatory requirement of minimum 25% public float. The IPO proceeds would be used for NGEL’s green and energy transition projects, including in 14,103 19,090 19,263 17,166 % change -37 35 -11 IOCL 4,236 16,945 1,120 1,078 1,090 1,132 1,147 955 1,036 1,142 1,151 1,009 Coal India FY15 FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 300 14,945 15,715 5 Source: Capitaline 42.5% in FY23 to 37.1% last year. That’s despite the fact that the net profits of this universe increased bya smart 21% to `6.55 trillion in FY24.Of course,in absolute terms, the amount paid out went up by 6% to `2.4 trillion. This sum is approximately 60% of the total dividend paid out to shareholders. TCS topped the charts for the thirdstraightyear,paying`26,412 crore,althoughthissumwas much smaller — down 37% — than in FY23. Infosys was at the second spot paying `19,094 crore, marking a 35.4% jump. NTPC Green IPO to fetch over `8,000 cr, says CMD ARUNIMA BHARADWAJ New Delhi, May 30 42,090 26,426 FY23 FY24 the areas of green hydrogen, energy storage technologies. Singh noted that because of the NTPC group's coal business, the green energy portfolio might not have been able to inspire sufficient investor confidence. GURDEEP SINGH, CHAIRMAN AND MD, NTPC WE WILL GO FOR 10% NGEL ISSUE TO STARTWITH, FOLLOWED BY 15% THROUGH AN OFS OUR GREEN ARM CAN BECOME BIGGER THAN THE PARENT IN THE LONG RUN But once the public float is in place,thevaluation of green business under NGEL would see an improvement. “Forthegreen(business),which is carbon-free, people are ready to pay a higher multiple. This will result in larger valuation and our green armcanbecome biggerthan NTPC in the long run,”he said. The CMD also allayed concerns that the parent stock might take a hit due to the green IPO, citing that its P/E ratio is half that of private peers, and the promise of carbon business. The share price of NTPC fell 1.26% to `360 apiece on Thursday. The stock corrected by3.96% in the past four days from its all-time high of `374.85 on May 24. Continued on Page 10 Other top dividend-paying firms included ITC (`17,166 crore), IOCL (`16,945 crore) and Coal India (`15,715 crore). However, dividend payments by Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta and Hindustan Zinc saw a sharp decline of 71% and 83%,respectively. At `100 cr, Oyo sees maiden profitable fiscal OYO HAS POSTED its maiden annual net profit of `100 crore for FY24, founder and group CEO, Ritesh Agarwal posted on X, reports feBureau.“Thiswasoureighthquarter of a positive Ebitda and we also have a cash balance of about `1,000 crore,” he said,adding that the numberswere provisional. ■ Page 4 Goafest 2024: FCB Group, Leo Burnett win big ATTHEDAYtwooftheAbbyAwards at Goafest,FCB GroupandLeoBurnetttookhomethetophonours, reports Christina Moniz. Leo BurnettwasnamedAgencyoftheYearin the Digital,Technology, Direct and Mobile Abbys,while FCB Group was named the Design and Public RelationsAgencyof theYear. ■ Page 22 210,874 FY24 GPUs TO BE PROCURED THROUGH TENDERS JATIN GROVER New Delhi, May 30 ALTHOUGH INDIA INC reported a good jump in profits forFY24,an increase of nearly 25%, the dividend payout ratio for companies that have announced results so far,at 34.83%,is the lowest in the last fiveyears.The somewhat conservative approach to rewarding shareholders is surprising at a time when business has been reasonably good. Only 1,009 companies — or less than half the numberof 2,832 companies that have declared their results — have paid out dividends to the tune of `4.04 trillion for FY24. The total net profit reported by these 1,009 companies is close to `12 trillion. In the previous year or FY23, a set of 1,151 companies had paid out a sum of `4.14 trillion as dividends. Even larger companies have been much less generous this time around. For 49 companies in the Nifty 50 basket, the dividend payout ratio fell fairly sharply from AT 5-YEAR LOW IN FY24 38.09 THE MET DEPARTMENT on Thursday announced onset of the southwest monsoon simultaneously over Kerala and parts of north-east India, a day earlier than the predicted, reports Sandip Das. ■ PAGE 2 KISHOR KADAM Mumbai, May 30 37.38 MONSOON ARRIVES A DAY EARLY IN KERALA & N-E RBI to boost use of rupee overseas India Inc’s dividend payout falls 34.83 NEWS EASE NORMS FOR NON-RESIDENTS 36.17 IN THE ■ They feel it may deprive them ofthe opportunity to participate in IndiaAI is in the range of `20-40 lakh a unit, estimatessuggestthatthesamecould cost the government around `4,000 crore. However, the government will firstconsulttheindustrybeforedecidingonthekindofGPUstobeprocured and then float the tender. Continued on Page 10 MARKETS CONTINUE TO REMAIN STRESSED FALLING FOR THE fifth day in a row, benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty tumbled nearly 1% each on Thursday. The markets remain pressured by weakness in global peers, while some investors trimmed positions ahead of the election results. Among sectors, the IT stocks fell 2.2%, seeing their worst intra-day percentage drop since April 16. Meanwhile, the government bond yields ended marginally loweras US Treasury yields eased slightly in the day. The benchmark 10-year yield ended at 6.9966%, following its previous close of 7.0129%. 74,502.90 Close, May 29 73,885.60 617.30 216.05 NIFTY points Close, May 30 0.95% points 0.83% Close, May 29 22,704.70 Close, May 30 SENSEX 22,488.65 10-yr govt bond yield (%) 7.03 7.02 7.02 6.99 7.01 7.00 6.99 Previous close: 7.013 6.98 Close Open NIRMALA SITHARAMAN, FINANCE MINISTER THE INDIAN STOCK MARKETWILL BE A SOLID BULLS MARKET AFTER THE LOK SABHA ELECTION RESULTS ARE DECLARED