COMPANIES | PAGE 4 BRANDWAGON | PAGE 11 Newvehicle registration in 2024 lowest in 3 years INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 7 DPDP Rules: Marketers to rethink strategies China weakness, tariff risks weigh onApple CHENNAI/KOCHI, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2025 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XLV 209, 26 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 , 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: 78,199.11 ▲ 234.12 NIFTY: 23,707.90 ▲ 91.85 NIKKEI 225: 40,083.30 ▲ 776.25 HANG SENG: 19,447.58 ▼ 240.71 `/$: 85.72 ▲ 0.11 `/€: 89.40 ▼ 0.53 BRENT: $76.77 ▲ $0.47 GOLD: `76,811 ▲ `141 Housing demand in 2024 at 12-year high, sales up 7% HOUSING SALES ROSE 7% annually in 2024 across eight major cities to reach 12-year high at 350,613 units on better demand for premium homes amid stable mortgage rates and strong economic growth, according to Knight Frank. ■ PAGE 4 Delhi to vote on February 5; AAP eyes hat-trick POLLING FOR ALL 70 assembly seats in Delhi will be held on February 5 as a triangular contest is on the cards with the BJP and the Congress aiming to halt the AAP from a third term in power, reports PTI. ■ PAGE 3 Only 1 in 5 Indians sees rise in household income: Survey ONLY 24%, OR 1 out of every 5 Indians, expect their household income to rise in 2025, a survey by LocalCircles said, reports fe Bureau. As much as 48% of households see their earnings to dip by up to 25%. ■ PAGE 16 TCS may see growth in margins, but tepid rise in Q3 revenues TCS, WHICH WILL report its third-quarter earnings on Thursday, is likely to report a muted revenue growth, but analysts expect a boost in its margins, reports Urvi Malvania. ■ PAGE 4 Consumption and (% chg, y-o-y) investment Nominal GDP # SOME OF THE country’s top paint makers, including Berger Paints, JSWPaints,IndigoPaintsandAditya Birla group,which forayed into the sectorin 2024,are in the race to buy amajoritystakeinAkzoNobelIndia, sources have told FE. AkzoNobel India is the country’s fourth-largestpaintscompanywith an estimated market share of 7%. Rivals Asian Paints, Berger Paints andKansaiNerolac areestimatedto have market shares of 50%, 20% and 15%, respectively, in the domestic paints market valued at `65,000crore($7.8billion),according to industry experts. The Dutch parent of AkzoNobel India, which owns a nearly 75% stake in the company, has been looking to offload its shareholding in the firm at a deal valued at $2.53 billion (`20,000-24,000 crore), sources said. However, players are FE S P E C I A L What’s holding back our textile & apparel exports? India is looking at $100 bn worth of textile exports by 2030 ■ EXPLAINER, P11 FY23 4 2.5 4.1 lation of last year's estimates,and in the light of indicators and data sourcesuptoDecember,islowerthan theReserveBankofIndia’slatestprojectionof6.6%,and6.5%forecastby the finance ministry in the monthly 6 4.2 Primary GDP DEAL BOOK $2.5-3 bn Potential deal value being looked at by AkzoNobel Dutch parent $1.21.4 bn The amount interested players may be willing to pay willing to pay around half the asking price at `10,000-12,000 crore ($1.2-1.4 billion),sources said. In a note to the exchanges on Tuesday, Akzo Nobel India said it could not ascertain the correctness of the news.“We have not received any specific information or com- 6.4 6.1 6.8 economicreport forNovember. A 6.4% growth in FY25 would require6.7%economicexpansionin thesecondhalfoftheyear,compared with 6% in the first half. It also implies that the average growth in ■ Berger Paints, JSW Paints, Indigo Paints and Aditya Birla group likely looking at grabbing majority stake ■ With 7% market share, AkzoNobel is India's fourthlargest paints maker Rivals Asian Paints, Berger Paints and Kansai Nerolac hold 50%, 20% and 15%, respectively ■ ■ Promoters ofAkzoNobel are looking at a possible India exit as the competition grows in sector munication from our parent company about any such event or negotiation,”the company said. Calls toAbhijit Roy,MD & CEO of Berger Paints India, elicited no responseatthetimeofgoingtopress. Continued on Page 7 RUN-UP TO THE # First advance estimates 7.1 Secondary 7.3 Tertiary the six years to 2024-25 (from the pre-pandemic period to the present) will be just 4.93%. Continued on Page 12 Related report on Page 2 Temasek may buy 10% stake in Haldiram GLOBAL INVESTMENT COMPANY Temasek has emerged as the frontrunner to pick up a minority stake in Haldiram Snacks Foods. A term sheet has been signed between the two companies, Moneycontrol reported on Tuesday. The plan is for Temasek to buy less than 10% stake at a valuation of $10-11 billion. Tata arm gets CCI nod to buy Pegatron stake THE BUDGET 2025-26 may unveil significant tax giveaways aimed at putting more money in the hands of individual taxpayers,withthemaintargetbeneficiariesbeingthosewhoearnupto `15 lakh ayear. Accordingtosources,thetaxconcessions would be restricted to the newincometaxregime,sansexemption and deductions, which was brought in financial year 2020-21. Over 70% of the taxpayers have already shifted to this regime from the old one, as the former has been tweaked multiple times to make it more attractive to taxpayers. The changes being mulled now include a hike in basic exemption limit from `3 lakh to `4 lakh,along with a rejig of tax slabs. Currently, income up to `3 lakh/annum is exempt from income tax in the new regime.Incomebetween`3lakhand `6 lakh is taxed at 5%, `6-9 lakh at 10%, `9-12 lakh at 15%, `12-15 lakh at 20%. The marginal rate of 30% applies on above `15 lakh. It is also provided in the I-T Act that taxpayers with an income up to `7 lakh won’t have to pay any tax if theyoptforthenewtaxregime.With `75,000standarddeduction,income up to `7.75 lakh won't attract tax.If income exceeds `7.75 lakh, the tax DELL SHOWCASES APPLE-LIKE REBRAND AMD has unveiled its new lineup of AI PC chips, catering to different price segments. The Ryzen AI Max series targets highperformance laptops for gamers and creators to be hiked to PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, January 7 THE CCI ON Tuesday approved Tata Electronics’ proposal to acquire a majority stake in Pegatron Technology India, reports fe Bureau. The proposal involves two stages. First, Tata Electronics will acquire the majority shareholding in two tranches. Second, Pegatron India’s businessundertakingswillbetransferred toTELComponents. ■ PAGE 4 NEWAMD CHIPS FOR AI AND GAMING PCs ■ Basic exemption limit likely 2025-26 ● NEWTECHATCES 2025 Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang holds a new Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card as he gives a keynote address at CES 2025 in Las Vegas. Nvidia took the wraps off new products such as AI to better train robots and cars, souped-up gaming chips and its first desktop computer CONSUMPTION BOOSTER BUDGET Fixed investment (At constant prices, % chg, y-o-y) 2.8 6.7 9 7.3 Earning up to `15 lakh a year? Tax sops likely Pvt consumption Govt consumption *To meet the first advance estimates First advance estimates Decades-old product names for PCs such as “XPS” and “Inspiron” will be killed in favour of simplified branding around the word Dell in its new generation of devices SAMSUNG EXPANDS ‘AI FOR ALL’ Samsung is ramping up investment in AI for consumer electronics, betting on its ubiquitous presence in gadgets from smartphones to TVs to help it stake out a spot in the AI arena 10 mn farmers now have digital IDs linked to their land records IN A MOVE to develop a database linked to land records, the agriculture ministry, in a tie up with states, has provided digital IDs to 10 million farmers across 10 states as on Tuesday, reports Sandip Das. ■ PAGE 2 17.8 6.8 9 6.6 FY24 9.7 H1FY25 Growth required in H2FY25* FY25# FY24 FY23 FY22 -1.2 FY21 Growth dynamics Fourmajorpaint makers in race to acquireAkzoNobel VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO Mumbai, January 7 11.6 0.1 FY25 # 7 6.4 8.2 9.6 9.8 14.2 % chg, y-o-y FY22 18.9 Real GDP -5.8 SHARES OF ZOMATO fell around 5% on Tuesday after Jefferies downgraded the stock to 'hold', reports Raghav Aggarwal. The stock closed down 4.59% at `252.50 on the BSE. The brokerage also cut its target price by 18%, from `335 to `275. ■ PAGE 6 INDIA’SGROSSDOMESTICproduct (GDP) is set to slow down considerablytoregisteragrowthrateof6.4% in 2024-25 compared with 8.2% in 2023-24, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said on Tuesday,releasing the first advance estimates.The slowdown is on account of a decline in annual rates of expansion across manufacturing, »INSIDE« mining and services sectors. GROWTH However, the BOOSTERS, PLEASE year-on-year growth rate, a four-year PAGE 10 low,isalsocausedin good measure bystatistical factors – “net taxes on products” are seen to grow just 5.9% in FY25, compared with a steep 19.1% last fiscal. The growth in gross value added (GVA)in2024-25isseenat6.4%,the same as GDP; at 7.2%, GVA growth was much lower than the headline growth numberin 2023-24. TheNSO'sgrowthestimateforthe currentfiscal,computedviaextrapo- KEY NUMBERS 4 4 Zomato shares drop 5% after Jefferies downgrades stock PRIYANSH VERMA New Delhi, January 7 FY20 A STRONG EARTHQUAKE struck the foothills of the Himalayas near one ofTibet's holiest cities on Tuesday, killing at least 126 people, Chinese authorities said, reports Reuters. The magnitude 6.8 quake's epicentre was about 80 km north of Mount Everest. Tremors also shook buildings in neighbouring Nepal, Bhutan and India. ■ PAGE 7 Growth engine loses steam 6.5 6.5 Powerful Tibet earthquake kills more than 120 AT6.4% IN FY25,ITWILLBEA4-YEAR LOW: FIRSTADVANCE ESTIMATES FY19 IN THE NEWS ■ REPORTS ON PAGE 16 `4 lakh ■ First slab can be from `4-7 lakh instead of `3-6 lakh now ■ Main beneficiaries may be those who earn up to `15 lakh ■ New regime's slabs may see further tweaks a year Over 70% of the taxpayers have already shifted to new regime wouldkickinfrom`3lakh,andapply aspertheslabs.