BACK PAGE | PAGE 20 COMPANIES | PAGE 4 Reliance trumpsApple in FutureBrand Index INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 7 Gold sourcing costs up for jewellery firms MUMBAI, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2025 European leaders in huddle over Ukraine FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL LXV NO. 41, 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 , 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: 75,996.86 ▲ 57.65 NIFTY: 22,959.50 ▲ 30.25 NIKKEI 225: 39,174.25 ▲ 24.82 HANG SENG: 22,616.23 ▼ 4.10 `/$: 86.88 ▼ 0.05 `/€: 90.99 ▲ 0.01 BRENT: $74.76 ▲ $0.02 GOLD: `84,923 ▼ `846 CO-OPBANKSWELL-REGULATED,SAYS DEASECY Higherbankdeposit coveronthecards PRIYANSH VERMA Mumbai, February 17 1800 419 8300 (Toll Free) Follow us @PSBIndOfficial RISE AGAINST CANCER An advertorial appears in today’s edition of Financial Express. 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IN THE NEWS Contours of trade pact with US likely in 2 weeks THE TRADE PACT that India and the US have agreed to negotiate during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Washington will explore ways to boost trade on a give-and-take basis, reports Mukesh Jagota. ■ PAGE 2 Jio-bp to expand its retail network, EV charging infra JIO-BPAIMS TO expand its retail network and EV charging infrastructure while enhancing customer experience to bolster its position, reports Arunima Bharadwaj. ■ PAGE 5 Buyers under 40 put luxury car sales in top gear NEARLY ONE IN every two luxury cars sold in the country is purchased by a buyer under 40, a significant drop from nearly 50-year-olds just a few years ago, reports Swaraj Baggonkar. ■ PAGE 4 THE GOVERNMENT IS “actively considering” a higher insurance cover for bank deposits from the ceiling of `5 lakh fixed less than five years ago, department of financial services (DFS) secretary M Nagaraju said on Monday. The move comes in the backdropof the recent fraudat New India Co-operative Bank (NICB). The episode has raised fresh concerns about safety of bank deposits,and the regulatory oversight on co-operative banks, even though the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) now has enhanced powers to regulate these entities. Speaking at an event, Nagarajusaid,“Thepointabout increasing insurance (for bank deposits) is under active consideration. As and when the government approves, we will notifyit.”The official,however, didn’t indicate what the new threshold could be or the time ON THE DRAWING BOARD ■ Came into effect from April 1, 2020, first revision after 27 years ■ A substantial hike from the previous cap of `1 lakh, raised in 1993 ■ 97.7% of the total number of deposit accounts (2.94 billion) fully insured as on Sept 30, 2024 FE SPECIALS an artificial island near Mumbai MIHIR MISHRA New Delhi, February 17 of depositors' settled 1,432 cr worthall of which for claimsbanks in FY24, co-op period in which the cap will be raised.Healsodeclinedtocomment specifically on the NICB crisis, and said that the RBI is seized of the matter. Separately, at the same event, economic affairs secretaryAjaySeth said thatwhile it is the regulator’s job to take FINANCE MINISTER NIRMALA Sitharaman on Monday said thatinsurershavebeenaskedto extend the free-look period for life insurance policies to one year, from the current one month. If implemented, this would be a significant development,as it will curb mis-selling ofinsurancepoliciesinabigway. The free-look period is the timeframeduringwhichpolicyholders can cancel their policy and get back the entire premium without penalties if theybelieve itwas mis-sold. While addressing the post-Budget conference, NIRMALA SITHARAMAN, FINANCE MINISTER Guardrails are being put in place to ensure profits and investments stay in India Continued on Page 18 POLICY FINE PRINT ■ If implemented, the move would curb mis-selling of insurance policies in a big way ■ Free-look period for life insurance policies is one month at present ■ It is the timeframe during which policyholders can cancel their policy without penalties Sitharamanalsosaidthatinternal consultations on the InsuranceAmendmentBillhavebeen completed.However,thelawwill need to be amended before the Bill canbe introduced. Continued on Page 18 ● SIP ISTHE PERFECTPRODUCT: BUCH Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and SBI chairman CS Setty with others at the launch of SBI Mutual Fund's JanNivesh SIP scheme, in Mumbai on Monday. Buch said there’s no time like present to invest in SIPs as it averages out cost of acquisition ■ REPORT ON PAGE 6 ■ Proposed bullet train line between Mumbai and Ahmedabad to make a pit stop nearby ■ The Vadhvan airport project is 125 kilometres from Mumbai’s existing international