INTERNATIONAL, P3 COMPANIES, P4 INTERNATIONAL, P3 DEATH TOLL SINCE OUSTER AT OVER 230 LAUNCHES FIVE-DOOR THAR ROXX TOUGHER RULES FOR X LIKELY Bangladesh may ask India to extradite Sheikh Hasina M&M to replicate its pricing prowess in electric vehicles Musk’s free speech mantra collides with curbs on hate speech MUMBAI, FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 2024 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL LXIV NO. 195, 12 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 Navi Mumbai airport: 51% pledged to SBI IN THE NEWS INDIA SOON TO BE TOP MEDICINE EXPORTER TO US INDIA’S PHARMAAND medical device industry is expanding its footprint in the key markets of US, UK and Italy, reports Mukesh Jagota.In 2023, India was the only one among top 3 suppliers who expanded their market share in the US. Now, it is close to being the top exporter of medicines put up for retail sales in the US. ■ PAGE 2 MIAL promises stake in lieu of a `12,770-cr facility SWARAJ BAGGONKAR Mumbai, August 15 SBI, PNB IN TALKS WITH KARNATAKA FOR RESOLUTION HIT BY THE surprising decision by the Karnataka government to stop all transactions with them, State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank on Thursday said they are engaged with the state for an "amicable resolution" on the matter, reports Sachin Kumar. ■ PAGE 5 GOVTWORKING ON NEW NORMS FOR EV COMPONENTS THE CENTRE HAS started working on a new phased manufacturing programme, which will increase the share of India-made components in EVs, reports Rohit Vaid. The norms are for the manufacturers under the proposed FAME-III subsidy scheme, which is likely to be launched later this year. ■ PAGE 2 HZL PLANS SPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT OF `8,000 CRORE HINDUSTAN ZINC’S BOARD may meet on Tuesday to consider a special dividend payout of `8,000 crore to the shareholders in FY25, reports PTI. Around `2,400 crore may go to the Centre contributing to its non-tax revenues. ■ PAGE 4 2,000 HOUSING PROJECTS STALLED ACROSS 42 CITIES NEARLY 2,000 HOUSING projects comprising 508,000 units are stalled across 42 cities, mainly due to financial mismanagement by developers and lack of execution capabilities, according to PropEquity, reports PTI. As many as 1,636 projects totalling 431,946 units are in 14 tier I cities. ■ PAGE 12 FE S P E C I A L S Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Red Fort on the 78th Independence Day, in New Delhi on Thursday MAJOR ECONOMIC, GOVERNANCE REFORMS ON THE ANVIL: MODI PM to states: Form clear, investor-friendly policies FE BUREAU New Delhi, August 15 Asad Ayaz, chief brand officer, The Walt Disney Company ■ BRANDWAGON, P9 How penalties can help tackle call drops Despite the reservations of telcos, Trai has ruled out any rethinking on the notified QoS norms ■ EXPLAINER, P9 INSIDE THE GOVERNMENT IS committed to major reforms to make India a developed nation by 2047, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday during his Independent Day address to thenation,whileurgingthestategovernmentsto “establish clear policies to attract investors as the world is scouting opportunities in the country”. In a 98-minute speech, his longest I-Day address so far,Modi outlined the country's commitment to becoming a global leader in semiconductor production, industrial manufacturing,gaming market and product designs. He also made the case fora“secularcivil code” PM says internship to help youth in capacity building PAGE 2 Modi’s UCC pitch: It’s time for a secular civil code PAGE 2 and strongly advocated “one nation, one election”, reflecting the key promises of the ruling coalition led by Bharatiya Janata Party. “I have observed this after the elections, and the majority of people requesting to meet with me in my third term are investors. These are global investorswhowant to come to Bharat and invest here,” Modi said. “If policies need to be changed,states should adapt them according to global requirements. If land is required, states shouldcreatealandbank.Themoreproactivethe states are in working towards good governance witha single-pointfocusandmake effortsin this regard, the more likely it is that these investors will stay for the long term,the PM said. He added that if policies need to be changed, the states should adapt them according to the global requirements.