COMPANIES | PAGE 4 ECONOMY | PAGE 3 Navy adds 3 indigenous warships to its fleet INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 7 Hero looks to leverage its brand power NEW DELHI, THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 2025 ‘Soul ofAmerica’ at stake: Biden onTrump return FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL. L NO. 273, 22 PAGES, `12 (PATNA & RAIPUR `12, SRINAGAR `15) 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: 76,724.08 ▲ 224.45 NIFTY: 23,213.20 ▲ 37.15 NIKKEI 225: 38,444.58 ▼ 29.72 HANG SENG: 19,286.07 ▲ 66.29 `/$: 86.36 ▲ 0.28 `/€: 89.03 ▼ 0.14 BRENT: $80.39 ▲ $0.47 GOLD: `78,098 ▲ `127 Meta apologises for CEO’s remark on India elections META INDIA ON Wednesday apologised for CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s recent remarks that the incumbent government lost power in the 2024 elections, reports fe Bureau. ■ PAGE 22 ANEES HUSSAIN Bengaluru, January 15 FOOD DELIVERY GIANTS Swiggy and Zomato are expected to moderate discounts in their core business as competition in quick commerce — anothersegment theyare present in — intensifies, say industry experts. This shift reflects a strategic move towards sustainable pricing to balance profitability and maintain market leadership. ■ Rising pressure in q-commerce space prompting a re-evaluation ■ Free delivery radius under basic subscriptions has already been narrowed from 10 km to 7 km Discounting has been a key strategy to attract customers, but rising pressure in the qcommerce space is prompting a re-evaluation. “Increased competition in Tradedeficitat$21.9bn;exportsfall1% 21.9 31.8 5 0.8 Continued on Page 10 Continued on Page 10 ShareChat to lay off 5% of its workforce MOHALLA TECH-OWNED ShareChat is planning to cut its workforce by 5% later this month following its annual performance review, reports Raghav Aggarwal. ■ PAGE 4 Indigenous ‘bullet trains’ may face financing hurdles WHILE THE WORK on indigenous prototypes of high-speed rolling stocks has boosted hopes of ‘Indian bullet trains’ hitting the tracks over the next few years, the proposed seven new high-speed rail projects could face serious financing hurdles, officials told Manu Kaushik. ■ PAGE 3 FE SPECIAL ‘Tackle local issues with local insights’ Interview with Manish Prasad, president & MD, SAP Indian subcontinent ■ eFE, P9 New Delhi 2023 2024 Nov Oct Sep Aug 5- -7.8 15- 25 20 15 10 5 4.9 0 -1 -5 -10 Dec 15 24.1 25 19.7 35 Trade deficit ($ bn, LHS) Exports Imports (% chg, y-o-y, RHS) 28.1 SHIPMENT WATCH 23 INDIA’S MERCHANDISE TRADE deficit fell to a three-month low of $21.9 billion in December, coming in sharply lower than a revised figure of $31.8 billion for the previous month. The slump in exports continued, with December shipments of $38.01 billion being 1% lower on year, pulled down by a drop in exports of petroleum products and gems and jewellery. Yet, trade deficit in the April-December period was 14% wider than in the year-ago period, which officials say, is due to strong investment and consumption demand in the economy. The decline in trade deficit in December has allayed concerns over the current account deficit, which analysts believe, could be around 1% of GDP in FY26. Jul MUKESH JAGOTA New Delhi, January 15 20.8 strategy to attract customers for online food delivery firms tions while the tax rates are more benign. According to sources, the governmentwill not make any changes to the old regime that provides for investmentlinked exemptions and deductions.