ECONOMY | PAGE 2 COMPANIES | PAGE 4 Monsoonforecastbrings cheerto2-wheelersector INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 7 ‘Made-in-Indiaelectronics gainingglobalrecognition’ BENGALURU, SATURDAY, APRIL 19, 2025 US to nix Ukraine deal if there is no progress: Rubio FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XXXVII 308, 10 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: 78,553.19* ▲ 1508.90 NIFTY: 23,851.65* ▲ 414.45 NIKKEI 225: 34,730.28 ▲ 352.68 HANG SENG: 21395.14 ▲ 338.16 `/$: 85.38* ▲ 0.26 `/€: 97.11* ▲ 0.22 BRENT: $67.96 ▲ $2.11 GOLD: `94,629* ▲ `325 Fundraising by banks, NBFCs via QIPs jumps 46% in Jan-March RAISING OF CAPITAL by banks and NBFCs through the qualified institutional placements (QIPs) route witnessed a 46% jump to `7,456 crore in the first quarter of the calendar year 2025, compared with `5,100 crore in the corresponding period last year, reports Sachin Kumar. ■ PAGE 6 SHUBHAJIT ROY & SOUMYARENDRA BARIK New Delhi, April 18 AT A TIME when India and the US are trying to work out differences ontariffsandworkonconvergences towards a trade deal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that he spoke to US billionaire Elon Musk and discussed the ‘immense potential’for collaboration in technology and innovation. His conversation with Musk comes days before US Vice President J D Vance is scheduled to visit India next week from April 21 to 24. This also comes in the middle of negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement between India and the US that was launched after Modi's meeting with US President Donald Trump in the White House in February. After the conversation, Modi posted on X,“Spoke to Elon Musk and talked about various issues, including the topics we covered during our meeting in Washington SPEED DIAL ■ The call comes in the middle of negotiations for a trade agreement between India and the US ■ Modi and Musk had also met when the former had visited Washington DC to meet Trump ■ Musk was expected to visit India in April last year before the elections but that trip was postponed ■ His business interests in New Delhi are seemingly growing with – Tesla and Starlink – seeking an India entry DC earlier this year. We discussed the immense potential for collaboration in the areas of technology and innovation. Continued on Page 6 PhonePe becomes a public company ahead of IPO WALMART-BACKED PHONEPE has converted itself into a public entity from a private one, as it looks to launch an initial public offering (IPO) soon, according to filings with the Registrar of Companies, reports Raghav Aggarwal. ■ PAGE 6 Ola tops electric two-wheeler sales in April so far OLA ELECTRIC RECLAIMED the top spot in electric twowheeler (E2W) sales in April, after slipping behind Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor in March. The Bengaluru-based EV maker sold 11,330 units, accounting for 23% of total E2Ws sold so far this month, reports Narayanan V. ■ PAGE 4 FE S P E C I A L S Kia’s newest EVs driven: EV6 & EV9 One goes the distance in luxury, another in style — and both high on range. ■ BRANDWAGON, P9 Shift surplus money to liquid funds now Annual returns of top performing liquid funds are 7%-plus ■ PERSONAL FINANCE, P9 US President Donald Trump with Italian PM Giorgia Meloni at the White House in Washington on Thursday REUTERS NITIN KUMAR New Delhi, April 18 OVER 10,000 DRIVER-PARTNERS of BluSmart have been stranded without a livelihood after the companyabruptlyhaltedoperationsfollowing the Securities and Exchange BoardofIndia’s(Sebi)orderonGensol Engineering and its related parties.There has been no official communication from the ride-hailing company’s management. What began as a routine message on Wednesday— instructing drivers to returntotheirrespectivehubs—has turned into complete silence, leaving the drivers in shock, confusion, and despair. The shutdown came without a formalnotice.Thedrivers’WhatsApp groupreceivedavaguevoicenoteon Wednesday evening, citing “server issues”andaskingthemnottoreport to their hubs until further notice. Since then, the hubs have remained The monthly earnings for drivers ranged from `12,000-50,000, often bolstered by generous incentives — as high as `8,000 a week. Now, the once-bustling parking lots like this one in Gurugram stand deserted REUTERS locked,the company has been unresponsive, and the once-bustling parking lots stand deserted. “I’ve been waiting every day for some update, but there’s nothing. We’re not even allowed inside the hub,” said Sachin Kushwah, who has been with BluSmart for two years adding he doesn’t know who to contact. Kushwah, like thousands of others,is now on a job hunt.But with so manyformerBluSmartdriversinthe market,opportunities are scarce. “Even where there are jobs,dealersaredemanding`20,000-30,000 as commission,” said Satish John, Kushwah’s fellow