INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 10 COMPANIES | PAGE 4 China targets US with tit-for-tat metals ban INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 10 Trump call on tariffs will be beneficial for India: Singhania CHENNAI/KOCHI, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2024 South Korean president declares martial law FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XLV 179, 22 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: 80,845.75 ▲ 597.67 NIFTY: 24,457.15 ▲ 181.10 NIKKEI 225: 39,248.86 ▲ 735.84 HANG SENG: 19,746.32 ▲ 196.03 `/$: 84.70 < > 0.00 `/€: 89.10 ▼ 0.04 BRENT: $72.94 ▲ $1.11 GOLD: `76,046 ▲ `96 — ‘The `1 lakh-plus price point is exciting for us’ CEO, Charriol and CEO, watches and wearables,Titan, on luxury watches in India ■ BRANDWAGON, P9 Why gatekeeping in social media isn’t easy Australia is the first country to restrict social media access for children under 16 ■ EXPLAINER, P9 2.7 3.2 28 FY24 6-10.5* FY25 ~3 (Likely) adoptedacapex-ledgrowthstrategy, takingsuchproductivespendingtoa desirable3%ofGDPforthefirsttime in FY24.It had set a target of `11.11 lakh crore,a 17% rise over `9.5 lakh crore achieved in FY24. The finance ministry concluded pre-Budgetconsultationswithvariousministriesanddepartmentslast month to finalise Budget estimates for the next financialyear.The Bud- get for FY26 is expected to be presented on February1 next year. With the GDP slowdown, there are concerns about its impact on tax revenues even as the government aims to bring down the fiscal deficit to below 4.5% as per the medium-term consolidation roadmap.The GDP rose by 5.4% in July-September year-on-year, the lowest in seven quarters,triggering 79,200 78,600 % chng 1.3 -0.1 25 78,000 0.3 26 27 Nov -1.5 28 29 02 Dec 9,616 5,000 FPIs -6,908 ,9 *provisional 25 26 27 28 29 02 03 Dec Nov Source: NSDL, BSE 1.3 -0.1 0.3 25 26 27 Nov -1.5 28 3.84 Services 24,457 24,276 24,131 23,500 % chng 3.56 Consumer durables 0.9 0.6 29 02 0.7 Metal 03 Dec TWOASSOCIATIONS OFmanufacturers and retailers—Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI) and the RetailersAssociation ofIndia(RAI)—havesaidthatthenew GST slabs proposed for readymade garments will promote a parallel economy,defeatingtheverypurpose of GST, reports Viveat Susan Pinto & RaghavAggarwal. ■ PAGE 2 3.76 Healthcare 3.52 2.95 Swiggytrims loss in first post-IPO earnings REPORT CARD 75% Swiggy consolidated financials Q2FY24 Q2FY25 Revenue 2,763 (` cr) 30.3 3,601 y-o-y % chng Ebitda loss of Swiggy's dark stores in top 7 Indian cities now profitable ■ Plans to double Net loss dark store count by March 2025 ■ Instamart to -626 FOOD TECH AND grocery delivery firm Swiggy on Tuesday reported better-than-estimated earnings during the July-Septemberquarter. The company, which declared its results for the first time since it went public last month,marginally narrowed its consolidated net loss to `625.5 crore compared with `657 crore during the same period lastyear.Bloombergconsensusestimates had pegged the net loss at `635 crore. Revenue from operations rose 30.3% to `3,601.4 crore, which was higher than the estimates of `3,543 crore.The company's earn- ings before interest, tax, depreciation,and amortisation (Ebitda) loss came in at `554 crore, nearly 26% better than the estimated loss of `750 crore. The companysaid it is aiming to become operationally profitable by theendofnextfinancialyear.“Atthe consolidated group level,we expect to achieve positive adjusted Ebitda by Q3FY26 (Oct-Dec 2025),” it said in a letter to the shareholders. Swiggy — which made its trading debut on November 13, more than three years after its nearest rivalZomatogotlisted—sawrobust growth in its food deliveryaswell as quick commerce businesses. -657 RAGHAVAGGARWAL New Delhi, December 3 6Evs 6e: IndiGo sues M&M for patentviolation SWARAJ BAGGONKAR Mumbai, December 3 BRANDING BATTLE INDIGO ON TUESDAY moved the Delhi High Court against Mahindra & Mahindra, alleging trademark infringement by the latter for its upcoming electric vehicle, the BE 6e. IndiGo’s objection is to the use of“6e”by M&M in its vehicle as the airline uses 6E as its call sign, and considers it a key part of its brand and services. So, in a way 6E has become synonymous with IndiGo, like AI is to Air India and 9Wwas to Jet Airways,the airline has argued. The BE 6e, unveiled recently by Mahindra Electric Automobile, is set to commercially hit the market in the next two months. The case came up forhearing on Tuesday but justice Amit Bansal recused himself.The matter is now scheduled for December 9. Legal observers said that the decision on the matter will surely set a precedent for intellectual property (IPR) disputes in the country. The ‘6E’ of IndiGo is the unique code allotted to it by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), a trade association of world airlines. IndiGo’s flights are defined bythis code