MARKETS | PAGE 7 COMPANIES | PAGE 4 Climate change risks: RBI to set up 'on-tap' cohort INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 8 Car, SUVinventory goes up sharply in February KOLKATA, FRIDAY, MARCH 14, 2025 ‘Annoyed'Trumptargets EUwinewith200%tariff FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL 34 NO. 113, 10 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 SENSEX: 73,828.91 ▼ 200.85 NIFTY: 22,397.20 ▼ 73.30 NIKKEI 225: 36,790.03 ▼ 29.06 HANG SENG: 23,462.65 ▼ 137.66 `/$: 87.01 ▲ 0.21 `/€: 94.66 ▲ 0.53 BRENT: $70.40 ▼ $0.55 GOLD: `86,410 ▲ `645 SATCOM PRICINGAND REGULATIONS EXPECTED SOON WITH BHARTI AIRTEL and Reliance Jio forming strategic partnerships with Starlink, the Telecom Regulatory Authority ofIndia(Trai)isnowexpectedto expedite its recommendations on satellite spectrum pricing. Sources said the regulator may recommend that satellite companiesinitiallyfocusonprovidingservicesinmobiledarkareas —regionswhereterrestrialnetworks are unavailable. This move could alleviate ■ Currently, Eutelsat 10 to 14 times higher than leading broadband providers concernsearlierexpressedbyJio and Airtel, among other telcos, that global satcom players such as Starlink and Amazon Kuiper might capture urban market share without participating in Leo Puri resigns as independent director of HUL FMCG MAJOR HUL on Thursday said Leo Puri, its independent director, has resigned effective from June 30, due to a rise in his board commitments, including his appointment on the board of a global entity, reports PTI. Best week for forex reserves since 2021 FOREX RESERVES GREW by $15.3 billion to nearly $654 billion for the week ended March 7, making it the highest weekly gain since August 27, 2021, reports Bloomberg. ■ PAGE 3 spectrum auctions. Sources said Trai’s cautious approachisdrivenbytheevolving nature of satcom technology. Currently, satellite signals cannot be received directly on standard mobile devices, and satcomservicesaresignificantly more expensive than conventional mobile plans. Continued on Page 8 Six companies exit global 500 M-cap club NTPC Tata M&M Motors Source: Bloomberg So Axis Bank ONGC Patanjali enters insurance with `4,500-cr deal GEETA NAIR Pune, March 13 PATANJALI AYURVED AND DharampalSatyapalGroup(DS Group) will acquire Magma General Insurance from Sanoti Properties at a valuation of `4,500 crore,subject to regulatoryapprovals. Magma General Insurance, formerlyknownasMagmaHDI General Insurance Company,is jointly owned by Adar PoonawallaandRisingSunHoldings. Theinsureroffersover70products across various categories, covering majorrisks in the general insurance sector. Thetransactioninvolvesthe sale of Magma General Insurance,alongwithCelicaDevelopersandJaguarAdvisoryServices, asperthesharepurchaseagreement with Patanjali Ayurved andDSGroup.Post-acquisition, Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali will Adani Enterprises HDFC Bank TCS Bharti Airtel 101.3 112.0 112.1 185.7 Reliance Inds 126.9 76 105 123 151 152 168 3 145.7 92 99 149.7 242.4 49 67 162.7 …hurting top-5 firms' global ranking by m-cap too Sep 2024 Mar 2025 (in $ bn) Gl Global rank 193.7 29.5 42.6 32.6 44.4 36.0 St Stock market sell-off erodes market cap for 6 firms... Mcap (Sep 2024) Mcap (Mar 2025) (in $ bn) IndusInd placed under ASM Stage-1 framework by NSE Poonawalla to sell 98% in Magma INDUSIND BANK SHARES, lower by nearly 30% after discrepancies were reported, have been put under short-term additional surveillance measure stage1, as per a notice by NSE. Airtel and Jio: Plans cost between `11,000 and `15,000 annually ■ Starlink’s pricing is OneWeb, Jio-SES, Starlink and Amazon Kuiper are vying to provide satellite Internet 47.2 BLACKSTONE WILLACQUIRE 40% stake in Punebased Kolte Patil Developers, reports Geeta Nair. Through its arm BREP Asia III Holding, Blackstone will acquire a 14.3% stake for `417 crore via a preferential issue and another 25.7% from promoters for `750 crore, taking the total deal size to `1,167 crore. ■ PAGE 4 JATIN GROVER & RISHI RAJ New Delhi, March 13 Starlink: Upfront `52,242 and `10,469 monthly ■ OneWeb and Jio-SES have regulatory nod, Starlink and Kuiper are awaiting approvals telcos' key concern that global satcom players might eat into their urban market share 47.3 Blackstone to buy 40% in Kolte-Patil for over `1,167 cr ■ The move alleviates 37.8 FM SLAMS STALIN ■ PAGE 2 riderforallocation of spectrum 48.4 INTENSIFYING THE TUSSLE with the Centre, Tamil Nadu has replaced the Devanagari rupee symbol with a Tamil letter in its FY26 budget logo, signalling its stance against the threelanguage formula under the NEP, reports PTI. ■ PAGE 2 50-200 Mbps broadband connection: LICENCE TO SERVE 31.6 TN budget logo: ` symbol replaced with Tamil letter ● Likelyto be key 37.0 IN THE NEWS Trai may restrict Starlink to mobile dark regions 50.4 HOLIDAY Financial Express wishes its readers a HAPPY HOLI As our offices are closed on Friday, there will be no edition of the paper on Saturday ICICI Bank Compiled by Kishor Kadam Insurance Bill may be tabled in monsoon session now Consumerdurable firms see a bumpersummer ● Expect 35-40% growth in sales this year too READY FOR HEAT WAVE ■ ACs, in particular, ■ Refrigerator expected to do brisk sales growth business this summer seen at ■ West, east, parts of % north seeing