COMPANIES | PAGE 4 POLITICS | PAGE 10 Tahawwur Rana, 26/11 plotter, flown to India INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 7 Flipkart Minutes set to open 800 dark stores by year-end CHENNAI/KOCHI, FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 2025 Prada to buy fashion rival Versace in $1.4-bn deal FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XLV 288, 12 PAGES, `12 P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E SENSEX: 73,847.15* ▼ 379.93 NIFTY: 22,399.15* ▼ 136.70 NIKKEI 225: 34,609 ▲ 2,894.97 HANG SENG: 20,681.78 ▲ 417.29 `/$*: 95.75 ▼ 1.56 `/€*: 69.7572 ▼ 0.2738 BRENT: $63.10 ▼ $2.38 GOLD: `89,297* ▲`1,250 *As on Apr 9 IN THE NEWS FM, UK Chancellor announce $500 mn in new trade deals FINANCE MINISTER NIRMALA Sitharaman and UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves on Thursday announced 400 million pounds (nearly $500 mn) in new trade and investment deals at the 13th UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue in London, reports ANI. Later in the day, Sitharaman arrived in Austria on a three-day visit. ■ PAGE 2 NBFC retail loans may get cheaper with RBI co-lending proposal NON-BANKING FINANCIAL companies (NBFCs) may soon offer retail loans at lower interest rates, following the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) proposal to allow co-lending in non-priority sectors such as personal loans, auto loans and others, reports Sachin Kumar. ■ PAGE 6 Power demand up 6.9% in March as mercury level rises POWER DEMAND IN the country surged 6.9% on year in March, around 50% higher than the full-year average of 4.3%, as the temperature rose and demand from industrial and commercial consumers soared, reports Arunima Bharadwaj. ■ PAGE 2 CPSEs, agencies achieve 103% of capex target in FY25 CENTRAL PUBLIC SECTOR enterprises (CPSEs) and other state-run agencies like NHAI and the Railways invested `8.1 lakh crore, or 103% of the target, in 2024-25, reports Prasanta Sahu. Capital expenditure by these entities was aided by a surge in investments by the National Highways Authority of India and oil explorer ONGC. ■ PAGE 2 Urban Company gets shareholders' nod for `528-cr IPO HOME SERVICES COMPANY Urban Company has received approval from its shareholders to raise `528 crore in fresh capital via an initial public offering (IPO), according to its regulatory filings, reports Raghav Aggarwal. ■ PAGE 5 FE S P E C I A L S US PRESIDENTHOPES FORA‘VERYGOOD DEAL’WITH XI Trump softens China stand ● Beijing hopes the AGENCIES April 10 US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S flip-flops continue unabated. In an oddlywarmendorsementinthemiddle of a fierce trade war,Trump said “Xi is a smart guy and we’ll end up making a very good deal.” Despite tensionsspikingovertheUSdecision to slap a 125% tariff on all Chinese imports, Trump sounded upbeat about future negotiations. »INSIDE« “A phone call EU PAUSES from Xi could reRETALIATORY startthetalksand MEASURES it’sofftotheraces” AGAINST US once that hapPAGE 7 pens,theUSpresidentsaid,adding “it is going to be a great thing for us, theworld and forthe humanity”. Beijing also toned down its rhetoric,saying it remains open to talks, providedit’sbasedonmutualrespect and conducted on equal footing. China’s commerce ministry spokesperson He Yongqian said at a press briefingonThursday:“Pressure,threats and blackmail are not the right way to deal with China.We hope the two countries will meet each other halfway and work towards resolving differences through dialogue and consultation,guidedbytheprinciples of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence andwin-win cooperation”. Can ready-to-drink coffee replicate the arc of energy drinks? ■ BRANDWAGON, P9 How the new Aadhaar app makes KYC easy The idea is uniquely Indian as it incorporates QR codes ■ EXPLAINER, P9 FE BUREAU New Delhi, April 10 US President Donald Trump during an interaction with the North Dakota State football team, at the White House on Thursday US‘close’to dealswith 15 nations THEUSISconsideringoffersfrom 15countriesontariffagreements and is close to deals with some of them, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Thursday.