“Everystate should engage in healthy competition. This will bring investment to their states, providing local youth with opportunities and creating jobs,”he said. Continued on Page 6 With Roadster, Ola plans to charge up e-bike space PADMINI DHRUVARAJ Krishnagiri, August 15 OLA ELECTRIC, THE country’s largest manufacturer of electric scooters,on Thursday entered the ebike space with the launch of the Roadster Series.The Series includes three distinct models with multiple sub-variants — the Roadster X,Roadster and Roadster Pro, priced at `74,999,`1,04,999and`1,99,999, respectively. Ola Electric has positioned these motorcycles to cater to different segments of the market, offering a blend of performance, technologyand affordability. Justlikeitse-scooters,Olaislooking at being avolume playerin the ebike space and attain market leadership position. While the e-scooter spacehasafullydevelopedecosystem with several players and sales dominating the charts,there are very few players in the e-bike category,which needstodeveloptocompetewiththe internal combustion engine peers. Continued on Page 6 ‘Can’t miss opportunity in animation’ PTI ELECTRIC AMBITION ■ While Roadster X is priced at `74,999, the Roadsterwill cost `1,04,999; deliveries begin fromJan 2025 Tata Steel’s Port Talbot workers to get UK grant ■ Deliveries ofthe Roadster Pro, priced at `1,99,999, from Diwali 2025 DISHA MISHRA Bengaluru, August 15 THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT will grant $17.31 million in funding to support Tata Steel’s workers and supplychain businesses at PortTalbot in SouthWales facing job losses, the government said on Thursday. Workerssuspendedaplannedallout strike after Tata Steel warned it would bring forward the planned closure of its two blast furnaces at Port Talbot if the walkouts happen. The closure would cut up to 2,800 jobs.“NegotiationswithTataSteelon the future of the site will continue separately.But this governmentwill not wait for a crisis to overtake us before acting,” Welsh secretary Jo Stevens said in a statement. The closures were announced in January as part of Tata Steel’s plan to turn around its loss-making UK unit by switching to lower carbon electric arc furnaces,backed by $632 million ofgovernmentmoney. — REUTERS ■ Roadster Pro is the most powerful and also the flagship model Krutrim to launch India’s first chip by 2026 KRUTRIM,THE ARTIFICIAL intelligence (AI) startup launched by Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal in December last year, on Thursday said the firm will design, build and launchitsfirstchipby2026,reports Padmini Dhruvaraj.The company also announced the country’s first family of AI chips, named Bodhi for AI, Sarv for general compute and Ojas for edge.Additionally,Krutrim has formed strategic partnerships withglobalsegmentgiantsArmand UntetherAI. ■ Page 4 ADANI GROUP-CONTROLLED MUMBAI International Airport (MIAL) has pledged a 51% stake in theupcomingNavi Mumbaiairport to State Bank of India (SBI) in relation to a credit facility aggregating `12,770 crore sanctioned by the lender to the project. MIAL holds 74% of the total paid-up equityshare capital of Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIAL). The greenfield airport is set to start operations in the March quarterof FY25,claimAdani Enterprises officials,aftera delayof three months from its previously announced opening date. In March 2022,theAdani group had declared financial closure for NMIAL after SBI agreed to underwritetheentiredebtrequirementof `12,770 crore for the project. The 51% pledged stake held by SBI is one of the largest in the airport businesses in India. NMIAL had previously entered into a financing arrangement for `8,645 crorewithYes Bank to meet part of the cost of design, development, financing, construction, operations and maintenance of Phase I of the Navi Mumbai airport ON THE RUNWAY ■ MIALholds ■ In March ■ The greenfield ■ This was 74% ofthe total paid-up equity share capital of Navi Mumbai International Airport airport is set to start operations in the March quarter ofFY25 after a delay of three months 2022, Adani group declared financial closure for NMIAL after SBI agreed to underwrite the entire debt requirement ■ MIAL's pledged stake to SBI is one ofthe largest in the airport businesses in India project.Subsequently,YesBankcancelled the facility unilaterally. Following the completion of all phases,Navi Mumbai airportwould be able to handle 90 million passengers and 2.6 million tonne of cargo per annum by 2031-32. The first phasewill see the initial capacity set at 20 million passengers. Continued on Page 7 NSE