OPINION, P10 WELL BEING Many advancements have been made in cosmetic dentistry that focus on improving the appearance of your teeth. Know how to choose the right treatment as well as the risks involved Page 7 Breaking news MIND & GAMES Brazil is proposing fund that would generate returns too Page 11 An idea that could pay to protect trees FOR THAT MILLION-DOLLAR SMILE ACROSS THE AISLE, P CHIDAMBARAM LEISURE Follow us on Twitter & Facebook. App available on App Store & Play Store WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM VOL.NO.XIII SL.NO.94 CULTURE CALENDAR FINANCIAL EXPRESS ON SUNDAY KOCHI SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2024, 16 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 , Some of the biggest music, lit, art and film festivals to look forward to Page 6 READ TO LEAD H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K A T A , ● Premium offerings driving growth with unique flavours FLOW CHART ■ SPOTLIGHT, P5 Distilleries' 2018, Radico Khaitan's Jaisalmer today holds 50% share of India's luxury craft gin market ONCE ONLYA basic offering,gin is transforming into a thriving segment, thanks particularly to the emergence of homegrown brands that are driving growth with flavour and innovation. In a country where locally produced Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) gins dominated the market for many years,the emergence of a local craft ■ Peak Spirits ■ John ■ Launched in Malhar craft KUNAL DOLEY New Delhi, October 5 gin, launched in 2022, is now available in 14 countries, 8 Indian states scenehastransformedthecategory, say industry observers. As per IWSR, a leading global drinks data and insight provider, volumes for the premium bands This is the official figure for what the climate crisis has cost India so far this year. Actual numbers could be much higher, and will continue to rise if no action is taken ■ WORDS WORTH, P4 The sky is indigo ■ Launched earlier this year, Nisaki has seen steady monthon-month growth of 30% Nao Spirits has sold 1 mn bottles of its flagship Greater Than gin in FY23-24 have more than doubled since 2019, and are expected to almost treble by 2026. “India’s evolving spirits landscape, particularly the rise of gin, 53,709 45,567 500 50,500 52,800 33,100 60,300 29,700 RETAIL INVESTORS' NET inflows in NSE's cash market surged 106 times to `53,709 crore in the first six months of the fiscal, compared to `500 crore during the same period last year. After five consecutive months of positive net inflows Retail net investments amounting to `61,819 crore in (in ` cr) Cash F&O the cash market, retail investors turned net sellers in September, with outflows totalling `8,110 crore. At the same time, retail investors' net investments in NSE's F&O markets declined by 10%, reaching `45,567 crore during the same period. Compiled by FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 April-September Kishor Kadam (in ` cr) Cash F&O -8,110 3,935 12,260 14,236 17,369 -26,909 8,306 15,004 10,504 26,372 12,540 13,769 Monthly trend in retail net investments Jul ’24 Aug ’24 Sep ’24 Source: NSE reflects a significant shift in consumer preferences. Traditionally a whisky-dominant market, we’re now seeing a growing appreciation forwhite spirits,especiallygin,”said ● 61% polling in Haryana; results to be declared on Oct 8 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, October 5 largest carrier IndiGo on Saturday afternoon left a large number of passengers in a lurch, as they were unable to book tickets or board flights. The situation led to long queues at various airports across the country, with passengers expressing their frustration through social media posts. Numerous affected travellers even called on the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to intervene. Inatweet,IndiGostated,“Weare currentlyexperiencingatemporary system slowdown across our network, affecting our website and booking system. As a result, customers may face increased wait times, including slower check-ins Long queues and delays were reported at check-in counters following a system slowdown across IndiGo's network on Saturday; (above) a scene from Bengaluru airport and longer queues at the airport.” Later in the evening at 6 pm,the airline in a post wrote,“Our airport systems are