OPINION, P10 WELL BEING FE LINES ACROSS THE AISLE, P CHIDAMBARAM Sedentary lifestyles and an age of convenience have brought in a constant sense of fatigue in people. But are these the only factors to blame? Page 7 A study finds automation of tasks devoids people from mental exercise, cognitive skills Page 6 Budget abandons the lesser gods - I TIRED ALL THE TIME? VOL XIX NO. 36 GenAI & cognition LEISURE Follow us on Twitter & Facebook. App available on App Store & Play Store WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM BEYOND SUSHI & SASHIMI AHMEDABAD FINANCIAL EXPRESS ON SUNDAY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2025 24 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 , The growing popularity of Japanese cuisine in India Page 9 READ TO LEAD H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K A T A , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , ● Unusual success mantras behind Paragon restaurants IVINDER GILL Kozhikode, February 15 AN ENTRANCE with Sumesh Govind feels like you are accompanyingsomefilmstar.People turn their heads, stand up to shake hands with him, and even stop him forselfies. Only, Govind is no filmstar, but owner of Paragon group of restaurants, with outlets in Kerala and West Asia. Among the A-listers on online food guide Taste Atlas for some years now, the 86-year-old MAKING ■ SPOTLIGHT, P5 Breaking the ice How India is warming up to ice hockey by creating infrastructure and supporting players, and promoting the nascent sport to win hearts and matches in its quest for global glory ■ WORDS WORTH, P4 VV Ganeshananthan, author For migrants, having authority over narratives of our homeland is not easy, says the American writer and journalist of Sri Lankan descent, who was at Jaipur Literature Festival 2025, talking about being a diaspora writer & more Oil & gas, financials, auto face intense FPI selling Overthesefourmonths, FPIswerenetsellersof equitiesamountingto $21billion.Duringthisperiod, SensexandNiftydeclinedby upto9%,whilethebroader BSEMidcapandBSESmallcap indicesfellbyupto13%. Compiled by Kishor Kadam (in $ mn*) 526 219 184 Sellers of s Utilities s Chemicals s Textiles Realty y Information on Technology y 55 (in $ mn*) Oil, gas & consumable fuels -5,583 -5,327 Financial services Automobiles, auto components -3,311 -2,499 FMCG -1,657 Source: NSDL Consumer services *between October 2024 and January 2025 Paragon retained 5th position on Taste Atlas list of most legendary restaurants in world, mainly due to its iconic biryani Paragon has maintained its 5th position in the list of the 100 most legendary restaurants in the world for 2024-25. Govind has invited us to one of Paragon owner Sumesh Govind (L) follows a gameplan India Inc would probably scoff at his new outlets for dinner, and we are eager to know what the fuss is all about. Turns out, there is more masala in Govind's story than in his food. He orders for us — course after course of seafood and meat.A preferred vegetarian, and especially not amenable to seafood, I am game for being out of my comfort zone for once. The meal begins with a flourish: buttery soft fish with just a hint of coconut and pepper, but the story starts with a dampener. “When I took over the business from my mother,who had steered it for nine years after my father died when I was 14, I soon ran it into the ground. Intoxicated by both freedom and money,I blew it all up very soon,” recalls Govind. Things came to such a pass that he almost gave up, stating the restaurant business was “not his cup of tea”. Today, the same Govind owns over 30 outlets in Kerala, Bengaluru, Dubai and Sharjah, and is revered like a celebrity. How? Continued on Page 2 New tariffs on `100L-cr propertyvalue autos around unlocked invillages: PM April 2:Trump GARIMA SADHWANI New Delhi, February 15 626 P U N E PROPERTY RIGHTS TO 22.5 MN UNDER SVAMITVA ● Says deregulation commission soon to end interference of govt in public life Buyers of D E L H I , Business lessons (un)learnt in a Kerala biryani WHAT'S INSIDE FOREIGN PORTFOLIO INVESTORS (FPIs) offloaded shares worth $24 billion across