BACK PAGE | PAGE 16 ECONOMY | PAGE 2 Licious — the birth of a startup idea over lunch COMPANIES | PAGE 4 SBI chief Setty likely to head Indian Banks’Association LUCKNOW, MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2025 JioStar pulling out all the stops towoo brands for IPL FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL 18 NO. 78, 22 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 A TA , 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 UK, France and Ukraine to present peace plan to US UK PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer told world leaders on Sunday that they need to step up to a “once in a generation moment” for the security of Europe, at a summit in London to discuss ending Russia's war in Ukraine. Starmer said Britain, France and Ukraine had agreed to work on a ceasefire plan to present to the US. ■ PAGE 3 21 NCLT members assigned benches after court rap THE CENTRE HAS assigned benches to 21 of the 24 newly appointed judicial and technical members of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), reports Priyansh Verma, months after the Supreme Court expressed disappointment over large vacancies there. ■ PAGE 2 Q-comm drives revival of roll-up commerce firms AFTERAPERIOD of turbulence and scepticism, roll-up commerce firms are making a comeback, thanks to the rapid expansion of quick commerce, reports S Shanthi. ■ PAGE 4 FE SPECIALS GLOBALAPPLICATIONS LARGELYTEXT-DRIVEN India’sAI models to be voice-based JATIN GROVER New Delhi, March 2 THE GOVERNMENT IS focusing on developing homegrown voice-based AI models rather than only text-driven ones, which currently dominate the global AI sector. This move is expected to enhance accessibility, enabling large sections of the population to interact with AI in their native languages through speech rather than text. Unlike conventional AI chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT,Google’s Gemini,or Elon Musk’s Grok, which are largely text-based, the government’s approach is on vocal interactions. While global tech firms have introduced voice capabilities in theirAI assistants,their models are primarily optimised for English and a handful of other languages. The rationale behind this push is clear: A vast majority of the population is more comfortable speaking their native language than typing it. “The Internet will become more voice-enabled, and LANGUAGE OF FUTURE ■ Global voice-based AI assistants are primarily optimised for English and a handful of other languages ■ The market potential for indigenous voice-based AI models is huge ■ A govt panel is currently evaluating 67 AI model proposals for funding, 22 of them large language models there will be many people who will prefer accessing services using voice commands,” Abhishek Singh, additional secretary, ministry of electronics and IT (MeitY),told FE in an interaction. Singh, who is leading the `10,372-crore IndiaAI Mission, highlighted the market potentialforindigenousvoicebased AI models.“If someone Play it safe and fair As regulation tightens, will creativity be traded for compliance? ■ EXPLAINER, P6 Why India still on lessors’watchlist Though India signed the Cape Town Convention in 2008, Parliament is yet to ratify it If someone develops a voice-based large language model in India, it will be a game changer develops a voice-based large language model (LLM) in India,itwillbeagamechanger. Voicewill become a significant enabler,”he said. India has approximately 500 million active Internet users, but an even larger segment — about 900 million people — remains offline. Continued on Page 5 Special companycells to boost internship uptake ● Govt prods firms to set up units for scheme execution UNCERTAIN FUTURE MANU KAUSHIK New Delhi, March 2 ■ BRANDWAGON, P12 ABHISHEK SINGH, CEO, INDIAAI MISSION THE MINISTRY OF corporate affairs has asked the top companies participating in the PM internship scheme to set up dedicated PMIS cells within theirorganisations,an official told FE. The move follows a lukewarm response to the first round of the scheme’s ongoing pilot phase. “With in-house cells in place, these companies can better assess their workforce requirements, especially for interns, across different geographieswhichtheyoperatein. It will also enable them to streamline the scheme’s implementation, manage operationalissues,anddevelop specialised training modules ■ In phase 1 of scheme pilot, only 28,141 internship offers were accepted out of 82,077 ■ In phase 2, govt has sought applications for 100,000 opportunities in over 300 firms ■ Candidates' refusal to relocate at a low stipend appears to be the biggest hindrance to scheme for interns,”the official said. Sourcessaidthatmanycompanies are struggling to benefit from the scheme because of “a lack of ownership”at the company levelandpoorassessment of the workforce gap. For FIRagainstBuch,5others ● Court issues order; Sebi,BSE plan to challenge ‘frivolous’charges ANANYA GROVER Mumbai, March 2 The applicant is known to be a frivolous and habitual litigant, with previous applications being dismissed by court —SEBI STATEMENT A SPECIAL ANTI-CORRUPTION court in Mumbai has orderedtheregistrationofafirst informationreport(FIR)against topofficialsoftheSecuritiesand Exchange Board of India (Sebi), including former chairperson MadhabiPuriBuch,whole-time members Ashwani Bhatia, Ananth Narayan G, and KamleshChandraVarshney,aswellas BSE chairman PramodAgarwal andCEOSundararamanRamamurthy in a case related to alleged stock market fraud and regulatoryviolations. The order was issued by special judge SE Bangar on March 1 — a day after Buch retired as Sebi chairperson — on a petition filed by an RTI activist-journalist. The complaint accuses Sebi officials of facilitating market manipulation and enabling corporate fraud byallowing the listing of Cals Refineries, which got liquidated in 2019. Responding to the order, Sebi said that it will challenge it. “Even though these officials were not holding their respective positions at the relevant point Adani revives US investment plans: Report Goyal begins US visit today for trade talks THEADANIGROUPhasrevived plans for major infrastructure investments in the US, where the group’s founder has been chargedwithbribery,theFinancial