airport ■ Built on reclaimed land, it will not only boost connectivity, but also avoid land acquisition delays ■ Upcoming facility ■ One big hurdle will be ensuring that it gets enough fliers port and Osaka’s Kansai InternationalAirportwhich are also built on man-made islands, one of the people said. In a meeting last month, theprojectgotinitialapprovals from the environment and defencedepartmentsaswellas THE BENCHMARK INDICES have corrected by around 12% from their peaks in late September, and the broader indices saw a steeper decline of nearly 21%.As a result, the number of companieswith a market cap of over `1 lakh crore has shrunk from 106 as of September 26, 2024, to 82 till February 17, and a total of 26 companies have exited the `1-lakh-crore market cap club. Among the top 10 firms, Reliance Industries has remained the most-valued company, though its market cap slumped by 18.4%, from `20.3 lakh crore on September 26 to `16.57 lakh crore on February 17.TCS, which ranked second, saw its market cap fall by 9% to `14.1 lakh crore. HDFC Bank, ranked third, recorded a 3.4% decline in market cap to `13.1 lakh crore. FM asks insurers to extend ‘free-look’period to 1year ANUPREKSHAJAIN Mumbai, February 17 TAKING OFF ■ Rapid commute options are crucial between the new project and other airports in the city the Maharashtra government, they said. Feasibility studies will be initiated, with Airports AuthorityofIndiaassistingthe process, after which an estimated investment figure will emerge,the people said. The Vadhvan airport pro- will be similar to Hong Kong International Airport and Osaka’s Kansai International Airport ject — roughly 125 kilometres from Mumbai’s existing international airport — showcases both the scale of the government’s ambitionsaswellasthe challenges ahead. Continued on Page 18 26 firms exit `1-lakh-cr M-cap club action against banks where weaknesses have been found, painting all co-operative banks with the same brush is not right. He noted that such banks were working well in many states. Final verdict on Vedanta demerger proposal today VEDANTA’S CREDITORS WILL meet on Tuesday to give their final verdict on a plan to split the the company into at least five different businesses, a key step to simplify its structure and ease the debt burden, reports Bloomberg. ● To come up on THE GOVERNMENT IS planning to build its first offshore airport near Mumbai, people familiarwiththemattersaid,as part of the efforts to overhaul the country’s infrastructure. Thenewairportwillbeconstructed on an artificial island near the Vadhvan seaport on the west coast, according to people familiar who did not want to be identified as the details are private.The upcoming facility will be similar to Hong Kong International Air- The current `5 lakh limit: ■ 42.6% of the value of all deposits of `227.3 lakh crore insured India to build first offshore airport TOP 10 LOSERS Samvardhana Motherson 41.3 Sept 26, 2024 Feb 17, 2025 % change 1,35,714 75,442 1,49,732 87,916 Suzlon Energy 36.6 1,10,713 70,162 Hero MotoCorp 35.9 1,20,975 77,535 1,08,765 71,433 1,00,616 66,968 1,24,507 84,342 JSW Energy 44.4 Rail Vikas Nigam 34.3 Colgate-Palmolive India 33.4 Adani Energy Solutions 32.3 Cummins India 28.2 1,31,410 91,152 1,05,170 75,459 IndusInd Bank 27.8 1,13,141 81,637 Bajaj Housing Finance 30.6 `122 crore carried over fiveyears in a backpack ANUPREKSHA JAIN Mumbai, February 17 MONEYTRAIL LIKE LAKHS OF Mumbaikars travelling by local trains, Hitesh Mehta carried a backpack to office and back for five longyears.The onlydifference: The general managerand head of accounts of New India Cooperative Bank was often illegallycarrying lakhs,and sometimes even crores (when `2,000 notes were still in circulation) in that backpack. By his own admission to the police, in all, he carried `122 crorebetween2019and2024– an amount that led to the temporary shutdown of the bank last Friday.While sources said thattheauditorswillbeinvestigated, the modus operandi of theoperationhascausedquitea flutteramid investigators. Sources said that Mehta had given `70 crore to Dharmesh Paun, a private developer from Mumbai’s Kandivali, and another `40 ■ Hitesh Mehta, ■ `70 crore given to Dharmesh Paun, a private developer from Kandivali, who is the second accused GM and head of accounts of New India Co-op Bank, carried the money between 2019 and 2024 was embezzled from the safe in Prabhadevi, `10 crore was siphoned off from Goregaon branch he and Mehta have been remanded to custody till February 21. Sources, however, said Paun has denied receiving the money from Mehta, sources said.The EOWis investigating the builder’s Charkop rehabilitation project. Continued on Page 18 Continued on Page 18 unknown where Mehta