“Further simplification Jun ■ Discounting has been a key changes to the old regime in Budget that provides for investment-linked exemptions and deductions 22.1 as q-commerce race heats up A THINNER SLICE q-commerce is pushing platforms like Swiggy and Zomato to rethink discounts and adopt tiered pricing strategies in food delivery,” said Mitesh Shah, co-founder of IPV and partner at Physis Capital. While Swiggy and Zomato declined to comment,the recent moves by both platforms point to this transition. Over the past year, their free delivery radius under basic subscriptions has narrowed from 10 km to 7 km. The platforms are also tweaking discount structures to enhance delivery efficiency. ■ Government unlikely to make any May ● Strategy rethink Continued on Page 10 a year 18.9 Swiggy,Zomato may cut back on food discounts Continued on Page 7 `15 lakh Apr Continued on Page 7 of the new tax regime, and tweaking the slab structure of tax rates, will automatically push more taxpayers to adopt it,” an official aware of the developments said. CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISER (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran and16thFinanceCommission secretary Ritvik Pandey were among the candidates interviewed on Wednesdaybya selection panel headed by Cabinet secretary TV Soma- VAnantha nathan for the Nageswaran post of a new deputygovernorattheReserve Bank of India (RBI). The appointee will replace Michael Patra,whose four-year termcametoanendonTuesday. give relief to those who earn up to 15.6 The RBI has conducted six VRR auctions so far this month to help cash-strappedlenders. FE BUREAU New Delhi, January 15 ■ Budget may Mar Theauctionamountswillbe decided by the regulator,based on assessment of the liquidity conditions, and will be announcedon the RBIwebsite. FINANCE MINISTER Nirmala Sitharaman may announce a road map for a gradual phasing out of the old personal income tax regime over the next few years in the Budget forFY26.Sitharaman mayalso tweak the new regime, introduced in FY21, to make it the naturally preferred choice for all taxpayers through the phase-out period. Over 72% of taxpayers have already adopted the new regime, which allows little exemptions or deduc- Sitharaman may also tweak the new tax regime, introduced in FY21 18.7 2,09,199 2,50,062 2,20,515 2,23,557 2,25,017 2,00,938 1,81,607 1,44,350 97,826 28,958 40,111 38,614 average call rate (WACR). The VRRs, which will commence from Thursday for `50,000 crore, will be held between Mondayand Friday. ■ PAGE 6 PRIYANSH VERMA New Delhi, January 15 Over 72% Jan THE NEGOTIATIONS ON an FTA between India and the UK are expected to resume in early February, after months of pause due to the general election in the UK, a senior official said, reports fe Bureau. ■ PAGE 2 Source: RBI, Bloomberg AFTER FALLING FOR the past five trading sessions, the rupee on Wednesday recovered 28 paise, or 0.33%, against the dollar, markingitsbiggestgainin oversevenmonths,helped by a weaker dollar and a lower-than-expectedtrade deficit number, reports Sachin Kumar. Intervention from RBI also helped the rupee hold its ground. 2025-26 CEAamong candidates for post ofRBI deputy guv of taxpayers already adopted the new regime ■ ■ FM Nirmala Feb 15th round of India-UK FTA talks to begin in Feb 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 Jan 2025 Re recovers on weaker $ BUDGET I-T CHANGES 18.1 IN THE NEWS RBI net liquidity injections (in ` crore) 67,445 IN A SIGNIFICANT reset to its liquidity management framework,the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will conduct variable reverse repo (VRR) auctions on all working days until further notice amid tight liquidity. Liquidity in the banking system stood at a deficit of `2.09 lakh crore as of January 14, RBI data showed.VRR auctionsenableRBItoinjectliquidityinto the system. Accordingtobankingindustry experts, the daily VRR auctions will bring the overnight repo rate back into play once again and give confidence to marketsduringthecurrentuncertaintimes.Earlier,themultiple-dayVRRandVRRRauctions were targeted at the weighted MONEY MATTERS 1,04,974 ANUPREKSHA JAIN & SACHIN KUMAR Mumbai, January 15 RUN-UP TO THE 16 Liquidity on tapvia dailyVRR auctions Govt mayannounce old tax regime phase-out Dec OVERNIGHTREPO RATE BACK INTO PLAYFROMTODAY