THE BIG IDEA | PAGE 14 EXPRESS AWARDS FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP | PAGE 12 & 13 Building a winning hand card by card It was a celebration ofwomen breaking barriers. Cheering the winners were the who’s who from corporate India LUCKNOW, MONDAY, APRIL 14, 2025 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL 18 NO. 111, 14 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 IN THE NEWS Trump plans separate levy on exempted electronics US COMMERCE SECRETARY Howard Lutnick said on Sunday smartphones, computers and some other electronics, just exempted from steep tariffs on imports from China, would face separate new duties along with semiconductors within the next two months, reports Reuters. Lutnick's comments on ABC's "This Week" flagging the coming levies on critical technology products mark the latest twist in President Donald Trump's tariff plans, which have upended the global trading order and roiled financial markets since they were announced on what he branded "Liberation Day" on April 2. Late on Friday, the Trump administration granted exclusions from the steep reciprocal tariffs on smartphones and a set of other electronics products, a move seen as a big break for technology firms such as Apple and Dell Technologies that rely on imports from China. NEWDELHI NOTREADYYETFOR DUTY-FREETRADE Govt to skip zero tariffoption in trade deal talkswith US ● Even item-by-item matching may be ruled out HOW THE WORLD RESPONDED Israel: Day before reciprocal tariff announcement, Israel scrapped all duties on US imports MUKESH JAGOTA New Delhi, April 13 THE GOVERNMENTHASdecidedto steer clear of the option of zero-forzero tariff policy under the ongoing negotiationswith the US for a bilateral trade agreement (BTA), according to an official source. This is due to the realisation that given the country’s relatively lowpercapita income,itwould still need to keep reasonable tariffs for a wide range of agricultural items and even some industrial goods. New Delhi may not even go for product-by-product tariff parity with the US.Instead,it would stick to the concept of bringing down the overall (average) tariff level to Vietnam: Among first countries to reach out to the US with an offer of zero tariff for US imports export-intensive electronicsandtextiles&clothingunitsrecommending that zero tariff may be offered to the USasareciprocalgesture. CHINA’S GOVERNMENT SAID on Sunday that the US decision to exempt certain consumer electronics from its so-called reciprocal tariffs is a small step towards rectifying its wrongdoings and urged Washington to do more to revoke the levies. President Donald Trump’s administration excluded smartphones, computers and other electronics from the increased import duties on Friday, narrowing the scope of his tariffs of 125% on goods from China and a baseline 10% on imports from most other countries. Continued on Page 8 Continued on Page 8 Taiwan: Proposed negotiations with the US on the basis of zero duties European Union: Offered zero-for-zero deal on industrial goods Zimbabwe: Offered to cut duties on all imports from the US a much lower level for the US. Product-wisesensitivitieswon’tbe ignored,while being broadly accommodativeoftheUSinterests. Thedecisionisdespiteasectionof the domestic industry, including Andhratoacquire 30Kacremorefor Amaravatiproject ● ISOLATED FROMTHEWORLD OUTSIDE? SREENIVAS JANYALA Hyderabad, April 13 Renewables to drive power companies' Q4 earnings RENEWABLE ENERGY IS going to be the focus of earnings of power companies in fourth quarter of FY25, analysts have said, report Raghavendra Kamath and Kishor Kadam. Nationwide capacity addition saw a pick-up in Q4FY25 with January and February 2025 seeing 8.4 GWof new capacities primarily in renewable energy, Kotak Institutional Equities said. ■ PAGE 4 India adds record 29.5 GW renewable capacity in FY25 INDIA ADDED A record 29.52 gigawatt (GW) of renewable energy in the previous financial year, taking the country’s total installed renewable energy capacity to 220.10 GW as of March 31, reports Arunima Bharadwaj. ■ PAGE 2 Chief economic advisor V Anantha Nageswaran speaks on the impact of US tariffs, need for alternative energy sources and the role of the private sector in India’s growth. ■ IDEA EXCHANGE, PAGE 9 FE S P E C I A L S ChinaurgesUSto avoidsmallsteps, revokeextralevies President Donald Trump and Tesla chief Elon Musk attend a mixed martial arts event at UFC 314, in Miami. Secretary of state Marco Rubio and director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard are also seen AP Retail & travel clients more exposed to US tariffs:TCS HARIPRIYA SURESH & SAI ISHWARBHARATH B Bengaluru, April 13 CLIENTS OF TATA Consultancy Services in the retail, travel and automobile