used the remaining `12 crore ■ Another `40 cr went to a solar panel contractor, Unnanathan Arunachalam, the third accused who is absconding crore to a solar panel contractor,UnnanathanArunachalam alias Arunbhai, who is absconding, and is the third accused in the case. It is still unknown where Mehta used the remaining `12 crore. PaunwasarrestedbyMumbaiPolice’s EconomicOffences Wing (EOW) on Sunday. Both MUKESH JAGOTA New Delhi, February 17 INDIA’S MERCHANDISE TRADE deficit touched $23 billion in January as exports of petroleum products more than halved last month while imports of machinery, raw materials and gold showed significant growth rates. Overall goods exports contracted 2.38% on year to $36.43 billion, a third straight month of contraction. Imports were up 10.2% at $59.42 billion. While the deficit is in line with the trend of the past few months, the 58% decline in exports of petroleum products in Januaryto $3.5 billion,from $8.6 billion, when crude oil prices were up on year made a big dent in numbers.The merchandise trade deficit was $16.5 billion in January 2024. ■ It is still ■ While `112 crore Exportsdrop 2.4%inJan, tradedeficit asexpected Signals Beijing’s support for long-marginalised private sector Healthy Q3 for Hindalco Scrap prices likely to normalise in the coming quarters ■ INVESTOR P9 Trai’s crackdown on spammers Key changes made in regulations to curb pesky calls and SMSes ■ EXPLAINER, P9 Lovelost&found:XiembracesMa,otherChinesebizleaders BLOOMBERG February 17 CHINESE PRESIDENT XI Jinping presided over a meeting with Alibaba co-founder Jack Maandotherprominententrepreneurs on Monday,signaling Beijing’s endorsement for a long-marginalised private sectornowconsideredkeytoreviving theworld’s No.2 economy. Jinping drew many of the biggestnames inChinesebusiness over the past decade,representing industries from chipmaking and electric vehicles toAI.The summit demonstrated Beijing’s softer stance towards the companies that fuel most of economy, just as Washingtonrampsupapotentiallydebilitating campaign of global tariffs. Xi delivered a speech after hosting Ma, Meituan’s Wang Xing and Xiaomi chief Lei Jun, state media reported.Also present were Wang Xingxing of robotics startup Unitree, DeepSeek founderLiangWenfeng and HuaweiTechnologies founder Ren Zhengfei — considered key figures in China’s ambition to reduce its reliance on US technology. Xi shook hands with Unitree’s Wang, Ren and Ma. China’s leader urged the assembled founders and CEOs to maintain their competitive spirit and have confidence in ECONOMY BOOSTER ■ Besides Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma, Xi met Xiaomi chief Lei Jun, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei ■ DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng, Tencent founder Pony Ma and BYD’s Wang Chuanfu were also present ■ The meeting shows a softer stance towards the private sector just as the US ramps up global tariffs XI JINPING, CHINESE PRESIDENT It is necessary to remove all kinds of obstacles to fair participation in market competition ■ Xi promised to abolish unreasonable fees or fines against private firms and level the competitive playing field the country’s future, emphasising that the challenges they faced were “temporary”. He promised to abolish unreasonable fees or fines against pri- vate firms and level the competitive playing field — a common complaint of entrepreneurs in a state-dominated system. On Monday, China’s Parliament said it would review laws centred on promoting the private economy. “Itisnecessarytoresolutely removeallkindsofobstaclesto the equal use of production factorsandfairparticipationin market competition,” Xi told the entrepreneurs, according toXinhua.Beijing should“continuetopromotethefairopening of the competitive field of infrastructure to all kinds of businessentities,andcontinue to make great efforts to solve the problem of difficult and expensivefinancingforprivate enterprises”,Xi said. Tencent Holdings founder PonyMa —whoseWeChat pioneeredthe“superapp”concept that has since been lauded by Elon Musk — also attended, CCTV reported. So too did BYD’sWangChuanfuandContemporary Amperex Technol- ogy’sRobinZeng,drivinghome China’s rapid ascent in EVs. “This is the strongest signal China could release to boost social confidence.The fact that Xi Jinping himself shows up to meet with the entrepreneurs highlights the political significanceofthismeeting,”saidYou Chuanman, senior lecturer at the School of Law, Singapore University of Social Sciences. Chinese stocks, which surged in the past month on optimism over the nation’s advances inAIwith the advent of DeepSeek’s large-language model, swung between gains and losses on Monday. Continued on Page 18