market cap tops `3.2 lakh cr VIVEK KUMAR M Mumbai, August 15 THE NSE STOCK, one of the mosttraded counters in the unlisted space, has hit a record high of `6,500 and its market capitalisation topped `3.2 lakh crore in July, continuing the record run post the Covid pandemic. Compared to other listed exchanges,NSE’s market capwould bethesixth-largest intheworld and the largest in Asia. Ifonetakestheweightedaverage price of NSE, it has jumped 54% in thelastoneyearto`4,453.93inJuly, outperforming the benchmarks — Nifty 50 and Sensex — by a wide margin as they have risen around 23% each in the same period. The surge in NSE’s stock price has been fuelled by a rise in the number of people flocking to equities as the continued bull run in the last four years has popularised it as saving- and money-making financial assets. Thepaceofgrowthisreflectedin the skyrocketing numberof unique investors: Since March 2021, NSE has added an average of 10 million unique investors on its platform every 6-7 months. The exchange RECORD RUN NSE share price (`) (Unlisted market) 7,000 6,500 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 3,650 2,000 Jan 2022 July 2024 now has over 100 million unique investors as of August 8. “The investor base has seen more than 3x jump in the last five years,facilitated byrapid growth in digitisation, rising investor awareness, financial inclusion and sustained market performance,” the NSE had said in a press release. Continued on Page 7 TO OFFER A TWIST ON HOME DEVICES LIKE AMAZON’S ECHO AND META’S PORTAL Apple pushes ahead with tabletop robot for new revenue MARK GURMAN August 15 APPLE, SEEKING NEW sources of revenue, is moving forward with development of a pricey tabletop homedevicethatcombinesaniPadlike displaywith a robotic limb. The company now has a team of several hundred people working on the device,which uses a thin robotic arm to move around a large screen, accordingtopeoplewithknowledge of the matter. The product, which relies on actuators to tilt the display up and down and make it spin 360 degrees,wouldofferatwistonhome products like Amazon’s Echo Show 10 and Meta’s discontinued Portal. The media could not be loaded, either because the server or network NEXT IN LINE ■ The iPhone maker has had trouble cracking the market for smart-home devices The pricey tabletop home device will combine an iPad-like display with a robotic limb ■ ■ It is seeking new growth opportunities after ending efforts to develop a self-driving car earlier this year ■ Its HomePod speakers haven’t sold as well as models from Amazon and Google failed or because the format is not supported.The device is envisioned as a smart home command centre, videoconferencing machine and remote-controlled home security The shift into robotics is part of a broader effort to boost sales and capitalise on Apple Intelligence ■ tool,saidthepeople,whoaskednotto be identified. The project — codenamed J595 — was approved by Apple’s executive team in 2022 but has started to formally ramp up in recent months,theysaid. Theshiftintoroboticsispartofa broaderefforttoboostsalesandcapitalise on Apple Intelligence, a suite of artificial intelligence technology that’s coming to the iPhone, iPad andMacthisyear.Thecompanyalso isseekingnewgrowthopportunities afterendingeffortstodevelopaselfdriving car earlier this year. A spokesperson for Apple declined to comment. Apple’s industrial design team has been exploring tabletop robotic concepts foryears,but there wasn’t consensus within the company — including the software engineering organisation and marketing teams — overwhether to move forward. Apple’smarketinggroupwasconcerned that consumers wouldn’t be willing to payforsuch a product.Top software engineering executives, meanwhile,frettedaboutthestaffing resourcesitwouldrequiretobuildthe necessary software. But CEO Tim Cook is seen as a proponent of the device — as is John Ternus,the company’sheadofhardwareengineering. Apple has now decided to prioritise the device’s development and is aimingforadebutasearlyas2026or 2027, according to the people.The company is looking to get the price down to around $1,000. But with yearstogobeforeanexpectedrelease, theplanscouldtheoreticallychange. In a sign of support, Apple has made the project the sole responsibilityofKevinLynch,aveteranexecutive.He serves as vice president of technology and oversaw the selfdriving car and, until recently, Apple’s smartwatch and health software engineering efforts. Continued on Page 6