“Theconcessionsmay beaimedatthoseearningupto`1314 lakh.The idea is to increase disposable income with people to increase consumption,” an official said,on conditionof anonymity. “Majority of income taxpayers live in urbanareaswhere mostof the consumption also takes place.Given thatinflationishurtingpeopleinthe lowerincomestrata,eachI-Tslabscan be raised by `1 lakh each,” EY India Tax & Regulatory Services partner SudhirKapadia said. Continued on Page 7 Record46milliondemat accountsopenedin2024 Investors opened a record 46 million demat accounts in 2024, driven by an IPO frenzy, data from CDSLand NSDL showed.The total number of demat accounts surged from 139.3 million in December 2023 to 185.3 million in December 2024, marking a 33% year-on-year increase and an average 3.83 million additions per month. In comparison, 31.03 million new demat accounts were opened in 2023 with an average 2.59 million additions. Of the 46 million accounts added in 2024, CDSL accounted for 41.81 million (a 40% increase), while NSDL contributed 4.18 million (a 12.1% increase). Companies raised a record nearly `1.6 lakh crore through 91 IPOs during the year. —Compiled by Kishor Kadam 185.3 38.8 DEMAT ACCOUNTS NSDL (in million) 34.8 18.1 16.7 2018 139.3 CDSL 108.3 39.4 19.6 19.7 2019 80.6 25 49.8 20.9 28.9 2020 Source: CDSL, NSDL 30.4 34.6 146.5 104.7 77.9 55.6 2021 December 2022 2023 2024 US giant plans to train 10 million people in new-age tech skills by 2030 Microsoft to invest $3 bn in itsAI-first India mission AYANTI BERA Bengaluru, January 7 MICROSOFTONTUESDAYsaidthat it plans to invest $3 billion (about `25,700crore)inIndiaoverthenext twoyearstobolsteritscloudcomputing and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, marking its singlelargest expansion in the country to date. Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella made the announcement during the Bengaluru leg of the Microsoft AI Tour,underscoring the tech giant’s commitment to making India anAI-first nation. “I am excited to announce this significantinvestmenttoexpandour AzurecapacityinIndia,”Nadellasaid. Microsoft currently operates three datacentreregionsinPune,Mumbai andChennai,withafourthscheduled to go live in 2026. The investment is part of Microsoft’s broader global expansion,including $80 billion allocated for AI-ready data centres in FY25, morethanhalfofwhichwillbespent in the US.The expansion aligns with the strategies of other tech giants, such as Google, which last year announced a $1-billion investment inThailandfordatacentreandcloud infrastructure. Microsoft’s infrastructure plans inIndiaalsoextendtoadvancingthe capabilities of its AI ecosystem. Nadellashowcasedenhancementsto Microsoft 365 Copilot, a suite of autonomous AI agents designed to streamline enterprise workflows. Theseagentscanindependentlyper- EXPANSION MODE ON ■ India investment is part of Microsoft’s broader global expansion ■ Currently, it operates three data centre regions in Pune, Mumbai and Chennai, with a fourth set to go live in 2026 ■ Under Advanta(I)ge India, the US giant aims to ensure equitable access to AI training across urban and rural areas form tasks such as meeting facilitation,real-time translation and summarisation. He urged organisations to build customised AI solutions using Copilot Studio,a low-code tool forcreatingbespokeAI agents. ■ Microsoft’s efforts have already reached 2.4 million, individuals, topping target participants 65% ofare under the initiative women and 74% from tierII and III cities “Thisislikeaddingan extra team member to assist with tasks,” Nadella explained. “Copilot serves SATYA NADELLA, CEO AND CHAIRMAN, MICROSOFT I am excited to announce this significant investment to expand ourAzure capacityin India as the interface for AI, making interactions intuitive and effective,” he said. In addition to infrastructure investments,Microsoft plans to train 10millionpeopleinAIskillsinIndiaby 2030 as part of itsAdvanta(I)ge India programme. This initiative, part of Microsoft’s Global Skills for Social Impact charter,aims to ensure equitableaccesstoAItrainingacrossurban andruralareas.Microsoft’seffortshave alreadyreached 2.4 million individuals,surpassing its initial target,with 65%ofparticipantsbeingwomenand 74%fromtier-IIandIIIcities. “India’s rapid growth as an AI innovatorisunlockingopportunities nationwide,” Nadella said. “Our investments in infrastructure and skillingreaffirmourcommitmentto making India AI-first and ensuring benefitsreach all,” he added. Continued on Page 7 CHENNAI/KOCHI