INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 6 BACK PAGE | PAGE 12 Tech Mahindra on the recovery track EFE | PAGE 11 S Korea'sYoon indicted over martial law HYDERABAD, MONDAY, JANUARY 27, 2025 Undersea cables:Aturbo boost to internet capacity FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL. NO. XXI 229, 12 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 IN THE NEWS Private labels set to reshape instant food delivery THE RISE OF private labels in the instant food delivery industry seems inevitable, mirroring their success in online retail and quick commerce, reports S Shanthi. According to experts, private labels provide an opportunity for platforms to boost profitability and ensure consistent quality. ■ PAGE 5 CIA says lab likely source of Covid; China junks claim THE CIA NOW believes the virus responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic most likely originated from a laboratory, reports AP. Chinese authorities have dismissed speculation about Covid's origins as unhelpful and motivated by politics. A spokesperson for China's US embassy has said the CIA report has no credibility. Major carmakers to see EV growth accelerate in 2025 THE YEAR 2025 will set the foundation for sales growth of passenger EVs in the country. Barring Nissan, Volkswagen, Renault, and Honda — which together have just 5% market share — all carmakers will have an EV in their portfolio by the end of 2025, reports Vikram Chaudhary. ■ PAGE 5 Conducive weather boosts prospects of wheat harvest THE PROSPECTS OF robust production of wheat, a key rabi crop, look bright, if the weather holds good in the next four to six weeks, officials said, reports Sandip Das. A higher output is likely to ease domestic supply situation. Wheat sowing this season has increased to 32 million hectare (Mha) against 31.56 Mha last year. ■ PAGE 4 Road map for debt reduction on cards RUN-UP TO THE BUDGET 2025-26 ● Fiscal deficit may be kept just below 4.5% for a fewyears PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, January 26 THE CENTRE, WHICH is on course to set its fiscal deficit below4.5% of thegrossdomesticproduct(GDP)in 2025-26 in line with the current fiscal consolidation path, may unveil a new medium-term road map forpublic debt to be on decliningtrajectoryinthecomingBudget. According to sources, the new debt-linked road map may require fiscal deficit to remain just below 4.5% for the next few years, rather than a steeper decline. However, for the debt reduction plan to hold, the fiscaldeficitwouldberequiredtofall to nearly 3% by FY31, the terminal year of the 16th Finance Commissionawardperiod,thesourcesadded. “Currently,growth and employment are top priorities for the gov- FISCAL PRUDENCE ■ Fiscal deficit would be required to fall to nearly 3% by FY31 for the debt reduction plan to hold ■ Centre's fiscal deficit was at 5.6% in FY24 and is estimated to be at 4.9% in FY25 ■ Fiscal deficit reduction in future is expected to be gradual -- 20-30 every year bps ■ Government rolled out a fiscal consolidation path in FY22 Budget, after fiscal deficit shot up to a record 9.2% in the Covid-19-affected FY21 ernment given the global uncertainties. It may not bring down the fiscal deficit substantially in the next few years. There is no need to beundulyconcernedaboutanycriticism this might draw from rating agencies,”an official said. Besides a likely slower pace of nominal GDP growth, the government’s likely giveaway of around `50,000croreinincometaxreliefto themiddleclasswon’tprovidemuch ■ FY26 deficit target is likely to be set at 4.5% of the GDP, around 40 basis points lower than that of FY25 scope to bring down fiscal deficit sharplyto lowerthan 4.5% in FY26. After the Centre’s fiscal deficit shot up to a record 9.2% in the Covid-19-affectedFY21,thegovernmentrolledoutaconsolidationpath in the FY22 Budget to bring down thefiscaldeficittobelow4.5%ofthe GDP. It was at 5.6% in FY24 and is estimated to be 4.9% in FY25. Continued on Page 6 FY26 nominal GDPgrowth maybe pegged at 10.4% THE UPCOMING UNION Budget may peg India’s nominal GDP growth in the next financial year at 10.4%, higher than 9.7% projected forFY25,according to an FE poll of 16 economists. A 10.4% nominal GDPgrowth is sufficient for the government to peg the FY26 fiscal deficit target,as a percentage of GDP,below 4.5%,they reckon,reports PriyanshVerma. Most economists saythe nominal GDP growth in FY26 is seen picking up mainly due to a rise in inflation, rather than real GDP expansion. The Budget for FY25 hadpeggedthecountry’snominal GDP growth at 10.5%, but the National Statistics Office (NSO),in its first advance estimates, has made a forecast of 9.7%. ■ PAGE 4 ● GRAND SHOWON 76TH REPUBLIC DAY Power producers oppose trial period non-payment rule DPDPrulesfuelstartuprush inconsentmanagementspace JATIN GROVER New Delhi, January 26 THE RECENTLY UNVEILED draft rules governing the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act has opened a new space for a host of startups to enter — consent management. Venture capital-backed startups such as Leegality, Signzy, IDfy, and 1Kosmos are positioning themselvestotapthisopportunity,which industry experts