BACK PAGE | PAGE 20 BACK PAGE | PAGE 20 38% fall in US student visas issued to Indians BRANDWAGON | PAGE 9 The Big Picture: For OfBusiness, small is big CHENNAI/KOCHI, MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2024 Daewoo can't bank on legacy on India return FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XLV 183 42 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 A TA , 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 IN THE NEWS High deflator, too, behind low Q2 GDP growth THE SURPRISINGLY LOWreal GDP growth print for Q2 was largely due to low government spending, particularly capex, reports PriyanshVerma. ■ PAGE 2 Financial services drive bulk of MobiKwik’s growth WHILEALLDIGITAL payment platforms have diversified their revenue streams beyond low-margin payment services, MobiKwik has seen its credit offerings grow significantly, reports Ayanti Bera. ■ PAGE 4 CMD: SpiceJet to restructure balance sheet, repay debts STRUGGLING CARRIER SPICEJET said it will restructure its balance sheet and clear all dues in the next two years, reports Swaraj Baggonkar. ■ PAGE 5 Magicpin spices up food delivery with local focus MAGICPIN IS VYING for a space in the online food delivery market by focusing on small merchants, reports Ayanti Bera. ■ PAGE 4 EXPLAINER Why South Korea’s prez was almost impeached P6 CENTRELIKELYTOMISS`50K-CRORETARGETFORFY25 Disinvestmenttargetfor FY26mayremainsame PRIYANSH VERMA New Delhi, December 8 BEHIND TARGET THE CENTRE MAY miss the disinvestment and asset monetisation target of `50,000 crore for the current financial year, a senior official told FE. For the next fiscal, the upcoming Budget may still peg the target for such receipts at around `50,000 crore, the source added. The Centre had set a target of `50,000 crore in miscellaneous capital receipts (from disinvestment and asset monetisation) in FY25, doing away with the practice of setting separate annual ‘disinvestment’ targets. This marked a less ambitious approach with regard to key source of non-debt capital receipts. No strategic sales (privatisation of CPSEs) have been carried out by the government in recent years, after the sale of Air India to Tata ■ The Centre opted to do away with the practice of setting separate annual ‘disinvestment’ targets in the FY25 Budget ■ In the current financial year, the government has garnered only `8,625 cr from divestment The government has collected these funds from the divestment of GIC, Cochin Shipyard and Hindustan Zinc ■ ■ IDBI Bank's strategic sale could potentially fetch around `28,000 crore in FY25 if the transaction goes through group in October 2021. “Full efforts are on to reach as close as possible to the Budget figure (on disinvestment/asset monetisation). We’re going to receive substantial revenue in the remain- ■ In the interim Budget, the FM announced that the government was going for a holistic strategy for management of equity of PSUs ing months of FY25, but it (overall proceeds) may still be fairly lower than the Budget estimate,” the official said Continued on Page 5 CSS funds to skip state treasuries PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, December 8 THE CENTRE HAS started routing funds for a clutch of centrally sponsored schemes (CSS) with an aggregate annual Budget outlay of `3.3 lakh crore through the Reserve Bank of India, instead of state government treasuries. The move is expected to curb floating of funds and improve spending efficiency, besides rein- ing in borrowing requirements. After a pilot,the new cash management measure came into effect last month for 28 CSS across 17 central ministries and departments under the SNA (Single Nodal Agency) SPARSH model. This is the second stage of‘just-intime’ release of central funds, a mechanism aimed at idling of funds. CASH FLOW ■ As many as 21already been states have onboarded for this initiative Earlier, Centre transferred CSS funds to state treasuries ■ Continued on Page 3 ● ENDGAMEASSAD Legacyplayers planbigpush forpremium electricbikes SWARAJ BAGGONKAR Mumbai, December 8 INDIA’S ELECTRIC TWOWHEELER market,until nowdominated by scooters, is set for a rejig with legacy auto companies seeking to aggressively woo potential buyers with motorcycles run by electricity. According to sources, Hero MotoCorp and Royal Enfield have started work on electric motorcycles which could be launched commercially between nowand 2027.Both the companies are targeting buyers for vehicles with engines of 350cc and above. The move is prompted by the realisation that the singular focus on electric scooters is proving to be a constraint for market growth. Petrol-fired motorcycles have long remained the most favoured two-wheelers in India, with scooters’share being restricted to under 35%. The electric motorcycle segment,which is currently catered to by a handful of startup companies such as Rattan India,Oben Electric, Matter, Ultraviolette and Raptee HV,has nowattracted the attention of legacy players. The potential forgrowth of electric two wheeler segment is seen to be huge-- at the end of FY24, these vehicles had a share of just 5% of India’s two-wheeler market, compared to 35% in China. Hero MotoCorp, which had partnered US-based Zero