“USTR has informed us Continued on Page 6 thattherearemaybe15countries nowthathavemadeexplicitoffers thatwe’re studying and considering and deciding whether they’re good enough to present the president,” Hassett said. ■ PAGE 7 THE IMPORTMONITORING Group (IMG),set up to detect earlysigns of dumpingofproductsintoIndia due to higher tariff walls in the US, will assess data for some commodities and products on a daily basis,while for some others,weekly data will be studied,sources said. The IMG, anchored by the ministry of commerce and comprising department of revenue,will take on board other ministries when products under their administrative controls create cause of concern. While anysurges in importswill be handledwith the laid-down protocols and the system of Directorate General of Trade Remedies, strict compliance of Quality Control Orders (QCOs), rules of origin (ROO) on imports from countries with which India has signed FTAs would be other tools at the government’s disposal. The 90-day pause in the full implementation of reciprocal tariffs and massive duty differential with China as it exists now could leadtoashiftinoverseasdemand— particularly for electronics and smartphones — to India. Continued on Page 6 Exportersmakehasteas Indices mayrally,but tariffpauseeasesfears uncertainties remain ● Apple,jewellery units start shipping goods after a lull MUKESH JAGOTA New Delhi, April 10 THE 90-DAYPAUSE on a full rollout of worldwide reciprocal tariffs by the US has Indian exporters hurrying to complete the orders at hand with minimum additional costs, industry sources and government officials said. According to the sources, frontloading of orders would be more feasible in sectors where products can be airlifted, and where buyers can manage the inventory. Shipments of mobile phones and gems and jewellery, two of the biggest items of export from India to the US,are to gatherpace,and concerns about disruption of their production has eased. Apple has shipped five plane loads of iPhones andotherproducts from Indian manufacturing facilities to the US to beat theApril deadline of reciprocal tariffs. While the full force of reciprocity has been held back,all countries barringwill be subject to 10% addi- »INSIDE« Brewing a storm in the coffee can Dumping fears: Imports of electronics on the radar two nationswill meet each otherhalfway ROUTE CLEARED ■ Shipments of mobile phones, gems & jewellery, two of the biggest items of export from India to the US, to likely gather pace ■ Apple has ship- ped 5 plane loads of iPhones, other products from Indian units to US ■ Pause to give time for completion of orders that are ready/in processing stage tional duties effective from April 5. China, however, stands apart as it faces 125% duty. The sectoral duties of 25% on steel,aluminium, auto parts will stay for all countries including India. In some sectors the buyers were seeking discounts on orders negotiated prior to the reciprocal tariff announcements on April 2 and pressing sellers to take 50% of the burden of additional tariffs. Continued on Page 5 BTATALKS WITH US MAY GATHER PACE P2 LITTLE RELIEF TO TEXTILE EXPORTERS P2 ANANYA GROVER Mumbai, April 10 THEDOMESTICSTOCKmarketsare expected to see a relief rally after US President Donald Trump decided to defer the tariffs on all countries, except China, by 90 days. However, uncertainties lingered as concerns over the impact of high tariffs on global economy saw US stocks on Thursday pulling back from the sharp gains seen after the announcement. The US indices lost half of the gains from the historic rally seen in the previous session, as investors were worried that even with the short reprieve, economic activity will be slowed by Trump’s singling out of China with a much higher rate.The losses accelerated after the White House confirmed that the