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APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM VOL 34 NO. 94, 20 PAGES, `12 (NORTH EAST STATES `12.00 & ANDAMAN `20.00) 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 READ TO LEAD SENSEX: 75,939.19 ▼ 28.20 NIFTY: 22,932.90 ▼ 12.40 NIKKEI 225: 39,164.61 ▼ 105.79 HANG SENG: 22,944.24 ▼ 32.57 *`/$: 86.95 ▼ 0.07 *`/€: 90.99 ▲ 0.01 BRENT: $76.46 ▲ $0.62 GOLD: `86,360 ▲ `973 NOBODYCANARGUEWITH ME: US PREZ ON RECIPROCALTARIFF ‘Very unfair’ forTesla to set shop in India:Trump 100% import duty” and “unfair”.According to a White House fact sheet,India imposes AMID THE HYPE over Tesla’s a 100% tariff on US motorcyrenewed plans to manufacture cles,whiletheUStariffonIndian its cars in India, US President motorcycles is just 2.4%. DonaldTrumphassaiditwould Tesla,which has long mainbe “very unfair” if Elon Musk tained minimal presence in has to set up a factoryin India. India,isnowactivelyrecruiting In an interview with Fox for13positions,includingcusNews,Trump said, tomer-facing and “...every country back-end roles. DONALD TRUMP, in the world takes The development US PRESIDENT advantage of us, has reignited and they do it I told PM Modi speculation about with tariffs. They Tesla’s longwhatever you have made it awaitedentryinto charge, I’m impossible for India, after years him (Musk) to sell of negotiations charging his cars (in India).” that saw multiple Musk who was roadblocks over High tariffs presentduringthe tax waivers and have made it interview,said“the localmanufacturimpossible for ing requirements. tariffs are like him (Musk) Foryears,Musk hasspokenagainst to sell his India’s high impcars (in ort duties, calling India) them a major barrier to Tesla’s expansion in the country. Trump said he made it clear toPrimeMinisterNarendraModi that India will not be spared from reciprocal tariffs,emphasising that “nobody can argue with me”on tariff structure. FE BUREAU New Delhi, February 19 Khara-led Irdai panel to review insurance reforms INSURANCE REGULATOR Irdai has set up a sevenmember committee, led by former SBI chairman Dinesh Khara, to review reforms in the sector, reports Narayanan V. ■ PAGE 7 Solid debut for Hexaware; lists at a premium of 7% HEXAWARE TECHNOLOGIES SHARE price outperformed the benchmark indices on its debut on Wednesday, reports Ananya Grover. The stock settled at `755.75 after listing at a premium of 6.6%. ■ PAGE 7 Economic pace picking up, says RBI bulletin HIGH FREQUENCY INDICATORS point towards a sequential pickup in activity in the second half of FY25, the RBI bulletin for February said on Wednesday, reports fe Bureau. ■ PAGE 3 FE SPECIAL Is Elon Musk’s Grok 3 smarter? With the launch of Grok 3, the monthly fee for X Premium + is `3,470 ■ EXPLAINER, P9 FE BUREAU New Delhi, February 19 US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump’s latest salvo that“25% or higher tariffs” would be imposed on imports of automobiles, pharmaceuticals and semiconductor chips has Indian industry unperturbed. India isn’t chip exporter and the US is not a significant market for its auto exporters. Domestic pharmaceutical companies expect their branded generics exports to the US to remain intact,even if the tariff threat is carried out. The earliest the proposed tariffs could take effect isApril 2, according to reports, but TRADE WINDS 25% tariff on auto imports to come as soon as April 2 Pharma, chip firms may face tariffs above timing uncertain 25%, March 12 is the start date for tariffs on steel and aluminium imports 25% these could be delayed,and the rates could be lower. Continued on Page 6 ● CS SETTY , CHAIRMAN, STATE BANK OF INDIA ‘We still have averybig personal loans runway’ State Bank ofIndia (SBI) is hiring 2,000 relationship managers to improve service forits premiercustomerwith overall deposits of`30 lakh and above.Chairman CSSetty talks to SachinKumar and JoydeepGhosh about how the bank is in a permanent reinvention mode.Excerpts: Istheworstoverintermsof depositmobilisation? Efforts made bythe banking industryseem to be paying off as bank deposits have grown in double digits in December.We,at SBI,would like to compensate the depositors properly,butwewill not relyonlyon the rates.We have carried out a couple of customerfocused enhancements,especiallyon the service qualityat the counterswhich is an added element to the great trust in the SBI brand.In terms of products,we have TeslatobeginretailopsinApr TESLA’S INDIA ENTRY may be through retail operations by importing completely built units of EVs rather than setting up a manufacturing base,reportsNitinKumar.It is looking at kick starting the Continued on Page 6 RECIPROCALTARIFF: »INSIDE« WON’T BLUNT INDIA’S SEES LIMITED IMPACTS&P 2 EDGE IN PHARMA PAGE retailoperationsinAprilwith an EV priced under $25,000 (around `22 lakh),which aftera70%importdutywillcost around `37 lakh. ■ PAGE 4 JLR sales to be hit ■ PAGE 4 GANESH SHIRSHEKAR launched the HarGharLakhpati — a product focused at channelising savings through recurring deposits that has been a great success.We have alreadyopened 630,000 accounts through this scheme. Wewant