followed bythe flight number. “Mahindra has applied fortrade mark registration under class 12 (vehicles) for “BE 6e” a part of its electric origin SUV portfolio. We achieve contribution margin breakeven by Dec quarter in 2025 ■ To invest `1,600 cr in wholly-owned logistics arm Scootsy through rights issue Continued on Page 11 ‘6E’ of IndiGo is the unique code allotted to it by International Air Transport Association ■ Mahindra recently unveiled BE 6e, an electric SUV, along with another called XEV 9e ■ Carmaker says it has applied for trademark registration under class 12 (vehicles) for 'BE 6e' ■ IndiGo says any unauthorised use of ‘6E’ mark, whether standalone or in any form, constitutes an infringement hence don’t see a conflict as Mahindra’s mark is“BE 6e,”not the standalone “6E”, an M&M spokesperson said. “The “6E” mark has been an integral part of IndiGo’s identity for the past 18 years and is a registered trademark that holds strong global recognition. Continued on Page 11 LS nod to banking lawamendments Rate restructuring may spur parallel ● PSBs safe & stable, economy: Firms doing well,FM Top sectoral gainers in past 3 sessions (in %) 03 Commodities Nifty AN INCREASE IN goods and services tax (GST) on several items and a special levy of 35% on “sin goods” like cigarettes, as proposed by a group of ministers (GoM) formed by the GST Council, are expected to help partially offsetrevenueshortfallsduetoabolition of the tax on insurance premiums, experts say, reports PriyanshVerma. ■ PAGE 2 -251* -5,000 -10,000 DIIs 3,665 0 0.7 0.6 1.0 (in ` crore) 10,000 Continued on Page 11 HigherGSTonsin goodsmayoffset lossfrominsurance Net equity investments 80,846 79,800 Sensex 80,248 80,400 79,803 Benchmark indices hit their highest levels in a month on Tuesday, rising for the third consecutive session. With Tuesday's gains, the key indices are now up 2.3% in 3 days. Shares of commodities, services, healthcare, consumer durables and metal firms were among top gainers. ■ PAGE 7 alarm bells in the government. Given that capex as 3% of GDPis considered healthy in the long run, the government’s effort would be to hold on to the ratio to maintain improvement in qualityof spending andsupporteconomicgrowthrevival in the absence of strong private sectorcapex push,anotherofficial said. GoM PROPOSALS -554 FE S P E C I A L S 25 FY23 Centre’s capex has grown by an average of 30% between FY22 & FY24 ■ With the GDP slowdown, there are concerns about its impact on tax revenues 2.5 37 FY22 ■ Post-Covid, the -623 WITH ULTRA HIGHnet-worth families no longer being concentrated in cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru or Hyderabad, family offices are now moving to places such as Surat, Ludhiana, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Nagpur and Coimbatore, reports S Shanthi. ■ PAGE 4 2.2 22 Indices continue winning run VODAFONE IDEA’S REVENUE market share declined to an all-time low of 14.5% in the July-September quarter, as the company witnessed share loss in all 22 circles, according to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). ■ PAGE 4 HNIs see family offices move beyond metro cities FY21 23,914 Vodafone Idea's revenue market share at all-time low is likely to miss the current year’s capex target by up to 9% As % of GDP Capex growth (%, y-o-y) 79,044 GLOBALAND DOMESTIC investors such as GIC, Blackrock, Aberdeen, Norges Bank, SBI Pension, and ICICI Prudential life Insurance, among others, have subscribed to the qualified institutional placement (QIP) of Godrej Properties, reports Raghavendra Kamath. The company said on Tuesday it has raised `6,000 crore through the QIP. ■ PAGE 6 ■ The government Centre's capex reached a desirable level of 3% of GDP 24,275 Godrej Properties QIP draws GIC, BlackRock, Aberdeen THE CENTRE IS unlikely to go for a big increase in its capital expenditure target for the next fiscal. “Itwillcertainlynotbelowerthan the currentyear’s `11.11 lakh crore, buthowmuchincreaseisadebatable point,”anofficialsaid,addingthatthe effortwouldbetoeitherkeepitatthe samelevelorincreaseit“reasonably” rather than going for another 17% annualhikenextyeartoo.Afinaldecision would be taken closer to the Union Budget in February. It is almost certain now that the currentyear’s targetwill be missed. With government departments already overstretched due to loss of time during the general elections and a massive increase in public investment afterthe pandemic,the Centre is likely to achieve `10.1-10.5-lakh-crore capex in FY25 — a shortfall of up to 9%. Post-Covid,theCentre’scapexhas grownbyanaverageof30%between FY22 and FY24 as the government 24,195 SOLAR ENERGY CORPORATION of India (SECI) has withdrawn the debarment notice issued to Reliance Power with immediate effect. Accordingly, Reliance Power and its subsidiaries, except Reliance NU BESS, are eligible to participate in all tenders issued by SECI, the company said. HEALTHY GOAL 