oil & gas, financials, auto, FMCG, consumer, and ten other sectors between October 2024 and January 2025, according to data from NSDL. At the same time, they purchased shares worth $3 billion in IT, realty, textiles, and four other sectors. N E W PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA Modi on Saturday said property value worth `100 lakh crore has been unlocked in rural areas of the country under his government’s Survey ofVillagesAbadi and Mappingwith Improvised Technology in Village Area (Svamitva) scheme. Speaking at a media summit in the national capital, Modi said over 300,000 villages have been surveyed under the scheme so far, and 22.5 million people have got property rights. Claiming that India will be the third-largest economy in just a few years, Modi said: “A young nation needs the speed which it is seeing now. Earlier, reforms were because of compulsion, not conviction. Now,it is the opposite.” He said his government had opened many sectors to the private NARENDRA MODI PRIME MINISTER JENNIFER A DLOUHY February 15 Banking the unbanked; securing the unsecured & funding the unfunded is our mission PRESIDENTDONALDTRUMP said he sector, like space, which is seeing a boom of startups. “Commercial coal mining has been opened to the private sector. We are promoting privatisation in therenewableenergyandpowerdistributionsectorstoo.InthisBudget, wehaveopenedupeventhenuclear sector for privatisation,”he said. Modi said he had just returned from the US and France, and the world believes in India like never before,aswasreflectedintheParisAI summittoo.“Indiatodayisatthecentre of the global future,and in some areas,we are leadingit too,” he said. With government schemes,250 million Indians had been elevated frompoverty.“Wehavegotaneomiddle class,who are aspiring for better lives.Inthisendeavour,wereducedI-T exemption limit to `12 lakh in the recentBudget.Thiswillspureconomic activityinthenation,”Modisaid. Continued on Page 2 New India Co-op Bank GM arrested for `122-cr fraud ANUPREKSHA JAIN Mumbai, February 15 THE MUMBAI POLICE on Saturday arrested Hitesh Mehta, general manager and head of accounts of New India Cooperative Bank, for allegedly misappropriating `122 crore from the bank,officials said. Mehta was placed under arrest by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the city police after being questioned for over three hours, SPEED BREAKER an official said. He was called to record his statement before the probe agency at its south Mumbai office after a case was registered against him and others. Mehta will be produced before a local court on Sunday, the police official added. The EOW raided Mehta's Dahisar residence and seized certain documents, said sources. Continued on Page 2 would unveil new tariffs on automobiles,adding to awave of sweeping import levies as he seeks to remake global trade relationships and pressure companies to move production to the US. “We are going to do that on around April 2,” Trump told reporters on Friday in the Oval Office, as he signed an executive order on energy policy. The move is the latest in a rapidly widening trade war as Trump delivers on his campaign pledgestoinstitutesweeping tariffs onUSallies andrivalsalike.Itcomes a dayafterTrump unveiled his most expansive measureyet,orderinghis administration to develop plans for imposing reciprocal tariffs on numerous trading partners, an effort to address what he says is a system that is tilted against the US. The reciprocal levies on nations that have import taxes on US goods could come as soon as April. Those levies are distinct from the sectoral tariffs Trump promised on autos and has threatened against other industries, including energy, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. Earlierthisweek,healsoannounced plans to slap 25% duties on steel and aluminum imports. Theautothreatofferstoputsome SANKHADEEP BANERJEE brands in Japan, Germany, S Korea in Trump’s crosshairs ■ About 80% ofVolkswagen’s US sales imported; 65% of HyundaiKia’s US sales imported ■ Industry trade groups warn of price hikes, supply-chain damage from tariffs