NEWS POINT | PAGE 20 INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 7 'Big or beautiful, not both': Musk mocksTrump tax bill INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 7 Unacademy’s co-founder focusing on a new chapter MUMBAI, THURSDAY, MAY 29, 2025 Hamas Gaza chief Sinwar killed, claims Netanyahu FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL LXV NO. 126, 36 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: 81,312.31 ▼ 239.32 NIFTY: 24,752.45 ▼ 73.75 NIKKEI 225: 37,722.40 ▼ 1.71 HANG SENG: 23,258.31 ▼ 123.68 `/$: 85.37 ▼ 0.02 `/€: 96.73 ▲ 0.13 BRENT: $65.08 ▲ $0.99 GOLD: `95,521 ▲ `585 FE S P E C I A L Why exchanges can’t decide on expiry days Expiry days now curtailed to just Tuesdays or Thursdays ■ EXPLAINER, P9 Discrepancies identified in derivative accounting, impacting net worth by 2.35%. Board appoints Grant Thornton to investigate the discrepancies Grant Thornton submits forensic audit report, confirming a financial impact of `1,960 crore Deputy CEO Arun Khurana and MD & CEO Sumant Kathpalia resign May 28 May 21 May 9 ■ Says `173 cr incorrectly Says `674 cr was incorrectly recorded as interest over 3 quarters, which was fully reversed as on Jan 10 Sebi issues interim order against Kathpalia, 4 other top executives for alleged insider trading recorded as fee income in microfinance biz; chairman says board suspects internal fraud; bank posts Q4 loss of `2,236 crore, a first in 19 years be restrained from buying, selling or dealing in securities, either directlyorindirectly,in anymanner whatsoever,until further orders. “The foregoing prima facie observations contained in this order are made on the basis of the material available on record. The IndusInd Bank ex-CEO in response to then deputy CEO and CFO in an email on Dec 17, 2023 Thisisagainstwhatwe havebeentalkingto investors.Itseemsweneed togotomarketearlynext year.Thisisvery,very serious.Pleasehave thesecalculations onderivatives again revalidated noticees may, within 21 days from the date of receipt of this order,file theirreply/ objections,if any,to this order and may also indicate whether they desire to avail an opportunityof personal hearing on a date and time to be fixed in that regard,”the 32-page order added. Industrial output slows to eight-month lowinApril MUKESH JAGOTA New Delhi, May 28 LOSING PACE INDIA’S INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT growth slowed sharply to 2.7% in April from an upwardly revised 3.9%inMarchand5.2%inthecorresponding month of the previous fiscal,as all three sectors making up the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) saw a decline in growth. Thisisthelowestgrowthineight months — the previous lowwas the flat growth in August last year. In Februarythisyear,IIPgrewmarginally higher than in April at 2.71%. The manufacturing sector that has a weight of 77.6% in the index grew just 3.4% during the month comparedto4%inMarch.Theelectricity production with a weight of 7.9% in IIP grew 1.1% in April, against 7.5% in March. The mining sector output, with aweight of 14.3% intheindex,contracted 0.2% inApril from a growth of 1.2% in March. 6.2 May 5.2 5.2 Sectoral growth Jan 2025 2.7 SWARAJ BAGGONKAR Mumbai, May 28 The annual report also highlighted remuneration figures for other key managerial personnel. Newlyappointedchiefoperatingofficer Aarthi Subramanian, who replaced NG Subramaniam following hisretirementinMay2024,willdraw a monthly salary of `10.8 lakh,with the possibility of scaling up to `15 lakh per month effective May 1. NG Subramaniam earned `11.55 crore in FY25against `26.2 crore in FY24. FollowinghisretirementfromTCSin May 2024, he was appointed the chairman ofTata Communications. Continued on Page 11 TCS crosses $30 bn in FY25 revenues on GenAI boost, P4 Continued on Page 11 ■ IndiGo names Vikram Singh Mehta new chairman, P4 IIP Growth (%) 0 Aug (%, 2025) Jan Within manufacturing,the output of coke and refined petroleum products was down 2.1%, while production of chemicals was down 3.6% and pharma 3.9%. The support to manufacturing, however, came from growth in computer and electronics (10.5%), electrical equipment Feb Mar Apr (15..2%), machinery (17%), motor vehicles (15.4%) and metal products (12.7%). “The number of sectors having positive growth in April 2025 touched a three-month high of 16 (January 2025: 19). Continued on Page 11 TCSCEOgetsapayhike,stillwaybehindpeers FE BUREAU Bengaluru, May 28 TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES (TCS) managing director and CEO K Krithivasanreceivedaremuneration of `26.52 crore in financial year 2024-25. This marked a 4.6% increase over the previous year, the company’sannualreportreleasedon Tuesdayshowed. Krithivasan’s pay continues to remain significantly lower than that of his peers in the country’s top IT firmsforFY24.Forinstance,HCLTech CEO C Vijayakumar earned `84.2 crore,Infosys’SalilParekhtookhome `66.2 crore,and Wipro’s Srini Pallia earned around `53 crore in FY24. PAY PACKAGES (` crore) FY24 salary FY25 salary HCLTech CEO C Vijayakumar Infosys CEO Salil Parekh Wipro CEO Srini Pallia 84.2 66.2 53 These companies are yet to release theirannual reports forFY25. Krithivasan’sFY25packagecomprised a base salary of `1.39 crore, `2.13 crore in