80,234 SECI withdraws debarment notice against RPower PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, December 3 24,222 THE SECURITIES AND Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has cancelled the listing of Trafiksol ITS Technologies and ordered a full refund to its investors within a week, reports Akshata Gorde. The SME listing was earlier put on hold pending investigation. ■ PAGE 7 Reality check for capex target 80,004 Sebi cancels Trafiksol listing, directs it to refund investors OFFICIALSAYS‘REASONABLE’INCREASE LIKELYIN FY26 80,110 IN THE NEWS tells lawmakers KEY CHANGES ■ Allows a bank account holder to have up to 4 nominees instead of 1 FE BUREAU New Delhi, December 3 ■ Enables PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS (PSBs) have turned the corner and are now safe, stable and healthy enough to tap the market to raise funds to expand their businesses without depending on the government for funds, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said onTuesday. ReplyingtoadebateontheBankingLaws(Amendment)Bill,2024,she further said the amendments, approved by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday,wouldstrengthengovernancein the banking sector,besides enhancing consumer and customer convenienceconcerningnominationsand protection of investors. The Bill was approved by a voice vote in the Lok Sabha and is expected to be approved by the Rajya Sabha laterthisweek. “Highest-evernetprofit of `1.41 lakh crore was achieved in 2023-24 and `85,520 crore in first half of 2024-25. Today,allthepublic sector banks have turned profitable. As a transfer of unclaimed dividends, shares, and interest or redemption of bonds to the Investor Education & Protection Fund (IEPF) ■ Tenure of directors in cooperative banks to be raised from 8 years to 10 ■ Enhanced thres- hold in ‘substantial interest’ clause of bank directors seeking loans for related firms sector, the profitability of all scheduled commercial banks is the highest in multiple decades,with return on assets at 1.3% and return on equityat 13.8%.” After the gross non-performing assetsofPSBsrosetoarecord14.5% in March 2016, the government took a slew of steps such as strengthening the banking regulatory framework, amending therecoverylaws,enactingcomprehensiveinsolvencyandbankruptcylegislation,andestablishing a public sector asset reconstruction company. Continued on Page 10 Prioritise sustainable growth projections, lean cost structures As fundingwinterbites,startups get finances in order AYANTI BERA Bengaluru, December 3 WITHVENTURE CAPITALISTS and privateequityfirmstighteningtheir purse strings, stressing on profits ratherthanjustthefocusongrowth, startupsseemtobeshowingresults. A large number of startups have either been able to narrow their losses or posted positive bottomlines in FY24.This came on the back of cost-cutting measures as revenueshavelargelyremainedmuted. Audio and wearable device maker boAt managed to nearly halve its losses during the fiscal to `53 crore, while the topline fell by around 5% to `3,122 crore. The company’s marketing spends came down by 14% during the year. TRIMMING LOSSES Listed startups Q2FY24 Revenue Delhivery Go Digit General Insurance Brainbees Solutions Unlisted startups Q2FY25 (` crore) Net profit 1,942 2,190 1,869 2,175 1,507 1,905 Q2FY24 Revenue -103 10 28 BigBasket B2C 89 -101 -50 BoAt Ecom Express Q2FY25 (` crore) Net profit 7,440 7,885 3,285 3,122 2,554 2,609 -1,535 -1,267 -101 -54 -428 -256 Source: Bloomberg Online pharmacy player PharmEasy managed to halve its losses to `2,533 crore,mostly from lowergoodwill impairmentcharges and an overall decline in expenses. However,duetosevere competition in the online pharmacy space, the company’s revenue declined 15% to `5,644 crore. PharmEasy is struggling to gain back market share due to competition from players such asTata 1mg, Reliance-owned Netmeds, and Apollo 24×7,among others. With the deepening of the fundingwinterduring the last twoyears, unicorns such as Meesho, Purplle and Lenskart, among others, have focusedoncuttingoperationalcosts and meaningfully reducing their losses. Meanwhile, travel-tech unicorn Oyo turned profitable,posting a profit of `229 crore in FY24,from a loss of `1,286.5 crore a year ago. Profitable startups such as Infra.Market and OfBusiness have continued to scale up their profit. Analysts said that even though nowthe fundingwinterseems to be easing a bit, startup firms are not expected to be bitten by the growth euphoria of 2021.Instead,sustainable growth projections and lean cost structures are going to be the guiding business principle. The trend is similar for startups which are listed on the bourses. During the July-Septemberquarter of the current fiscal, Delhivery, Paytm and flexible workspace provider Awfis turned profitable. These firms had registered losses during the same quarter last year. Continued on Page 11 CHENNAI/KOCHI