POLITICS, P9 COMPANIES, P7 INTERNATIONAL, P3 Ahead of Haryana polls, Bajrang, Vinesh join Cong Satcom firms look to tap $19-bn unserved market Telegram CEO Durov hits out at ‘misguided’ arrest FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL 33 NO. 263, 36 PAGES, `12.00 (NORTH EAST STATES & ANDAMAN `13.00) P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E SENSEX: 81,183.93 ▼ 1,017.23 NIFTY: 24,852.15 ▼ 292.95 NIKKEI 225: 36,391.47 ▼ 265.62 HANG SENG*: 17,444.30 ▼ 13.04 `/$: 83.95 ▲ 0.03 `/€: 93.19 ▲ 0.09 BRENT: $72.20 ▼ $0.49 GOLD: `72,021 ▲ `431 VODA IDEA MARKET SHARE MAY FALL 3%: GOLDMAN SACHS THE RECENT FUNDRAISE by Vodafone Idea may to help the telco arrest its subscriber churn, reports Jatin Grover. This is because of lower capex spends compared to peers, based on which the telco could witness a fall in its market share by 3% over the next 3-4 years, according to a note by Goldman Sachs. ■ PAGE 7 LIQUIDITY WINDOW PROMISES EXIT FOR DEBT INVESTORS SEBI’S RECENT PROPOSAL to introduce a liquidity window is among measures undertaken to address the longstanding issue of liquidity in the corporate bond market, reports Akshata Gorde. The plan is designed to allow investors to sell debt securities back to the issuer at predetermined intervals through the stock exchange mechanism. ■ PAGE 8 FE S P E C I A L Minimalist,classic, electric,and a range of almost 500 km The MINI Countryman Electric is most affordable in its class, has good driving range, and is an eye candy. ■ MOTOBAHN, P11 ■ Crunching delivery timelines to under 30 minutes may not be ruled out cities by Oct-Nov is the near-term expansion target ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 100 cities by middle of 2025 Continued on Page 9 cities bythe middle of nextyear,sources in the knowsaid.AmailsenttoRelianceRetailelicited no response at the time of going to press. ButRelianceRetailisexpectedtoassessits performanceateverystageofthephasedrollout to understand consumer response to its new initiative under JioMart. Continued on Page 9 Top Sensex losers (%, Sept 6) HINDUSTAN UNILEVER (HUL),the country's largest consumer goods company, on Friday said that it was constituting a committee of independent directors to evaluate the way forward forits ice cream business.This comes six months after parent Unilever announced in March that itwas spinning off its $8.6-billion ice cream unit by the end of 2025. “After due consideration, the board has decided to constitute a committee of independent directorsofthe companytoevaluate in detail the prospects of the company’s ice cream business and to make recommendations to the board on the best way forward. The final decision will be made by the audit committee and the board,based on the independent committee’s advice,factoring in the interest of all stakeholders,”HUL said. Analysts say that the company may considerhiving off the ice cream business,much like its parent Unilever,given that the unit in India contributes just around 3% to topline. In FY24,HUL’s overall turnoverwas `59,575 crore. Ice cream is part of HUL’s food and refreshment segment, which contributed nearly26% to FY24topline at `15,292 crore. In March, Unilever had said that the ice creambusinesswasinherentlydifferentfrom other packaged food categories, including a cold-chain, go-to-market operating model, THE WAY FORWARD ■ Forms a committee of independent directors to evaluate the way forward ■ Its brands Kwality Wall's and Magnum are among the world's top-ten best sellers Source: BSE, NSE than doubled to `34,625 crore compared to FY23. Chandrasekaran’s Based on the company’s TATA SONS, THE principal salary jumps 20% performance, the directors investment holding comhave recommended a divipany of the Tata group,saw a to `135 crore dend of `35,000, which is 74% jump in the consoli- ■ PAGE 6 double the `17,500 paid in dated net profit to `49,000 FY23. If approved by the crore for FY24, helped by improvements company’s shareholders,it would involve in sectors like information technology, a cash outflow of `1,415 crore (from financial lending and airlines. `707 crore in FY23). The Mumbai-headquartered company The Tata group’s combined market saw its FY24 consolidated revenue rise to capitalisation at the end of FY24 was `4.77 lakh crore,an increase of 15% com- `30.37 lakh crore, an increase of 47% pared to FY23, data from Tata Sons 106th from `20.71 lakh crore a year ago, the annual report stated. report added. Profit for FY24 attributable to the shareholders of the company has more Continued on Page 9 INSIDE Air India more than halves its losses AIR INDIA HAS more than halved its net loss to `4,444 crore in FY24, buoyed by growth in capacity and improved occupancies of its flights, reports Swaraj Baggonkar.The fullservice carrier’s losses stood at `11,388 crore in FY23. While Air India’s standalone revenues forFY24 increased 24% to `38,812 crore from `31,377 crore posted in FY23, the improvement in consolidated revenue was even better. ■ Page 6 ■ May consider hiving off the icecream business, much like its parent Unilever ■ The ice-cream business contributes 3% to the overall turnover, say analysts seasonality and innovation rhythm, which demand attention of its own. The strategic intent to separate the ice cream business from the rest of Unilever’s business was intended to transform the company into a simpler, more focused and higher-performing company. Continued on Page 9 Cong claims Buch got `2.16-cr rent from firm under Sebi lens VIVEK KUMAR M Mumbai, September 6 IN A FRESH set of allegations, the Congress has claimed that Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch received `2.16 crore in rental income from a company that was under probe by the regulator in variousmatters,includinginsidertrading. The Congress said Buch rented out one of her properties to Carol Info Services, which is promoted by Wockhardt, in 2018. It alleges Buch received `7 lakh rent from the company in FY19, `36.5 lakh in FY20 and `46.05 lakh in FY24. “Buch is the chairperson of the same organisation (Sebi)which has complaints against Wockhardt before it.There was a case of insider trading too,” said Pawan Khera, a spokesperson of the Congress. “This is not just conflict of interest, this is out and out corruption,”he said. The party alleged that this violates FRESH ALLEGATIONS ■ Congress said Buch rented out one of her properties to Carol Info Services, which is promoted by Wockhardt, in 2018 ■ It alleges Buch received `7 lakh rent from the company in FY19, `36.5 lakh in FY20 and `46.05 lakh in FY24 section 4, 7 and 8 of the capital markets regulator’s 2008 code on conflict of interests for members of board. Shares of Wockhardt slipped 5% to `1,034.6 on Friday following the allegations by the Congress party. Sebi has issued 2 orders in matters relating to Wockhardt since 2023 and -2.04 Top Nifty losers (%, Sept 6) HUL sets ball rolling on ice cream hive-off VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO Mumbai, September 6 HCL Technologies NTPC ICICI Bank 26 27 28 29 30 02 03 04 05 06 Aug Sept BPCL 24,600 -2.14 -1.92 26 27 28 29 30 02 03 04 05 06 Aug Sept HCL Tech 80,250 Nifty 24,800 Tata Sons profit jumps 74% in FY24 SWARAJ BAGGONKAR Mumbai, September 6 ■ Unlikely to directly compete with players like Blinkit, Zepto and Instamart Sensex 81,000 -2.34 20-30 25,000 State Bank of India 2022: Picked up an over 25% stake in hyperlocal delivery firm Dunzo, but it hasn't performed ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 81,750 24,852.15 25,010.6 25,200 Reliance Industries RELIANCE RETAIL, THE country's largest organised retailer, has not given up on its qcommerce ambitions despite facing initial hiccups in the segment. The retailer, which has a network of nearly 19,000 stores in the country, has begun trial or pilot runs of 30minute deliveryservices underJioMart in key cities within states such as Maharashtra and Karnataka.Thisispartof alargergameplanto re-enterthe q-commerce orhyperlocal delivery services market,sources have told FE. If Reliance does get the model right,itwill be third-time lucky after previous two attempts in q-commerce were unsuccessful. In 2021, the retailer launched JioMart Express in Navi Mumbai, but discontinued the service in two years.In 2022,it picked up an over25% stake in hyperlocal deliveryfirm Dunzo, but that investment has gone nowhere as the latter has been struggling. CustomerswhoshoponJioMartforgrocery andfast-movingconsumergoods(FMCG)will now see order fulfilment happen from RelianceRetailstoresaswellaskiranapartners who are attached to JioMart’s merchant partnerprogramme,persons in the knowsaid. The plan is to steadily ramp up hyperlocal deliverycoveragetoabout20-30citiesbyOctober-November before taking it to about 100 stores in the country 82,500 -1.95 VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO & S SHANTHI Mumbai/Bengaluru, September 6 19,000 25,400 81,183.93 81,698.11 NTPC 2021: JioMart Express launched in Navi Mumbai, but discontinued in two years 83,250 -4.26 THE 54TH MEETING of the GST Council on Monday will have a heavy agenda, including an introductory discussion among the Union finance minister and the state finance ministers on how to go forward on the much-awaited plan to revamp the tax's slab structure, reports Prasanta Sahu. ■ PAGE 2 THE COMEBACK PLAN THE BENCHMARKINDICESrecordedtheir biggest single-day decline in a month on Fridayasinvestorstooksomemoneyoffthe tableaheadofthereleaseofcrucialjobsdata in the US.The Sensex slid 1,017 points or 1.2%to81,183.93 INSIDE and the Nifty slipTepid jobs data ped 293 points or 1.2% to settle at raises odds of 24,852.15. With 50 bps Fed cut this, the indices ended the week ■ PAGE 3 with around 1.5% losses, snapping a three-weekwinning streak. “The overheated segments of the markets have seen some profit-booking and may be an indicator that earnings would incrementally dictate price movements,” said Joseph Thomas, head of research at EmkayWealth Management. -2.08 GST COUNCILTO DISCUSS REJIG OF SLABS ON MONDAY Rolled out in 6-8 key cities under JioMart BIGGEST SINGLE-DAY FALL IN A MONTH ICICI Bank THE SUPREME COURT on Friday sought responses from ICICI Bank's former MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar on a plea filed against the Bombay High Court order declaring their arrest as "illegal", reports PTI. ■ PAGE 8 VIVEK KUMAR M Mumbai, September 6 -2.09 LOAN FRAUD CASE: SC SENDS NOTICE TO CHANDA KOCHHAR Reliance looking to get third time lucky in q-comm Markets snap 3-week rally State Bank of India NEWS 30-MINUTE DELIVERY PILOTS ON -4.40 IN THE *Prv close -2.05 KOLKATA, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2024 ■ This violates sections of Sebi’s 2008 code on conflict of interests for members of board, claims Congress ■ Sebi has issued two orders in matters relating toWockhardt since 2023 and has also made settlements in two cases has also made settlements in 2 cases. “How much more evidence is needed to show the collapse of transparency and integrity, as far as the regulator of capital markets is concerned?” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X. Continued on Page 9 Kolkata