sectors are more exposed to fallout from US tariffs and theymayresort to cost-cutting if uncertainty persists, TCS managing director& CEO K Krithivasan »INSIDE« OUR CAPEX, MARGINS ARE ON TRACK: CFO PAGE 4 said in an interview. The banking and financial services sector — which makes up nearly a third of revenue for the K KRITHIVASAN, CEO, TCS The consumer business, hospitality business, travel, auto industry are the businesses that we have to watch out for country's biggest software exporter — remains unaffected, he said. TheglobaltradewarandUSPresident Donald Trump's back-andforth on tariffs have made it difficult to forecast market conditions, making businesses hesitant about signing off on big spending decisions. Retail and manufacturing are the company's second- and fourthlargest revenue contributors, while banking remains the largest. Continued on Page 8 WITH ANDHRA PRADESH chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu reviving his dream project to make Amaravati the state's capital soon after he returned to power last June, the state government is planning to acquire another 30,000-40,000 acres of land for additional infrastructure projects, including an international airport. This is in addition to the 34,241 acre acquired from 29,881 farmers in29villagesofGunturdistrictduring Naidu's earlier stint as CM from 2014 to 2019. Naidu had first announced Amaravati as the state capital when the TDP came to power in 2014. But after losing power in 2019, the project was scrapped by the YSRCP government which proposed a “three capital formula” for “decentralisedgovernance”—Amaravatiaslegislativecapital,Visakhapatnam as administrative capital, and Kurnool as judicial capital. Work on the Amaravati project restarted after Naidu's return to power last June.The state government now wants to expand the capital development plan by including an international airport and more outer and inner access roads, said sources. The Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) is learnt to be scouting forland in thevillages located in the core capital zone, in Guntur and Krishna districts. According to sources, a new international airport has been proposed in Amaravati not only to provide quick and easy access to the capital city, but also in view of the fact that the nearest airport at Vijayawada may become congested very soon. Continued on Page 8 Tradenegotiations hitbrakesonentry ofEVsintoIndia ● Top electric vehicle SPEED BREAKER NITIN KUMAR New Delhi, April 13 ■ Talks with global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have cooled significantly makers await better terms in BTA,FTAs GLOBAL ELECTRIC VEHICLE (EV) giants, including Tesla, Volkswagen, BMW, MercedesBenz and Renault, have hit the brakes on plans to engagewith the government's new EV policy, opting instead to wait for more favourable termsthroughbilateraltradeagreement (BTA) or free trade agreements (FTAs) currentlyundernegotiation. The scheme to promote manufacturing of electric passenger cars in India (SPMEPCI), generally referredtoastheEVpolicy,allowsfor the import of up to 40,000 EVs at a significantly reduced customs duty of 15%, compared to the current 70-100%, provided companies invest a minimum of $500 million in setting up local manufacturing andmeet localisationnormswithin a period of three years. However, government sources and industry insiders say that talks with these global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have cooled significantly. The companies are now eyeing the possibility of obtaining similar or better concessions through BTAor FTAs,being negotiated with ■ Firms are now eyeing the possibility of obtaining similar or better concessions via BTAor FTAs ■ BTAs could offer market access without major commitments ■ Tesla appears to be preparing for an India entry regardless of the final policy route the United States and the European Union. A senior executive at a European auto major explained the strategic rethink: “The BTA/FTA deal would be favourable for us,as the majority of European and US cars are in the premium segment in India.Investing $500 million to capture 5-10% of a relatively small premium car market is a much riskier proposition”. Continued on Page 8 Highwayrevamp to get `10 lakh crore NAMITATEWARI New Delhi, April 13 THE CENTRE IS planning to invest `10lakhcroreoverthenexttwoyears toimprovehighwaysacrossthecountry,with special focus on the northeast,where roads will rival those in the US,road transport and highways ministerNitin Gadkari said. In an interviewto PTI,he said the Centreisworkingtodrasticallytransform the country's infrastructure in the next twoyears so that it matches the best in theworld. “We plan to take up projects worth`10lakhcroreinthenexttwo yearstostrengthenhighwaysacross the country, with special emphasis on enhancing infrastructure in the northeast and the border areas. In twoyears,highwaysinthenortheast will be on par with US roads,” Gadkari said. There is an urgent need to augment the road infrastructure in the northeast,given its difficult terrain andproximitytoborders,hesaid.