driver from Mega reshuffle in finance, commerce ministries AnuradhaThakur, economic affairs secretary designate NEWS Arvind Shrivastava, revenue secretary POINT A QUIET DOER GETS HER DUE PAGE 10 the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the US,will work as special secretary in the commerce department for the time being, and will take over as the secretary after the retirement of incumbent Sunil Barthwal.The naming of new commerce secretaryso much in advance Continued on Page 6 Infylaysoff240 moreforfailing internaltests FE BUREAU Bengaluru, April 18 FE BUREAU New Delhi, April 18 BARELY THREE WEEKS into the newfinancialyear,theCentreundertook a major bureaucratic reshuffle on Friday, with 20 secretary-level appointments, including at the key economic ministries of finance and commerce.The exercise will give a fresh look at the finance ministry with new secretaries for four out of its six departments. According to the decisions taken by the Appointments Committee of theCabinet(ACC), AnuradhaThakur will succeed economic affairs secretary Ajay Seth on June 30, while Arvind Shrivastava will be the new revenuesecretary.CivilaviationsecretaryVumlunmangVualnamwillbe thenewexpendituresecretarywhile KMosesChalaihasbeennamedpublic enterprises secretary. TheACCalsoapprovedthefuture posting of 1994-batch IAS officer RajeshAgarwal,additionalsecretary in the department of commerce, as the next commerce secretary.Agarwal, already the chief negotiator for Haryana.“And that’s for work that pays half ofwhatwewere earning at BluSmart,”John adds. For many,the financial impact is only part of the loss. Drivers say the companygave them not just a livelihood,but dignityand stability. indicatesthatthegovernmentwants continuityofthecurrentteam,given the uncertainties caused by the global tariff war triggered by the Trump administration in the US. Thakur,a 1994 batch IAS officer of the Himachal Pradesh cadre, is currently additional secretary in the ministry of corporate affairs. She will join as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the department of economic affairs in the rank and pay of secretary. INFOSYS HAS TERMINATED the employment of 240 entry-level employees who did not meet the required standards in internal assessments, according to reports. This follows a similar round of layoffs in February, when over 300 trainees were laid off for failing internal evaluations. The affected employees, who had been undergoing a ‘Generic Foundation Training Programme’, were given three attempts to meet the company’s standards, with additionalpreparationtime,doubtclearing sessions,and mock assessments provided. Despite these efforts,theywere unable to qualify, leading to their dismissal. Infosys is offering the affected employees free upskilling opportunities in partnership with NIIT and UpGrad. These programmes are designed to help the trainees improve their skills and explore career options outside of Infosys. Continued on Page 6 Continued on Page 5 Vumlunmang Vualnam, expenditure secretary Rajesh Agarwal, commerce secretary designate Chinareachedout manytimes:Trump Govt plans to widen crop insurance net “I have a very good relationship withPresidentXi,andIthinkit’sgoing tocontinue.AndIwouldsaytheyhave US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump reached out a number of times,” said he was reluctant to continue Trump said. When pressed on ratcheting up tariffs on China whetherXi himself directly had conbecause it could stall trade tacted him orwhetheritwas »INSIDE« between the two countries, Chinese officials, Trump and insisted Beijing had responded,“Well,the same.I EDITORIAL: repeatedly reached out in a view it very similar.It would CASCADING EFFECT bid to brokera deal. betoplevelsofChina.” Trump, speaking to “Ifyouknewhim,”Trump PAGE 8 reporters in the Oval Office continued, referring to Xi, onThursday,saidofficialshebelieved “youwouldknowthatiftheyreached representedtheChineseleaderXiJin- out,he knew exactly.He knew everyping had sought to start talks.But he thing about it, he runs it very tight, repeatedly sidestepped direct ques- verystrong,verysmart.” tions about whether he and Xi had beenindirectcontact. Continued on Page 6 JOSH WINGROVE April 18 SANDIP DAS New Delhi, April 18 THE GOVERNMENT IS planning to expand the highly-subsidised crop insurance cover for farmers by extending the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) benefit to tenant farmers, those engaged in animal husbandry and the holders of Kisan Credit Cards (KCCs). The move is expected to include many millions more under the insurance cover, besides widening the crop area insured. “From the next season, we will be setting up escrow accounts with state governments for payment of compensation to farmers, so that the states pay their share of funds on time,” Devesh Chaturvedi, secretary, department