INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 7 COMPANIES | PAGE 4 Reciprocal tariffs by US may spur tradewar COMPANIES | PAGE 5 SoftBankVision Funds lose $2.3 bn in Q3 HindujaLeylandFinanceto listinFY26:DheerajHinduja AHMEDABAD, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2025 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XIX 215, 48 PAGES, `12 P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E SENSEX: 76,171.08 ▼ 122.52 NIFTY: 23,045.25 ▼ 26.55 NIKKEI 225: 38,963.70 ▲ 162.53 HANG SENG: 21,857.92 ▲ 563.06 `/$: 86.89 ▼ 0.06 `/€: 90.13 ▼ 0.54 BRENT: $76.33 ▼ $0.67 GOLD: `84,688 ▼ `393 US President Donald Trump has paused enforcement of an anti-corruption law ■ EXPLAINER, P9 unwieldy with nearly 3,000 amendments carried out over the years, including those necessitated by court rulings. The new Bill, however, doesn't propose to undertake many substantive changes in tax policy.Nor does it seek to alter any tax rate,or tweak other defining provisions like exemptions or holding periods of capital assets for taxation. The proposed law,which will be effective from April 1, 2026 after being passed by Parliament, seeks to replaces the term ‘previous year’ as mentioned in the extant lawwith‘tax year’aligned with the financial year (April-March). Also, the concept of assessment year has been done away with. Further, all sections related to tax deducted at source (TDS) have been combined under a single clause, in keeping with the policy of reducing the number of TDS rates and thresholds. Continued on Page 10 Demat a/cs hit 150 mn; SIP flows robust ■ REPORT, PAGE 6 RBIcaughtina cleftonliquidity THE RBI seems to be caught in a Catch-22 situation. On one hand, it cannot let the rupee slide endlessly; on the other, it has to ensure that there is enough liquidity, report Sachin Kumar & Joydeep Ghosh. Consequently, it is fighting on both fronts – defending the rupee while the size of the VVR has risen to record levels. ■ PAGE 6 PRIYANSH VERMA New Delhi, February 12 RETAILINFLATION MODERATED to a five-monthlowof4.31%inJanuary duetoasharpfallinvegetableprices, fuellingexpectationsofanotherrate cut in April, as prices of key commoditiesremainsubdued.However, pressures from depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar and tariff-related threats continue to pose upside risks to the inflation trajectory,whichwarrants constant monitoringbypolicymakers,sayexperts. Data released separately showed that the index of industrial production (IIP) growth slowed to a threemonth low 3.2% in December as against 5% in November,partlydue to high base effect, which curbed manufacturing growth rate. Going forward, economists expectmildimprovementinfactory outputgrowthduetoexpectationof improving consumption demand with base effect helping the manufacturing segment.Positive effect of a pick-up in government’s infrastructure expenditure is also seen. According to experts, the decline in vegetable inflation is expected to continue in the next couple of months and the headline print for February and March could be in the 3.9-4% range.Core inflation inched up to 3.7% in January from 3.6% in Jan 2025 ONGC NTPC GREEN (ONGPL) 125 150 CDSL demat accounts in million 18,838 Jan 2024 Aug Source: AMFI, CDSL 2020 Nov 2021 Kotak Mahindra gets RBI relief THE RESERVE BANK of India (RBI) on Wednesday lifted the nearly 10-month-long restrictions on Kotak Mahindra Bank, which had prevented the lender from onboarding new digital clients and issuing credit cards due to deficiencies in its IT infrastructure, reports Sachin Kumar. ■ PAGE 6 Nov 2022 Nov 2023 Jun 2024 Feb 12 2025 Blinkit to deliver TVin 10 minutes BLINKIT, THE QUICK commerce arm of food delivery platform Zomato, on Wednesday announced that it would start delivering TV through its platform in select areas of Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru, reports Raghav Aggarwal. Initially, the company will deliver Xiaomi Smart LED TVs. ■ PAGE 5 TARIFF WAR, RE FALL LOOM signedanagreementonWednesday to buy Ayana Renewable Power from National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), British International Investment and its subsidiaries and Eversource Capital at an enterprise value of `19,500 crore ($ 2.3 billion). This is the second-largest acquisition in the renewable energy space in the country,afterAdani Green Energy’s (AGEL) acquisition of SB Energy »INSIDE« Indiafor$3.5billion in October INDIA ENERGY 2021. WEEK: FULL Ayana,majorCOVERAGE ity owned by PAGE 2 NIIF, has 4.1 GW operational and under-construction assets. A majority of Ayana’s portfolio is located in resource-rich states and is contracted with offtakers such as SECI, NTPC, GUVNL, IndianRailways,amongothers,said ONGPL, a 50:50 joint venture between ONGC Green (OGL) and NTPCGreenEnergy(NGEL).ONGPL signed a share purchase agreement (SPA) on Wednesday to acquire 100% equitystake in the company. This is the first acquisition for ONGPL since its formation in November 2024.