cumulativetariffrateonChinawould actuallytotal 145%. Saurabh Mukherjea, founder of Marcellus Investment Managers, saidthereshouldbeareliefrallynow that the gun is off the table, but he advised investors to still be careful. Theopportunitiesarestillalongway MOODY’S CUTS INDIA GDP GROWTH FORECAST P3 from here due to a combination of factorslikeovervaluedshareprices,a slowingeconomy,andatrickyglobal environment,he added. VKVijayakumar,chiefinvestment strategist, Geojit Investments, expects the Indian market to open with a sharp gap up on Friday, and short-covering can take the market higher.HeaddedthatITstocks,which weresharplydownduringthisdownturn, may bounce back. FPIs might also be more enthused to buy India now that the Chinese stocks will face the pressure due to extended tariffs, Vijayakumar said. Nikhil Rungta, coCIO of equity at LIC Mutual Fund, said the bounce-back in global equities seen after Trump’s reversal had almost erased the losses incurred since April 2.“With the Indian markets closed today,we expect them to rally tomorrow in line with global peers,” he said. TheIndianmarket,muchlikethe other global markets, have been underpressure formonths. Continued on Page 5 DOW JONES DROPS 1,700 PTS; NASDAQ , S&P DOWN 5% P7 TCS misses profit, revenue estimates, sees betterFY26 ● Revenue up 0.8% q-o-q at `64,479 cr; profit down 1.3% PADMINI DHRUVARAJ Bengaluru, April 10 TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES (TCS) missed Street expectations on both the revenue and profit fronts in the January-March quarter. The country's largest IT services firm faced some project deferrals in March and the nearcompletion of the BSNLdeal added fewer numbers to the topline.This was the second consecutive quarter that the company missed »INSIDE« estimates. TCS DEFERS Consolidated WAGE revenue rose HIKES 0.8% sequenPAGE 4 tially to `64,479 crore, missing Bloomberg’s estimate of `64,837 crore. Net profit declined by 1.3% quarter-on-quarter at `12,224 crore, falling short of the estimate of `12,765 crore. “There was some amount of project deferral that happened in March that was uncertain. We were hoping revenue growth would be higher than 1% when we were in the early part of the quarter. But what we were primarily looking at is that all business verticals are growing and all major markets are growing,”chief executive officer (CEO) K Krithivasan said during the post-earnings press conference. He also said the company is observing delays in decision-making and commencement of pro- REPORT CARD TCS consolidated financials Q4-FY25 (` crore) Q3-FY25 % change, q-o-q 63,973 64,479 Revenue Ebitda Net profit Ebitda margin (%) 17,034 16,980 0.3 12,380 12,224 26.6 0.8 1.3 26.3 K KRITHIVASAN, CEO, TCS There are no deal cancellations inAI. It is actually one of the key factors driving our growth jects with respect to discretionary investments due to the tariffs imposed by the Donald Trump-led government in the US. Even with an increase in the revenue, the company’s operating margins fell 30 basis points sequentially to 26.3% in the fourth quarter. Continued on Page 6 Byju’s sued in US over $533-million fraud FE BUREAU Bengaluru, April 10 TRUSTEES OF BYJU’S Alpha Inc have filed a lawsuit in the Delaware bankruptcycourt against Byju’s cofounder Byju Raveendran, his wife Divya Gokulnath, and senior executiveAnita Kishore,alleging misappropriation of $533 million from a term loan facility. The suit accuses the trio of orchestrating a complex scheme to divert funds and obscure their trail from creditors. Byju’s Alpha Inc, a special-purposevehicle established in 2021 to receive proceeds from a $1.2-billion term loan B (TLB) facility, reportedly defaulted by 2022. According to the complaint,in mid2022, $533 million, referred to as the Alpha Funds, was transferred from Byju’sAlpha to Camshaft Capital Fund LP in exchange for a limited partnership interest. The hedge fund,based in Delaware,was previously flagged by the court as dubious, with its listed headquarters traced to a pancake