Motorcycles, said that such electric motorcycle targeted for “performanceseeking buyers”, is in the advanced stage of development. Continued on Page 5 Foreignbrandsline upforIndiaforay ● At 24,the entry of such products highest since 2021 KEY MARKET No. of global retail brands entered RAGHAVAGGARWAL New Delhi, December 8 2021 FROM LUXURY FASHION houses to fast-food chains and tech giants, internationalbrandscontinuetomake significant inroads into the domestic market. In fact, the pace of entry of such retail brands in the country increased in the current calendaryear, affirming its status as a dynamic market and growing economic prowess. According to data shared by real estate consultancy JLL India exclusively with FE, as many as 24 global retail brands entered the country in 2024.This is much higher than 14 in 2023 and 11 in 2022. In 2021,8globalretailbrandsenteredthe domesticmarket. "Since 2021, India has witnessed the entry of 57 global brands across multiple categories," said Samantak Das, chief economist and head of research&REIS,India,JLL. British menswear brand Charles 2023 8 2022 11 14 2024 24 Cities where first stores of global brands entered % of total first store openings 51 32 10 7 Source: JLL India. Delhi NCR Mumbai Bengaluru Others Tyrwhitt opened its first store in Ahmedabad in February this year. Similarly, Lifestyle apparel brand DockersopeneditsfirststoreinDelhiNCR'sPacificMallinthesamemonth. Continued on Page 5 Tatafirmaimsto Expiry day action beIndia'sFoxconn soars at F&O AFTER ACQUIRING Wistron's Karnatakaunitanda60%stakeinPegatron's iPhone manufacturing plant in Chennai,Tata Electronics is set to emerge as India's Foxconn, report NarayananV&UrviMalvania.Foxconn,WistronandPegatronarecontract manufacturers of Apple in India. ■ PAGE 4 TWO WEEKS into the first phase of Sebi’s measures to cool the futures andoptions(F&O)market,theaction seems to have shifted to expiry days, reports Akshata Gorde.While daily average volumes have seen a sharp decline,trading action has remained high on the remaining two expiry daysoftheweek. ■ PAGE 6 People celebrate at Saadallah al-Jabiri Square in Aleppo after Syrian rebels declared the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad and seized control of Damascus on Sunday, ending his family's decades of autocratic rule REUTERS »INSIDE« ASSAD FLEES AS SYRIA FALLS TO REBELS PAGE 14 WHY NEW DELHI IS CAUTIOUS PAGE 14 Inflationary pressures weigh on consumer expenditure SlowdownbluesforFMCGto continueinDecemberquarter VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO Mumbai, December 8 RISING INFLATION IN vegetable oils and foodislikelytoimpactthethirdquarterperformanceofleadingfast-movingconsumer goods (FMCG) players. Godrej Consumer (GCPL), in its Q3 update, has highlighted slowdown concerns during the period and hassaiditexpectsflattishunderlyingvolume growth and mid-single digit sales growth duetosubdueddemandconditions,notably insoapsandhouseholdinsecticides. "The surge in palm oil and derivatives pricestotheextentofayear-on-yearincrease of20-30%hasimpactedthesoapscategory, which represents one-third of our standalone business revenue.To partly offset the costincreaseswehavetakenpriceincreases, reducedgrammageofkeypacksandreduced various trade schemes,"GCPL said.GCPL is the country's second-largest soaps maker afterHindustanUnilever(HUL). The company also added that delayed winters in the north and cyclones in the south had hurt the household insecticides business,which constitutes one-third of its standalone revenue.The company did not provide an update of its consolidated business operations.While peers such as Dabur India,MaricoandAdaniWilmarareexpected toreleasetheirQ3updatesthisweek,Dabur's CEO Mohit Malhotra in a recent conversa- CHALLENGING PERIOD ■ Dabur India, Marico and Adani Wilmar are expected to release their Q3 updates this week ■ Godrej Consumer expects flattish underlying volume growth and mid-single digit sales growth in Q3 ■ Nearly 20-30% surge in palm oil and derivatives prices has impacted the soaps category for GCPL ■ Centre announced a net increase of 22% on imports of both crude and refined edible oil in September tion with FE had indicated that the December quarter remained challenging from a demandandsalesperspective. "FMCGofftakesarenotlookingtoogood, as both retail and wholesale trade are cashstrapped.Allthiswillweighonoverallgrowth forthe(December)quarter,"Malhotrasaid. While NielsenIQ data for the month of November is not out yet, October FMCG numbers, say executives, are not strong despite the festive season. Overall FMCG growth for the month of October is around 4-5%, volume growth is around 3% and ■ Dabur's CEO Mohit Malhotra recently indicated that the quarter remained challenging from a demand & sales perspective pricegrowthisaround1-2%,executivessay quotingNielsendatafortheperiod. Apartfromfoodconsumption,whichhas beenimpactedduetoinflationarypressures in wheat, tea, sugar, edible oil and cocoa among other commodities,Malhotra says that consumption in non-food categories suchashomeandpersonalcaretooremains weak as consumers in general cut back on expenditure.Mostcompaniesexpectarevival indemandbythefirstquarterofFY26. Continued on Page 5 CHENNAI/KOCHI