“It aligns with the broadervisionofitsultimateParent Companies (ONGC and NTPC) to Electricity 6.2 Growth (in %) 7.9 8 IIP 0 5.0 7 4 4.7 0 3.2 3.8 Manufacturing 3.0 -4 Mining -8 Jul Aug Sep 2024 Oct Nov ■ Core inflation inched up December,buteconomistssayitwill remain capped in the short term. The RBI announced the first cut infiveyearstothereporatelastweek –by25basispointsto6.25%.Itprojects CPI inflation for FY25 at 4.8% with Q4 at 4.4%. And on the assumption of a normal monsoon next year, inflation for FY26 is projected at 4.2% with Q1 at 4.5%; Q2 SANJAY KUMAR MAZUMDER, Dec 2.6 ■ Economists expect to 3.7% in January from 3.6% in December, but economists say it will remain capped in the short term ONGC-NTPC JVbuys Ayana Renewable for`19,500 crore RAGHAVENDRA KAMATH Mumbai, February 12 26,400 MF SIP inflows in ` crore 100 IN THE PAST few months, the Indian stock markets have seen a steep fall. However, retail investors have kept their faith. In January, the SIP book rose by `26,000 crore – the second time in two consecutive months. There has been a sharp rise in inflows into safer schemes such as large caps, gold ETFs & debt funds, and even mid-and small-cap funds have seen record inflows. What is more interesting is that the number of demat accounts in the Central Depository Services (CDSL) rose to 150 million on February 12 – a new milestone. Inflation at a 5-month low in Jan; IIPgrowth slows mild improvement in factory output growth due to expectation of rise in consumption at 4.0%; Q3 at 3.8%; and Q4 at 4.2%. Going ahead, food inflation pressures, minus any supply side shock, should see a significant softeningduetogoodkharifproduction, winter-easinginvegetablepricesand favourablerabicropprospects,while core inflation is expected to rise but remain moderate, according to the RBI. ■ DETAILED REPORTS, PAGE 2 SCdeprecates freebieculture; sayspeoplenot willingtowork ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 12 COMING DOWN HEAVILY on the achieve their net zero targets by 2038 and 2050 respectively. ONGPL shall now provide impetus toAyana platform forfurtherscale,” ONGPL said. India has a commitment to achieve net zero emissions by2070 and 500 GW of renewable capacity by 2030. announcement of freebies by governments and political parties before elections, the Supreme Court Wednesday asked ‘are we not creating a class of parasites’ and said this is disincentivising people from working and,in states like Maharashtra, drying up the labour force. When the bench of Justices B R Gavai and A G Masih was hearing a plea regarding shelter homes for the homeless, a petitioner said policies are only designed for the rich. “Main victims are the havenots, the poor people, the homeless. Unfortunately, the cause of homelessness is not addressed. That’s the least priority in this country.Compassion,I am sorry to say, is only for the rich and not for the poor,” the petitioner said. Justice Gavai took exception to the submission that compassion is onlyforthe rich,and cautioned him not to make political speeches. “Don’t make a speech (like) at Ramlila Maidan in this court. In court, restrict yourself to the argument.Ifyouareespousingthecause of someone, restrict it (to that). Don’t make unnecessary allegations.Don’t make a political speech here.Wewillnotallowourcourthall to be converted into a political platform,”he said. Continued on Page 10 Continued on Page 10 CEO, ONGC GREEN The acquisition is a strategic milestone in ONGC Green& NTPC Green Energy’s pursuit of clean energy RAJIV GUPTA, CEO, NTPC GREEN ENERGY This also aligns with NGEL’s mission of achieving the ambitious target of 60 GW by FY32 Convenience factor, increased discounting & availability of a wide assortment of products driving shift Modern trade seesvolume decline as q-comm rises 2022 2023 Oct-Dec -1.1 3.8 Volume growth (figures in %) July-Sept shopping within urban areas is beginning to hurt modern trade hard as consumers switch to qcommerce platforms. Data from market research agency NielsenIQ show that the October-December 2024 period saw a volume decline of 1.1% in modern trade, the first time in 10 quarters. Modern trade contributes 12% to fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sales while traditional trade’s share is 80% and e-commerce is about 5-8%. Within ecommerce, q-commerce share is one third, sector experts said. But this share is growing rapidly for DOWNWARD SPIRAL: MODERN TRADE 6.7 THE CONVENIENCE FACTOR in FMCG companies, prompting them to realign their channel priorities, devoting more time, energy and resources to q-commerce as consumers seek instant gratification. "Signs of a slowdown within modern trade was becoming apparent overthe last fewquarters. But a volume decline shows just how fast q-commerce platforms are moving and its acceptance among consumers," Krishnarao Buddha, a Mumbai-based marketing and retail consultant, who was earlier with Parle Products,said. NielsenIQ data show that there has been a steady drop in volume growth for modern trade since the June 2024 quarter.It stood at 6.7% for the June quarter, down by