predict could be worththousandsofcroresofrupees in the coming years. The DPDP Act mandates the establishment of consent managers,entities thatwould act as single-pointcontactsforindividuals— referred to as data principals — to give,manage,review,andwithdraw consent through transparent and interoperableplatforms.Thisdevelopment provides an opportunity for startups offering tools to simplify and streamline consent management for businesses. Consent managers will play a Private banks’ Q3 NIMs shrink on unsecured loan stress SACHIN KUMAR Mumbai, January 26 PRIVATE BANKS HAVE witnessed a contractionintheirnetinterestmargins (NIMs) in the December 2024 quarter,partlyduetoincreasedstress in their unsecured loan portfolios and also because they have had to offermorecompetitiveinterestrates to attract depositors, which had pushed up theirinterest expenses. TheNIMsofprivatelendershave declinedbyanywherebetween2and 12 basis points quarter-on-quarter, impacted by higher provisions for badloans.Theriseinslippages,which referstostandardloansturninginto bad loans,was observed primarilyin theirretailunsecuredportfolios,particularly in credit cards, personal loans,and microfinance loans. “Industrywidewe have also seen an increase in delinquencies across unsecuredportfolios.Nowofcourse, it’snolongeronlypersonalloansand cards.Wehaveseenthatspreadtothe microfinancesegmentaswell,”Amit Talgeri, chief risk officer,Axis Bank, said on a post-earnings call. Continued on Page 6 THE ASSOCIATION OF Power Producers has expressed strong opposition to the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (CERC) recent regulation that eliminates payments for power supplied to the grid before the start of commercial production, reports fe Bureau. ■ PAGE 4 (Clockwise from top left) President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Prime Minister Narendra Modi leave the venue after the 76th Republic Day Parade in New Delhi on Sunday; the DRDO’s surface-tosurface tactical missile ‘Pralay’ on display; the Dare Devils, the motorcycle rider display team of the Indian Army, perform during the parade PTI & ANI FE S P E C I A L S COST OF DATA PRIVACY ■ Startups are planning to charge fiduciaries on per consent/per user basis, which could be anything between `2-10 per consent Subscription-based revenue models in the lines of SaaS companies are also being looked at pivotal role in helping data fiduciariescomplywiththeDPDPAct,startingwith notifying users about their existing data and obtaining explicit consent for its continued use. Leegality, a document infrastructure company backed by investors such as IIFL Fintech Fund and Mumbai Angels, is one such firm which indicated its intent to tap this opportunity.“We’ve been ■ DPDPAct mandates establishment of consent managers to give, manage, review, and withdraw consent through transparent and interoperable platforms ■ Sectors such as BFSI, retail, and telecom are expected to adopt consent management solutions early Industry has asked if account aggregators in banking can pivot into consent management ■ working on consent governance since the DPDPActwas introduced. Oncetheapplicationprocessopens, we plan to registeras consent managers,” said Shivam Singla, founder and CEO of Leegality. Singla outlined potential pricing models,suggesting a per-user charge ranging between `2-10 per consent. Continued on Page 6 Cadence keen on India GPU plans JATIN GROVER New Delhi, January 26 AS INDIALOOKStodevelopindigenous graphics processing units (GPUs) amid potential restrictions on exports from the US,Californiabased Cadence Design Systems said it is open to working with the government.Thecompanyalsoseesthe initiative as an opportunity to unlock new business prospects going forward. Cadence specialises in electronic design and automation tools and services. “If CDAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) or any company does a GPU design, theywouldneedourtools,”Jaswinder Ahuja,India managing director and corporate vice president at Cadence Design Systems told FE.“Whenever there is electronics or semiconductor design happening, that creates an opportunity for Cadence,”Ahuja said, adding this is where an alignment between India’s aspirations and Cadence business comes in. OnJanuary13,theUSannounced restrictions on advanced AI chip exports.The new regulations,which areexpectedtocomeintoeffectinthe nextthreemonths,willcapthenumber of GPUs that can be exported to most countries.According to Ahuja, NEW OPPORTUNITY ■ India contributes a minuscule share to Cadence’s global revenue of over $4 billion ■ Its Indian ■ In the India workforce strength is around market, 4,200 out of a global workforce of over 12,000 employees 80% of Cadence's tools are used by multinationals in services and in global capability centres the intent behind restrictions by the US is to prevent GPUs going towards unfriendly countries like China. “India will not be as much impacted byit as it is a technologypartnerand friendlycountry,” he said. Continued on Page 6 IDFCFirstBankMFI Oman trade pact Premiumproducts provisionstoease talks to get a push ruleR-Daysales IDFC FIRST BANK has had a mixed Q3FY25 but its MD and CEO, V