up and running, and our airport services have eased out SOURCE: X effectively. However, we kindly ask for your understanding as we work to restore our other applications.” Continued on Page 2 No assets,attachment in UAE: Honasa PRESS TRUST OF INDIA New Delhi, October 5 HONASA CONSUMER, WHICH owns Mamaearth brand, on Saturday said there will be no attachment of its assets in the UAE as it has no assets there, although a court in Dubai has ordered such an action in its ongoing litigationwith RSM General Trading over termination of distributorship. The company, which also owns The Derma Co and Aqualogica brands,had on Fridaysaid a court in Dubaihasorderedattachmentofits assets in the United Arab Emirates but refused to cancel the trading licence of Honasa Consumer General Trading. EXEMPTION ORDER ■ On Friday, Honasa said Dubai court ordered ■ On attachment Saturday, of its assets in UAE Honasa said its ■ Court ordered action in ongoing subsidiary litigation of Honasa has been subsidiarywith RSM exempted from order GeneralTrading In a filing on Saturday,the company said, “... there shall be no attachment of the company assets, as the company has no assets located in the UAE.” Honasa Con- sumerGeneralTrading,asubsidiary of Honasa Consumer, has been exempted from this order,it added. RSMGeneralTrading(RSM)and Honasa Consumer (Honasa) had filed grievance statements against the precautionary attachment order passed by Court of Merits at Dubai,theUAE,onJune6,2024.The Dubai court rejected both the appeals filed by RSM and Honasa. In a regulatory filing on Friday, Honasa said, “The Dubai court ordered to attach Honasa’s assets in Dubai, the UAE in view of the 25 million AED compensation (debt) ordered by Court of First Instance, Dubai.” Continued on Page 2 THE CONGRESS IS likely to return to powerin Haryana aftera decade, and has an edge but may miss the halfway mark in Jammu and Kashmir, where it fought the Assembly elections in alliance with the National Conference, according to most exit polls on Saturday. InJ&K,whereAssemblyelections were held after 10 years—the first aftertheabrogationofArticle370in 2019—some polls predicted a hung House while others gave a narrow leadtotheCongress-NCalliance.The exit polls showed two broad trends—the near decimation of the PDP, and the BJP managing to hold on to its seats in the Jammu region. With 90 Assembly constituencies this time, only one survey, the VIKRAM CHAUDHARY New Delhi, October 5 ON THE BACK of the cross-badging pact with Maruti Suzuki, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) has driven pastKiaIndiatostrengthenitsposition as the country’s fifth-largest carmaker by a substantial margin. During April-September period of the current fiscal, TKM sold 150,257 cars, far ahead of Kia India’s 127,321 cars. Toyota had beaten Kia for the first time in FY24, but by a whisker —it sold 245,676 units, which was P U N E just 42 cars more than Kia’s 245,634 units sold. From FY21 to FY23,the top-five carmakers in India,on a consistent basis, were Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata Motors, Mahindra, and Kia, and TKM was nowhere in the picture. But a global agreement between Toyota Motor Corp and Suzuki Motor Corp in Japan on May 28, 2018,was set to change that, FY24 onwards. Under this agreement, both carmakers jointly started developingcarsforsavingcosts,and TKM started launching rebadged Maruti Suzuki cars. The first such car was Toyota Glanza (rebadged Maruti Suzuki Baleno, launched on June 6, 2019). It was followed by Toyota Urban Cruiser (rebadged Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza,launched on Septem- Abhishek Khaitan, MD of Radico Khaitan, an IMFL brand that sells the Jaisalmer Indian craft gin. Launched in 2018, Jaisalmer (priced at `3,500 for 750 ml) today holds an impressive 50% share of the luxurycraft gin market in India. “We have witnessed a 3-year CAGR of about 75% and hope for consistent growth,”Khaitan added. Several factors are driving this trend, said Heemanshu Ashar, brand head and global brand ambassador of John Distilleries, the makers of the popular Paul John single malt whisky that launched Malhar, a premium Indian craft gin, in 2022. Continued on Page 2 TOYOTA vs KIA Annual sales (in units) and rank in India FY21 Kia 5th Toyota 6th 