Trump earlier announced plans to slap 25% duties on steel, aluminum imports of the biggest brands in Japan, Germany and South Korea in Trump’s crosshairs. Imports accounted for roughly half of the US auto market lastyear.About80%ofVolkswagen’s US sales are imported,while 65% of Hyundai-Kia’sUSsalesareimported, according to figures from Global Data,a market researcher. Trump on Friday did not provide anydetailsonthescopeorrateofthe potential auto levies. Continued on Page 2 Practice what you Viksit Bharat: Govt preach:EAMtoWest has roadmap ready EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTER S Jaishankar Police outside Dadar branch ■ Auto tariffs will put biggest took a dig at the Western countries for treating democracy as a "Western characteristic", accusing them of not practising abroad what they value at home. Jaishankar made these remarks at the Munich Security Conference. Page 21 UNION MINISTER MANSUKH Mandaviya on Saturday blamed previous governments for missing the opportunityto develop infrastructure for boosting economic expansion, saying the Modi government has prepared the roadmap to achieve the Viksit Bharat@2047 goal. Page 3 Compact SUVs set to outrace all other cars put together VIKRAM CHAUDHARY New Delhi, February 15 THE POPULARITY OF SUVs in India can be gauged from the fact that just one segment — sub-4 metre compact SUVs — is now almost as big as all passenger cars put together (hatchbacks, compact sedans, and midsize sedans). The April-January FY25 sales data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) shows that compact SUVs (1,098,609 units) are within touching distance of passenger cars (1,103,580 units) — short by just 4,971 units. Auto analysts told FE that these will become bigger than passenger cars within this financial year. “The rate at which compact SUV sales are growing — and with new launches of Skoda Kylaq in January and Kia Syros in February — I believe these will surpass passenger cars by next month,” an automotive analyst told FE. Despite the launch of new generations of popular passenger car models in 2024 — Maruti Suzuki Swift in May, Maruti Suzuki Dzire in November,and Honda Amaze in December — sales dropped 13.8%, from 1,280,899 units in April-January FY24 to 1,103,580 in April-January FY24. Sales of compact SUVs, however, rose 10.7% — from 992,787 units in April-January FY24 to RACING AHEAD (units, April-January) FY24 FY25 Compact SUVs 992,787 ■ Despite launch of new Swift, Dzire, Amaze, passenger car sales dropped ■ Compact SUV 1,098,609 sales grew 10.7 All passenger cars 1,280,899 1,103,580 1,098,609 units in April-January FY25 — despite no major launch or facelift. Sales were led by Tata Punch (whichisa2021model),followedby MarutiSuzukiBrezza(2022model), % YTD despite no major launch till December 2024 13.8 % YTD ■ There are 16 compact SUV models in India, as compared to 12 hatchbacks and 9 sedans andTata Nexon (2023 model). “This proves that new launches alone cannot revive a segment,” the analyst told FE. “Despite three heavyweight launches (Swift, Dzire, Amaze), small non-SUVs are languishing, as most buyers just want an SUV, nothing else.” It’s not that new models don’t get buyers — sales of the Dzire (launched on November 11) increased from 11,779 units in November, to 16,573 units in December, and 15,383 units in January — it’s just that occasional launches cannot revive an entire segment. In the case of compact sedans, while sales of new Dzire and Amaze grew, those of Hyundai Aura and Tata Tigor remained flat. Then there is also the sheer choice that has come up in compact SUVs. With the launch of Kia Syros (February) and Skoda Kylaq (January), there are 16 models in this space – Hyundai Exter and Venue, Kia Sonet and Syros, Mahindra 3XO and Thar, Maruti Suzuki Fronx, Brezza and Jimny, Nissan Magnite, Citroen C3, Renault Kiger, Skoda Kylaq, Tata Punch and Nexon, and Toyota Taisor. Inthe hatchbackspace,thereare 12models–MarutiSuzuki’sAlto,SPresso,WagonR,Celerio,Ignis,Swift and Baleno, Hyundai’s Grand i10 and i20,Tata’sTiago andAltroz,and Toyota’s Glanza. Continued on Page 2 Ahmedabad