of agriculture and farmers welfare, said on Friday at the national review conference of PMFBY. Currently, 41 million of the country’s 140 million farmers are enrolled under PMFBY, and 40% of the gross cropped area is covered.About 40% of the cultivators do not own land and are engaged in tenancy farming. MORE BENEFICIARIES, LARGER AREA PM Fasal Bima Yojana Farmers enrolled (mn) Claims paid (` cr) 27.6 26.1 31.5 40.0 85 82 79 77 69 2021-22 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25* Continued on Page 5 Claim ratio (%) 41 1,74,432 THE US HAS said that it is willing to discuss with India the additional tariffs it has imposed on steel and aluminium but outside the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO), reports Mukesh Jagota. The US also said it is open to discussing any other issue of trade and tariffs with India but not under the agreement on safeguards of the WTO. ■ PAGE 2 to advancing the Indo-US partnership locked; newjob offers at half of earnings 1,73,938 India’s WTO plea on metal tariffs not maintainable: US ● Says committed ● No clarityas hubs 1,56,884 THE NATIONAL COMPANY Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has set aside appeals filed by BCCI and Riju Raveendran seeking withdrawal of insolvency proceedings against Byju's and consider the settlement between the debt-ridden edtech firm and the apex cricket body, reports PTI. ■ PAGE 4 PM talks tech, innovation in call to Musk End of the road for BluSmart drivers 1,38,477 NCLAT rejects BCCI, Riju Raveendran pleas on Byju's settlement AHEAD OFVANCE’S INDIAVISIT 1,17,612 IN THE NEWS *Prv close Source: agriculture ministry, all data upto the end of each financial year, data as on Feb, 28, 2025, *final claims still being processed US govt’s crackdown against 388-year-old university prompting alumni to donate, even by those who never contributed before Harvard’sstandagainstTrumpishelpingitraisemoremoney VIMAL PATEL April 18 ALMA MATTER FOR TWO DECADES after graduating from Harvard, Samuel Graham-Felsen never donated to his alma mater. The 388-year-old university represented elitism,he said.Giving even moremoneytotheworld’swealthiest schooldidn’talignwithhisvalues. “Why should I be giving to this place that has billions of dollars?”he askedhimselfwhenhereceivedfundraisingnotices. Hissentimentchangedthisweek, aftertheuniversityrejectedaseriesof demands from the Trump administration.The government asked Harvardtodoahostofthings—likeauditing professors’work for plagiarism ■ The US govt is targeting Harvard because it ■ Laurence Tribe, has not done enough to combat antisemitism ■ It has ordered a $2.2 billion funding freeze on Harvard and said it would try to revoke its tax-exempt status ■ Former President Barack Obama, senators Chuck Schumer & Bernie Sanders are some of some its alumni andreportinginternationalstudents whobreakrulestofederalauthorities — that outraged the school’s leaders, othersinhighereducationandpeople farbeyonditsirongates. Within hours,the federal government responded with a $2.2 billion funding freeze,and later in the week said it would try to revoke Harvard’s tax-exemptstatus. The Trump administration has saiditistargetingHarvardbecauseit has not done enough to combat antisemitism. That did not sit well an influential Harvard emeritus professor of law, has said that now was the time to send donations to Harvard with Graham-Felsen,a novelist and freelance writer in New Jersey,who is Jewish. He gave the university a single donation of $108.It is a multiple of 18, a symbolic number in Judaism that highlighted his rejection of the idea that the federal government’s actions against Harvard were being wagedinhisname. “The more Trump punishes Harvard financially,” he said,“the more I willdonate.I’mnotawealthyguy.” It is not clear how many people have donated to Harvard this week. The university did not respond to requests seeking data about donations.But Graham-Felsen said he has many friends, some of whom had never given to the institution, who sentdonationsthisweek. Amongsomeright-leaningcritics, theschool’sactionsthisweekandover thepastyearhaveoftenpromptedthe oppositereaction. A year ago, Kenneth Griffin, a hedge fund founder who has given morethanhalfabilliondollarstoHar- BENGALURU vard,said he would pause donations over how the school handled antisemitism. After Harvard took its stand against President Trump this week, another vocal critic and alumnus, ShabbosKestenbaum,expresseddisappointmentinhisalmamater.“Harvard’sfightingTrumpharderthanit’s ever fought antisemitism,” Kestenbaum,whoissuingtheschooloverits handling of antisemitism,wrote on socialmedia. TheHarvardRepublicanClubalso derided Harvard’s response to the government, saying in a statement thattheuniversity‘refusedtocomply with federal requests to reverse ideologicalcapture’. Continued on Page 5