higher y-o-y temperatures VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO & RAGHAVAGGARWAL Mumbai/New Delhi, March 13 THE BLISTERING HEATmaybe inconvenient for people, but durable firms are cheering the earlyonsetofsummerthisyear. The west, east and parts of the north are seeing dailytemperatures of 34-35 degrees Celsius, prompting consumers to turn ontheirairconditioners,coolers and fans. Firms are expecting around 35-40% year-on-year growth in sales this year too, thanks to the growing heat. “Last year, air conditioners saw around 35-40% sales growth,while refrigerators saw around 12-15% sales growth during the summer months. Thisyearshould be more orless in line with the last year’s sales growth numbers given the build-up in heat in the recent weeks,” Kamal Nandi, business head and executive vice-president,GodrejAppliances,said. While the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecastrainsonMarch14(Holi) in Delhi and north, temperatures are likely to pick up post the festival, experts said. The north,west,southandeastcontribute 38%, 23%, 22% and 17%,respectively,toAC sales. “Last year, the demand for ACs set in very late – by the end of April.This year,it has started ■ Sales boom likely for compressor-based products due to heat wave this year 12-15 Which region contributes how much: ● North: 38% ● West: 23% ● South: 22% ● East: 17% AC sales: 2024 versus 2025 Summer of 2024: 14-15 million; growth 35-40% y-o-y to show up early. Last year, the demandroseby40%toaround 14-15 million. Based on the orderbook,weareexpectingthe demandtobeataround18million this year,”Ajay Singhania, MD&CEOofEpackDurable,an original design manufacturer forACs,said. Unlike last year,when there was a capacityconstraint,especially in ACs, this year some executives say there are no majorissuesinsupplies,though Singhania warns of a supply deficit in compressors and copper tubes due to quality control issues. The Bureau of Indian Summer of 2025: 18 million (forecast); growth 35-40% y-o-y Standards is also recertifying factories in international locationsfromwhereplayersimport criticalcomponents,whichmay hurt production around MayJune,whenthereisaheatbuildup in the north,a big market. Typically,around40-50%of an AC's components,including compressors,areimportedfrom countries such as China. ImportsbeganrightafterDiwali to ensure there was no significant shortage during the initial summer months of February, March andApril,experts said. Continued on Page 8 Smart PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, March 13 hold a dominant 98% stake in the insurer. DS Group, known forits presence in food & beverages, dairy, and hospitality, is also a keybuyerin the deal. THE MUCH-AWAITED INSURANCE (Amendment) Bill to allow 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in the sector and usherin composite licensingwilllikelybetakenupinthe monsoon session of Parliament instead of the ongoing Budget session, sources told FE.“Consultationprocessisnot yet complete. So, the amendmentstoinsurancelawswillbe taken up in the monsoon session,”an official said. The monsoon session typically takes place in July. The current Budget session will end on April 4. The move assumes importance as the governmentisintheprocessof selecting a successor to Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India’s (Irdai’s) chairperson Debashis Panda, whose three-year term ended on Thursday. Continued on Page 8 Continued on Page 8 DEAL BOOK ■ Patanjali Ayurved and DS Group have acquired stake in Magma General Insurance ■ Magma has 18,000 agents, 2,000 corporate clients, 14 OEMs and 80 players ■ Adar Poonawalla holds 90% in Sanoti, one of the entities selling Magma stake Consumers must get access to quality goods at competitive prices: Goyal Working overtimewith US,can’t overprotectyou: Govt to industry MUKESH JAGOTA New Delhi, March 13 THEGOVERNMENTONThursdayassuredexportersthatitwill ensure that they aren't put at a disadvantage in their dealings with the US as the Donald Trumpadministrationimposes reciprocal tariffs from April 2. But it added that the country cannot be “overprotective” about its markets. Washington has been unleashingavolleyofadditional tariffs on all trading partners over the last few weeks,forcing many countries to retaliate, in movesthatcoulddragtheworld into a full-fledged tradewar. In a meeting with export TACKLING TARIFF THREAT ■ Sourcing of goods like plastics and chemicals likely from the US, reducing China reliance ■ Industry flag ■ Exporters told both India and US are working on a bilateral trade agreement promotion councils and industryassociations,commerceand industry minister Piyush Goyal told them that India has a huge domesticconsumerbase,which shouldalsogetaccesstoquality risk of dumping of certain products from China, as the access in the US is curtailed ■ Some sectors like textile and apparel suggest zero tariffs to the US on a reciprocal basis goods and services at competitive prices.The exporters were told that both India and US are working “overtime” on a bilateral trade agreement (BTA). “Most of the sectoral repre- ■ India is bracing for immediate threat of reciprocal tariffs by the US from April 2 sentativeswereoptimisticofthe outcome of worldwide tariff changesbeingdrivenbytheUS,” a source said. Continued on Page 8 Kolkata