to inculcate savings habit in our customers.At the same time,there are a large numberof premierbanking clients who have overall deposits of `30 lakh and abovewith us.We want to give them premium qualityservices through our relationship managers.We are deploying around 2,000 people forthis specialised role. & WE ARE ATTHE MOST BENEVOLENT ASSET QUALITY CYCLES. ALL OF US ARE MAKING EFFORTS TO SEE HOW MUCH WE CAN EXTEND THIS CYCLE Isthereanyinnovationthat SBIisplanningtoattract moredepositors? The product differentiation is not much in the deposits,except forthe tenures and the relative rates of interest.Whatwe are trying is to provide excellent qualitycustomerservice across the channels.To properlycompensate ourvalued customers,we brought 444 days deposits for whichwe are paying 7.25% rate of interest annually.Our effort is to keep the customer service in the centre of all our decision-making process.We are seeing significantvolumes in these segments. AftertheRBIsaidthatthe growthinthepersonalloan hasmoderated,willyougrow thisbookmoreaggressively? We remain committed to prudent lending practices.In terms of acceleration,unsecured personal loan growth rate cannot be sustained at the rate at which it was growing previously.From here, both for the industry and for banks like us,there will only be forward movement.We have around 20 million corporate salary package accounts,and we have covered only 28% of them,in terms of extending personal loans. We have a very big runway to cover still. Continued on Page 6 PVsales growth mayhit the brakes in next fiscal SWARAJ BAGGONKAR Mumbai, February 19 PASSENGER VEHICLE (PV) manufacturersarebracingfora near-flat volume growth in FY26, with sales projected to rise by just 1-2%, weighed down by weak consumer demand,highvehiclepricesand sluggish income growth. DuringtheApril-Januaryperiod,PV sales have grown by only 1.79%,andareexpectedtosettle at around 1% increase for the fiscal ending March. The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), at a closed-door meeting in the Capital on Wednesday, forecasted FY26 sales at 4.28-4.33 millionunits,marginallyhigher than 4.24 million units projected forFY25,which is a meagre 0.63% growth over 4.21 million units in FY24. This would be two straight years of stagnant growth even as automakers and component manufacturersinvest`50,00080,000 crore in expanding capacityforthe future. Seniorrepresentatives from Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), Kia India,Toyota, Hyundai and IN THE SLOW LANE MARUTI SUZUKI HYUNDAI FY25 Apr-Jan volume FY25 Apr-Jan growth (%) 0.16 2.4 1,449,233 THE BJP ON WEDNESDAY named Rekha Gupta, the newly elected MLA from Shalimar Bagh, as the seventh chief minister of Delhi on Wednesday, reports Jatin Anand. Sources said Parvesh Verma will be deputy CM. The Delhi Cabinet will be sworn in on Thursday. ■ PAGE 10 499,119 Rekha Gupta to be Delhi’s new CM; swearing-in today FY26 projected growth (%) 1-1.5 TATA MOTORS 467,067 1-1.5 2-4 2.28 KIA INDIA 0.3 204,656 IN THE NEWS Industryunfazed over 25% tariff threat on auto,pharma,chips SIAM 3,538,674 15-20 BMW attended the 19th SIAM LookingAhead Conclave. Multiple sources indicated that PV market leader Maruti Suzuki and second-largest Hyundai expect their volumes togrowinlinewiththeindustry at1-1.5%.TataMotorshasforecasted a 2-4% increase, while Kia India remains an outlier, projectinga15-20%growthfor FY26. M&M did not disclose a 1-2 1.79 specific volume target but expects the utility vehicle segment (which includes SUVs) to expand 8% year-on-year,with utility vehicles accounting for 65% of total PVsales. Industryexecutivesseestagnantincomes,inflationandrising vehicle prices as major hurdles to demand recovery. Continued on Page 6 RBI intervention narrows opening-closing difference significantly Rupeevolatilitymorethanhalves ANUPREKSHAJAIN Mumbai, February 19 STEMMING THE FALL THE RESERVE BANK of India’s (RBI’s) intervention to stem the rupee’s depreciation has narrowed the difference between thecurrency’sopeningandclosing significantly to 5-7 paise in the last week. Since December, the difference has been in the band of 10-20 paise. Market participants said that the intervention, which has led to steady sales of $1-2 billion per day in the spot market, is a signal to the market that the central bank is willing to defend the rupee. Before that, the rupee had fallen to almost 88 (87.956 on Rupee vs dollar Intraday volatilty in paise (Between high and low) 0.900 0.09 0.750 0.600 83.93 0.450 0.05% Sept 2, 2024 (Inverted scale) 0.300 86.95 0.07% Feb 18, 2025 February 10) to a dollar. Forex traders said that the regulator hasbeenactiveinbothonshore and offshore markets. In addition,it has also been active in the non-deliverable 0.09 0.150 0.000 forwards (NDF) market. The central bank’s net dollar short forward position, the amount of dollars that will be sold at a future date for a preset price,hit an all-time high of Sept 2, 2024 *Prv close Feb 18, 2025 $68 billion in December. The increase in the forward book shows a shift in strategy to defendtherupeeagainstdollar. Continued on Page 6 Kolkata