Times reported on Sunday. Since the election of President DonaldTrump,the conglomerate has reactivated potential planstofundprojectsinsectors suchasnuclearpowerandutilities,reports Reuters. ■ PAGE 4 COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY minister Piyush Goyal will embarkonavisittoWashington on Monday as India and the US gear up for negotiations on a bilateraltradeagreement.Goyal is likely to hold talks with US trade representative Jamieson Greer and US commerce secretaryHoward Lutnick during his weeklongvisittotheUS,anofficial said,reports PTI. ■ PAGE 2 of time, the court allowed the application without issuing any notice or granting any opportunity to Sebi to place the facts on record,” the statement said. “The applicant (Sapan Shrivastava, an RTI journalist) is known to be a frivolous and habituallitigant,withprevious applications being dismissed bythecourt,withimpositionof costsinsomecases,”itsaid.The market regulator also added that it plans to initiate appropriate legal steps to challenge this order and remains committed to ensuring due regulatory compliance in all matters. In a press release, BSE said that the company concerned waslistedontheexchangein 1994 and the officials named in the application were not in their respective positions at the time of listing and were not connected with the companyatall. Continued on Page 5 Firefly 2nd pvt firm to score a moon landing US FIRM FIREFLY Aerospace succeeded in its first attempt to land on the moon with its uncrewedBlueGhostspacecraft on Sunday.Firefly becomes the second private firm to do so, thoughitdeclareditselfthefirst company to make a “fully successful”soft landing. US-based Intuitive Machines’ lander madealopsidedtouchdownlast year,reports Reuters. ■ PAGE 3 UPI apps to charge users more as govt cuts subsidy AYANTI BERA Bengaluru, March 2 AS GOVERNMENT INCENTIVES forlow-value UPI transactions and RuPay debit card payments are slashed, UPI apps are increasingly seeking new ways to monetise their vast customer base, including imposing convenience fees on certain transactions. For instance, recently, Google Pay introduced a convenience fee of 0.5–1% on payments such as electricity and cooking gas bills made via credit and debit cards. These services were previously free for low-value transactions. However, UPI transactions linked directly to bank accounts remain free. Similarly, PhonePe and Paytm also levy convenience fees on various bill payments, including utilities,credit card payments, and mobile recharges. “Convenience fees help monetise the customer base through value-added services,” said Yashraj Erande, global leader-fintech and India leader-financial institutions at BCG. “Third party application providers (TPAP) already generate significant gross margins from peer-tomerchant (P2M) transactions, as these are not operationally intensive. They are building a profitable business despite earning only a small portion of the total interchange fee.” Continued on Page 3 instance,inthefirstround,only 28,141 candidates accepted internship offers even though companies had offered 82,077 internships.This was primarily because more than 43% of these opportunities were offered in five states — Uttar Pradesh,Andhra Pradesh,MadhyaPradesh,BiharandHaryana. Thecandidatesfromotherparts of the country were not willing to locate to these states as the stipend was low — `5,000 per monthinadditiontoaone-time allowance of `6,000. Some companies would be willing to shell out more if they get suitable candidates, accoring to a source.“We have seen companies increase the pay scale for apprentices under the NAPS (National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme).The same could happen to PMIS candidates too,” Sumit Kumar, chief strategy officer at Teamlease DegreeApprenticeship,said. Continued on Page 3 ● ASHOK VASWANI, MD & CEO, KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK ‘Bankscautious,takingmeasured approachtounsecuredloans’ With the regulator lifting restrictions on Kotak Mahindra Bank acquiring customers digitally and via mobile phones,the lender is hoping to onboard customers at a pace of 400,000-500,000 a month once again.Its MD & CEO AshokVaswani tells Shobhana Subramanian the rebuilt 811 app has the potential to integrate offerings and deliver them to customers.Excerpts: Howmuch more,in terms of business,customers and deposits doyou think the revamped Kotak 811 app can deliver? The 811 has always been a great appwhich offered a fantastic userexperience, which is clearlyreflected in the amount of customerswe have acquired overtheyears. Wewere onboarding almost 400,000-500,000 customers a month,reflecting the scale of customerinterest and the momentumwe generated. Ourcurrent objective is to ramp up to that level again overthe coming fewquarters. Wouldyousaythenew apphasthepotential formorecross-selling? Theoriginalapp hadaprimaryfocus aroundpaymentsconvenience.Overthepastfew months,we’verebuilttheapp toofferacomprehensivesetof productsandservicesthat meetthefullneedsofthecore Indiancustomer.Thenewapp hastremendouspotentialto integrateproductofferings & ❝ anddelivery,regardlessof theiroriginwithinthegroup. Through811,wetypically acquiregranular,low-cost deposits. Howfast doyou believeyou can growthe unsecured loan book at a timewhen the environment is somewhat difficult? Atthispoint, theentire industryis cautious andtaking ameasured approachin theunse- WE’VE IDENTIFIED SME AS A KEY FOCUS AREA AND WILL CONTINUE TO INVEST IN STRENGTHENING OUR CUSTOMER FRANCHISE THERE curedsegment,whichis understandable.Earlyinthe cycle,weidentifiedthisdownturnandhavemanagedour portfolioaccordingly.However,wehaveobservedthat unsecuredretailcredittypicallygoesthroughcycles.At Kotak,wewillnavigate throughthiscycleandaimto achievemid-teennumbers oncethemacroeconomicconditionsarefavourable. The SME business has been doingverywell,is this sustainable? Yes,ourSMEadvances grewby31%year-on-yearin Q3,drivenbytheacquisitionof newcustomersandthedeepeningofourexistingcustomer relationships.Withthegovernment’sfocusondriving growthinthissegmentand ourstableportfolioquality,we haveidentifiedtheSMEsegmentasakeyfocusareaand willcontinuetoinvestin strengtheningourcustomer franchisethere. Continued on Page 5 Lucknow