over half from March 2024 quarter 15.4 VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO Mumbai, February 12 Apr-Jun Will kickbacks be part of business policy now? `31 lakh crore Direct tax cases locked in disputes (as in 2023-24); it is 9.6% of GDP Jan-Mar ■ EFE, P9 23 Typical time for resolution of tax dispute reaching SC 20.2 Qure.ai’s qXR tool enhances diagnostic accuracy from X-rays Usual time for a case to proceed from CITAppeal level Oct-Dec AI to speed up lung cancer detection Chapters 823 24.7 FE S P E C I A L S Pages 5 years 15 years July-Sep ■ PAGE 7 14 Schedule 21.1 US INFLATION PICKED up broadly at the start of the year, further undercutting chances of multiple Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts this year at the same time the Trump administration presses forward with tariffs, reports Bloomberg. The core CPI climbed 0.4%, more than forecast, fuelled by car insurance and airfares. 23 298 Apr-Jun US inflation tops forecasts, bolstering case for Fed to hold 622 Sections 14.7 BRITISH INSURER AND asset management company Prudential announced on Wednesday that it is evaluating a potential listing of ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, India’s secondlargest fund house. ■ PAGE 6 16 Old I-T Act Jan-Mar Prudential plans to list JV with ICICI mutual fund 536 Direct cases pending with Commissioner-IT (Appeals), the first appellate forum 75 THE CABINET SECRETARY is expected to take a final call on a proposal for providing around `90,000crore relief package to telecom operators by waiving off a significant portion of their adjusted gross revenue dues, reports Jatin Grover. ■ PAGE 4 THE GOVERNMENT IS set to introduce a Bill in Parliament today to replace the Income Tax Act 1961,with a simplified,somewhat abridged, and in-tune-withthe-times new code. The move marks the cul»INSIDE« mination of years of efforts BUILDING & to make the sixSERVICE decade old legisCONTRACT RULES PART lation less comOF BILL plex and P3 minimise IT SEARCH chances of disRULESTO putes arising COVER CRYPTO from ambiguity P3 and varying interpretation of the provisions. It is also expected to spur tax compliance. The Income Tax Bill 2025 has 536 sections, 23 chapters, 16 schedules and runs into 622 pages. The current Act, which has 823 pages, has as many chapters as in the new Bill but fewer sections (298) and schedules (14). However, it is more prone to conflicting interpretations and is New Bill 500,000 12.7 `90,000-cr telco relief package awaits Cabinet secy’s call PRIYANSH VERMA New Delhi, February 12 TO AID TAX COMPLIANCE Oct-Dec THE SUPREME COURT on Wednesday gave an extension to Floridabased businessman Digvijay (Danny) Gaekwad till Thursday afternoon to deposit the earnest amount of `600 crore for his competing offer to acquire a majority stake in Religare Enterprises, permitting a cash deposit for the same. ■ PAGE 6 toTDS combined undera single clause 14 Religare takeover: SC grants Danny Gaekwad more time ● All sections related July-Sept PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA Modi is expected to arrive in Washington late Wednesday beginning his two-day US visit, during which he will hold a bilateral meeting with President Donald Trump seeking to shore up bilateral cooperation, reports PTI. I-T law made easier, ‘tax year’ introduced 50 Modi wraps up France visit, leaves for US BILLTO BETABLED IN PARLIAMENTTODAY 25 IN THE NEWS 2024 Source: NielsenIQ (15.4%).Bythe Septemberquarter, volume growth for modern trade had fallen to 3.8%,data show. Organised retailers including players such asAvenue Supermarts, which runs DMart, Reliance Retail and Spencer's Retail have been vocal about the growth of q-com- merce and its impact on sales in metros. Neville Noronha, MD & CEO, Avenue Supermarts, recently said that the impact of q-commercewas to the tune of 1-2% on sales in metros for the retailer, though experts say that it is sharper owing to increased discounting, availability of a wide assortment of products and the trend of unplanned purchases going in favour of q-commerce. "We stay committed to being the most preferredvalue retailerto customers in the vicinity of a DMart store or a fulfilment centre of DMart Ready (online platform)," Noronha said after the company's December quarter results last month. Reliance Retail and Spencer's Retail, on the other hand, have already responded to the growing trend of convenience with the launch of theirq-comm operations, serviced by their network of stores. At the launch of JIFFY in January,which is the q-commerce platform of Spencer's Retail, chairman Shashwat Goenka said that q-commerce could not be ignored at all. "Convenience iswhere the market is moving,at least in urban centres. While q-commerce will continue to be a subset of e-commerce, it will still be the fastest growing channel of delivery,"he said. A recent CLSA report has said that the gross ordervalue of q-commerce players in India would triple to $18 billion by FY27 from $6 billion now, touching $78 billion by FY34. Ahmedabad