restaurant. Respondingtothelawsuit,Byju's founders in a statement, rejected LEGAL TROUBLE ■ The suit has been filed by Byju's Alpha Inc against Byju Raveendran, his wife and a senior executive ■ It accuses the trio of orchestrating a complex scheme to divert funds ■ Byju’s Alpha Inc is an SPV set up in 2021 to receive proceeds from a $1.2-bn term loan facility the allegations as“completelybaselessand untrue,”describingthecase as part of a “conspiracy” to seize control of the company. They cited a“signedandverifiedaffidavit”submitted to court, claiming it transparently accounts for the use of the entire $1.2-billion loan. Continued on Page 5 Replaces German carmaker to claim third spot with record sales in FY25 JLRraces ahead ofAudi in domestic luxurycarmarket VIKRAM CHAUDHARY New Delhi, April 10 JAGUAR LAND ROVER (JLR) India has broken into the top three positionsinthedomesticluxurycarmarket — an arena traditionally dominated by the German carmaker trio: Mercedes-Benz,BMW and Audi.JLR India, a subsidiary of Tata Motors, sold6,183vehiclesinFY25,registering a 40% year-on-year growth and also its highest-eversales in a fiscal. JLRIndia's FY25 sales surpassed Audi India’s tally of 5,993 units, pushing the latter out of the top three.Mercedes-Benz India continued to lead the market,delivering a record 18,928vehicles in FY25,followed by BMW India, which which sold 15,810 cars. Before this, in calendar year 2019, JLR had briefly overtaken Audiwith sales of 5,000 units compared to Audi’s 4,594,but Audi had regained its third spot in 2020. What makes JLR India’s performance stand out is that nearlyall its sales came from the Land Rover brand. Jaguar, the other half of JLR, is currently undergoing a transformation into an all-electric brand, with its new electric models expected to debut in the Indian market around 2027-28. RajanAmba,managingdirectorof JLRIndia,attributesthesurgeinsales tothelocalisationofkeymodels.“The Range Rover and Range Rover Sport aretheprimarygrowthdrivers,especiallyafterwebeganlocalproduction in May 2024,” Amba said. “The NEW ENTRANT ■ JLR India retailed 6,183 units in FY25, seeing a 40% y-o-y surge ■ This was its best-ever sales performance in its 17-yr history ■ Market led by Mercedes- Benz (18,928), BMW (15,810), Audi at 4th place (5,993) ■ Q4FY25 sales of 1,793 units were up 110% ■ The Defender was the highest-selling JLR model Defender, particularly the 110 variants, has also emerged as our bestselling model,” he added. In May 2024, JLR began assembling four models at its Pune facil- ity: Range Rover 3.0 diesel HSE, Range Rover3.0 petrolAutobiography, Range Rover Sport 3.0 diesel DynamicSE,andRangeRoverSport 3.0 petrol Dynamic SE.Localisation not only reduced the price of these vehiclesby18–20%butalsohelped cut down thewaiting period,resulting in fewer cancellations and higher customer satisfaction. The shorterdeliverytimelines and competitive pricing allowed JLR to attract customers from rival brands, including Mercedes-Benz, BMW,and Audi. The localisation effort and improved product availability provided significant momentum.“We have seen increased interest from first-time luxury car buyers, customers upgrading from other brands, and even buyers in tier 2 cities,”Amba said. “The 40% growth in FY25 is especially impressive considering we also saw a 110% increase in the CHENNAI/KOCHI January-March quarter alone, with 1,793 units sold,”he added. Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz India maintained its dominance with its highest-ever fiscal sales. According to MD and CEO Santosh Iyer, the brand’s performance was driven largely by demand for topend vehicles (TEVs), which are cars priced above `1.5 crore.“Today,one in every four cars we sell is a TEV,” Iyersaid.“In fact,everysecond German luxury car sold in India is a Mercedes-Benz,”he said. Despite a 4% annual growth, Mercedes-Benz experienced an 11.8% dip in the January-March quarter sales due to a slowdown in the entry-level luxury segment. Continued on Page 6