155,686 93,124 FY22 Kia 5th Toyota 6th 186,787 123,717 FY23 Kia 5th FY24 Toyota 5th 269,229 245,676 Toyota 6th Kia 6th H1FY25 Toyota 5th Kia 6th 173,245 245,634 150,257 127,321 ber 23, 2020). The Urban Cruiser was discontinued in 2022 to make way for the third model exchanged between the two—Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder (which Maruti Suzuki sells as the Grand Vitara). The fourth was Toyota Innova Hycross (Maruti Suzuki sells it as Invicto), followed by Toyota Rumion, launched on August 28, 2023 (rebadged Maruti Suzuki Ertiga), and Toyota Urban Cruiser India Today-C Voter poll, put the Congress-NC at near the halfway mark. It gave 40-48 seats to the Congress-NC, 27-32 to the BJP, 612 to the PDP,and 6-11 to‘Others’. The Dainik Bhaskar exit poll predicted 35-40 seats for the Congress-NC,20-25 for the BJP,4-7 for Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP,and 22-26 for‘Others’. Apoll byGulistan News gave 3136 seats to the Congress-NC alliance,28-30 to the BJP,5-7 to the PDP, and 19-23 to ‘Others’. The trends suggest a decent performance for the BJP in Jammu,as the party is traditionally weak in the Kashmir valley. In the 2014 J&K Assembly elections, the PDP had won 28 seats, BJP 25, NC 15 and Congress 12.The hung poll verdict led to the PDP-BJP forming a coalition government, but the BJP pulled the plug in June 2018.In the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year, two J&K seats went to the NC, two to the BJP, and one to an Independent. Continued on Page 2 THE ‘HAND’ TALKS HARYANA ■ Total seats: 90 POLLING AGENCY Dainik Bhaskar CONG+ 44-54 BJP 15-29 OTHERS 4-9 Republic Bharat-Matrize India Today-CVoter 55-62 50-58 18-24 20-28 2-5 10-16* Republic TV-P Marq 51-61 27-35 2-5 J&K *including INLD+AAP ■ Total seats: 90 POLLING AGENCY Dainik Bhaskar NC-CONG 35-40 PDP 4-7 BJP OTHERS 20-25 22-26 India Today-CVoter 40-48 6-12 27-32 6-11 Gulistan News 31-36 5-7 28-30 19-23 Axis My India 35-45 4-6 24-34 8-23 Backed by Maruti Suzuki cross-badging, Toyota races past Kia ● Japanese carmaker enters top-5 club; set to gain further lead D E L H I , IndiGo tech outage Likely Cong win in Haryana; edge leaves flyers in lurch in J&K with NC A SYSTEM OUTAGE at the country’s Jun ’24 N E W EXIT POLLS FE BUREAU New Delhi, October 5 NSE cash market: Retail investor inflows up 106x Great Indian Gin has registered 30% organic growth since its inception in 2022 ■ Started in 2017, ● Partial operations restored by evening, claims the airline An interesting narration of the story of India’s largest airline ■ World of Brands' recently launched Jin JiJi dry gin in India; currently available in Darjeeling and India Dry Gin variants CHAOS AT AIRPORTS 600 lives and counting May ’24 M U M B A I , Homegrown brands shaking up craft gin market WHAT'S INSIDE Apr ’24 L U C K N O W , Taisor launched on April 3, 2024 (rebadged Maruti Suzuki Fronx). With six new models under its belt in just five years, TKM first caught up with Kia India in FY24, and then beat it substantially in H1FY25—a lead that is expected to widen in H2FY25 as Kia India doesn’t have an all-newvolumeproduct, andsales ofTKM’s rebadgedMaruti Suzuki cars are rising. The Glanza, for example, is consistently selling almost 4,500 units every month, and the Urban Cruiser Taisor is doing almost 3,500 per month. AlthoughKiaIndialaunchedthe EV9 (`1.3 crore) and the Carnival Limousine (`64 lakh) on Thursday, these are niche products and are unlikely to give the Korean carmaker substantial sales numbers. Continued on Page 2 RBI dy guv Rao gets 1-yr extension THE GOVERNMENT HAS extended the term of RBI deputygovernor M Rajeshwar Rao for a period of one year, as per sources. The appointments committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the reappointment of Rao for a period of one year with effect from October 9, 2024, or until further orders, sources said quoting a government order dated October 4. The ACC is headed by PM Narendra Modi. RaowasappointedasRBIdeputy governor in October 2020 for a periodofthreeyears.Hewaselevated as RBI executive director in November 2016. An economics graduate and MBA from the University of Cochin, Rao joined the central bank in 1984.As a career central banker, hehasexposuretovariousaspectsof the RBI’s functioning. — PTI KOCHI