Vaidyanathan, estimates the provisionsforthemicrofinance(MFI)book will come down starting Q1FY26.In an interview, he tells Anupreksha Jain that otherportfolios of the bank are stable. He also said the bank’s “deposits are really coming on very well.Weareentirelyfocusedonbetter service tocustomers.” ■ PAGE 7 TALKSONTHEIndia-OmanComprehensiveEconomicPartnershipAgreement(CEPA)isexpectedtogetapush duringcommerceandindustryminister Piyush Goyal’s two-day visit to Muscat beginning Monday. “Both sidesarenegotiatingandexploringa commercially significant,balanced, equitable, ambitious and mutually beneficialCEPA,”thegovernmentsaid inastatement. ■ PAGE 3 CONSUMERSHAVECONTINUEDto show a preference for premium products versus entry-level goods, reveal sales trends during the first shoppingweekendofthisyear—the Republic Day weekend.This comes as an urban slowdown continues to weigh on middle-class wallets even as the premium and affluent class remain immune to it, reports Viveat Susan Pinto. ■ PAGE 5 Indian-American’s competing offer for Religare may have come too late; ball in Sebi’s court ■ BRANDWAGON, P10 Hitting against the spin Dannyplaysthewildcardfor‘under-valuedopportunity’ Can JioStar hit its Champions Trophy ad revenue target? FE BUREAU New Delhi, January 26 ■ PERSONAL FINANCE, P8 DIGVIJAY ‘DANNY’ GAEKWAD started living theAmerican Dream much before he left India. While doing his political science major at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda,Vadodara,he had told his friends that he would someday have his picture taken with an American president. He has indeed lived the dream mega-size. His personal website says “to date, Danny has met and been photographed with three US presidents: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Donald Trump”. Like many other fellow Indian-Americans, Gaekwad is an unabashed admirer of the last gentleman on the list for what he calls Trump’s “progressive”policies. Going by his announcement on Friday evening, Gaekwad has now Joint-life plan offers shared cover The premium is less than that for two separate term plans ■ OPINION, P7 Sachetisation of internet bandwidth Small-ticket data plans under PM-WANI can enable flexible, affordable internet access turned his attention to his homeland.Hehasmadeacompetingoffer for Religare Enterprises, for `275 a share,just two days before the open offer of `235 a share made by the Burman family opens on Monday. On Sunday, Gaekwad clarified that his offer is to acquire 55% stake. The Burman Group shot back on Sunday, saying that Gaekwad’s request lacks substance,bona fides, and any indication of financial capacityto purchase Religare stake. It has also come too late, the statement said. The ball is obviously in the market regulator’s court now. The son of a judge and grandson of an IndianArmyColonel,60-yearold Gaekwad is certainly not miser in self-praise. The websites of his companies describe him as a “visionary, passionate leader, and a renaissance entrepreneur”. However, there are hardly any financial details available. He is on the board of trustees at the University of CentralFloridaandstaysata500acre mansion in Florida with his family comprising wife Manisha and sons Kunal and Karan. Gaekwad is the founder-CEO of NDS US, an IT & cloud services company,and the founder of Danny G Management,which owns and operates various restaurants and hotels. He also owns DG Hospitality, a hotel and restaurant management consulting company, and Danny Gaekwad Development & Investments, which oversees his real estate investments. In 2023, he founded Gala Bank in Ocala, Florida. National Growth, one of his companies,haslauncheda privateREIToffering only available to accredited investors, which requires a minimum investment of $100,000.“By implementing ourstrategy,enabled bytheuseofour“secretsauce”,weare able to produce stellar returns for both cash investors and investors whocontributeeligiblepropertiesin exchange for equity in the REIT”,his website says. The road to the big league in Americawasn’t an easyone afterhe arrived in the US in 1987.Without a job for many months, he started his maiden entrepreneurial venture, a convenience store in Orlando, with $5,000 borrowed from friends.That one store grewto a chain of 26 across Florida,and he sold the chain eight years later. He then launched his next venture, NDS USA, a medical billing and transcription company. SHYAM KUMAR PRASAD In five years it grew to become the largest medical billing and transcription business in the world. Gaekwadenteredthehospitality industry and real estate developmentin1997.Hisflagshipbusiness, Danny Gaekwad Developing and Investments,istheparentcompany overseeing his real estate investments and other subsidiaries. Over the last three decades, he has built over a dozen small- and mediumsizedentitiesincludingconvenience stores, real estate development, hotels,restaurantsandITconsulting companies located throughout the countryand internationally. Today, his group owns more than a dozen properties within the hospitality sector, including premium brands such as Intercontinental Hotel Group, Carlson Hotel Group and Hilton HotelWorldwide. Continued on Page 6 HYDERABAD