“It is our endeavour to transform the country's infrastructure drastically so that it matches with the best in the world.” Gadkari said 784 highway projects are going to be implemented in easternstatesatanestimatedcostof `3,73,484 crore, covering 21,355 km.Among them are projects of the NITIN GADKARI ROAD TRANSPORT & HIGHWAYS MINISTER Weplantotakeup projectsworth `10lakhcrore inthenext twoyearsto strengthen highways acrossthe country ministryof road transport and highways,theNationalHighwaysAuthority of India and the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation,he said. “Wecurrentlyhaveprojectsworth `57,696 crore in Assam and about `90,000 crore in Bihar. We're also undertaking projects worth over `42,000 crore inWest Bengal,about `53,000 crore in Jharkhand, and around `58,000 crore in Odisha,” Gadkari said. Continued on Page 8 First 16 matches draw 370.3 millionTVviewers; watch time at 116.9 billion minutes Counting on divine blessings Spiritual content is opening up new avenues for OTT growth ■ BRANDWAGON, P7 Why Hyderabad is trying to save its last patch of green Development projects cannot take precedence over green concerns ■ EXPLAINER, P8 Bold bets forIPLhelp JioStarscore at a brisk pace VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO Mumbai, April 13 HITTING THROUGH THE ROOF THE ONGOING EDITION of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is notching up higher viewership numbers per week as broadcaster JioStar presses all levers to widen accessacrossplatforms.Theendeavour, according to media industry sources, is to attract 1 billion viewers this year for the IPL,higher than the541millionTVviewersthecashrich league attracted last year. This is also the first IPL season since the merger between the T20 tournament's domestic linear TV (Star) and digital (Viacom18) partners last year, implying that the stakes are high,as the ongoing edition is expected to set new benchmarks for forthcoming seasons. JioStar has taken a few bold bets growing for IPL 2025 as JioStar aims to make it biggest ever ■ TV and digital viewership ■ First 16 IPL matches on TV drew 16 matches Live digital views for the first 24 matches stood at ■ ■ TV 370.3 watch time increased to highestever at viewers in terms of live reach billion minutes million 8.1 billion 116.9 this year. This includes taking IPL behindafreemiumorhybridpaywall on digital,stepping up focus on customised narratives and language feeds on TV (linear) and digital, including connected TV, providing ■ TV ratings (TVR) saw a 12% increase over last year for first Live digital reach and watch time up 30% over last year for first 24 matches ■ more IPL bundled options with telecom data plans across operators, introducinganupgradetoitsvertical Max viewing experience on digital and improving the gaming experienceduringthetournamentthrough the Jeeto Dhan Dhana Dhan contest. All of this is showing up in an increase in viewership. As per data sourced from the Broadcast AudienceResearchCouncil(BARC)India, the first 16 IPLmatches onTVdrew 370.3 million viewers in terms of live reach. This was the secondhighest ever for the tournament, excluding the Covid-19 period. BARC data comes with a week’s lag forTVviewership. For perspective, the opening weekend and the first eight IPL matches this year had drawn 253 million and 288 million viewers each,as per BARC data. The TV watch time for the first 16 matches also surged to its highest-ever at 116.9 billion minutes, excluding the Covid-19 years. TV ratings (TVR) saw a 12% increase over last year for the first 16 matches at 6,BARC data shows. Live overall digital reach and watch time, meanwhile, grew 30% versus last year for the first 24 matches of the season. Connected TV alone saw a 42% spurt in watch time and reachversus lastyear.Live digital views, which includes mobiles and connected TVs for the first 24 matches, stood at 8.1 billion, which is a significant jump over last year. Digital viewership comes in real-time. “We have built different promotional, marketing and programming strategies forvarious cohorts, which has ensured wider recruitment and deeper engagement across TV and digital platforms," Sanjog Gupta, chief executive officer,sports,JioStar,said. “The aim is to deliver the biggest-everIPLthisyearand as the tournament unfolds, we will continue on this path of delivering an interactiveandimmersiveIPLexperience,"he said. Continued on Page 8 Lucknow