benefits, perquisites TCS CEO K Krithivasan 26.5 andallowances,andacommissionof `23 crore. His total remuneration stoodatnearly330timesthemedian salary of TCS’s 607,979 employees, which sawa 6.3% increase in FY25. Continued on Page 7 INDIGO WILL BE the first carrier to begin flight operations from Adani Group's Navi Mumbai International Airport(NMIA),ajointstatementsaid onWednesday. The country's largest airline will startwith18dailydeparturestoover 15 cities.This will be increased to 79 dailydepartures,including 14 international departures by November 2025, and further scaled up to over 100dailydeparturesbyMarch2026. By November 2026, the operations will be further ramped up to 140 dailydepartures,including 30 international departures. Both IndiGo and Adani Airport Holdings (AAHL), however, did not provide the estimated date of the start of the operations at the airport. IndiGowasthefirstcarriertoconductaflightvalidationtestatNMIAin December2024withitsAirbusA320. Pieter Elbers, CEO, IndiGo, said: “IndiGo will be the inaugural airline tooperatefromNMIAandwecouldn’tbemorepleasedtoannouncethis. Ouralliancesignalstowardsachievement of complete operational readinessonbothsidestotakenextsteps.” ArunBansal,CEO,AAHL,said:“We are delighted to announce IndiGo as thefirstairlinepartnertocommence operationsfromNMIA.Thispartnership marks a major step towards confirming NMIAL’s position as a transfer hub for domestic and international travellers.” A few weeks ago, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) issued a NOTAM (notice to airmen), stating NMIALwill not be available until the firstweek ofAugust. Apr Apr 2024 Mining Manufacturing Electricity Last week, Sebi chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said the regulator is looking into any "egregious violations" by senior management of IndusInd Bank that was hit several accounting frauds. IndiGo to be first to take off from Navi Mumbai airport 3.4 THE UNION CABINET on Wednesday approved `15,642 crore for providing interest subsidy to farmers on the working capital loans for the current financial year, reports fe Bureau. ■ PAGE 2 Apr 28 & 29 1.1 Cabinet approves `15,642-cr interest subsidy on farm loans Apr 26 7.5 ■ PAGE 4 THE SECURITIES AND Exchange Board of India (Sebi) onWednesday imposed a trading ban on IndusInd Bank’s former CEO Sumant Kathpalia and four other senior executives over alleged insider trading. In its ex-parte interim order,the markets regulator said that prima facie there was a case that these executives traded in the bank’s stockwhile in possession of unpublished price-sensitive information (UPSI).“The trading done by insiders, while being in possession of UPSI, caused notional monetary loss to the innocent investors who didnothavefreeandequalaccessto the crucial/material information,” the order stated. Imposing total fines of `19.78 crore, Sebi wholetime member Kamlesh Chandra Varshney said thatallthefive accused–Kathpalia, Khurana, Sushant Sourav, Rohan Jattanna and Anil Marco Rao – will Mar 20 -0.2 BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO (BAT), the largest shareholder in ITC, on Wednesday offloaded a 2.5% stake in the Indian conglomerate for `12,941 crore through open market transactions, reports Viveat Susan Pinto.BAT's shareholding in the FMCG major now stands at 22.94%. SUMANT KATHPALIA, Mar 10, 2025 4 BAT offloads 2.5% in ITC via `12,927-cr block deal CASE FILES JOYDEEP GHOSH Mumbai, May 28 5.8 THE DEBT RECOVERY tribunal on Wednesday barred Gensol promoters Anmol Singh Jaggi and Puneet Singh Jaggi from sale or transfer of assets. It also asked the court-appointed officer to take possession of the mortgaged EVs of BluSmart, reports fe Bureau. ‘NO GROUND FOR PROBE’ Sebi bans IndusInd ex-CEO, Lokpalgivesclean 4 others over insider trading chittoBuchin 2.4 1.6 2.8 1.6 1.2 Gensol promoters barred from sale or transfer of assets REGULATOR FINDSTOPEXECS PRIMAFACIE GUILTY,SLAPS `19.78-CR FINES 4.4 IN THE NEWS ■ Hindenburgcase NESIL STANEY Mumbai, May 28 ANTI-CORRUPTION OMBUDSMAN Lokpal on Wednesday dismissed complaints against former Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch linked to the allegations levelled against her by forensic research firm Hindenburg. The US short-seller,which shut shop in January, had claimed in an August 2024 report that Buch and her husband held stakes in offshore fundslinkedtoAdaniGroupthrough complex investment structures. The claims are “untenable, unsubstantiated,and bordering on frivolity”,the Lokpal said. The complaintswere filed byTrinamoolCongressMPMahuaMoitra and others on grounds of alleged impropriety and conflict of interest based on the research report. The order issued noted that the claims were based on assumptions unsupportedbyverifiableevidence. It does notwarrant an investigation underthe Prevention of Corruption Act,it said. Both Buch and her husband had denied the allegations. Lokpal had earlier sought oral hearings for Buch and her husband, which it clarified was procedural and not an expression of merit of complaints. The Hindenburg report claimed that undisclosed interests could explaintheSebi’sreluctancetoinvestigate Adani firms. The US-based defunct researcher had earlier publishedareportonAdaniGroupinJanuary 2023. It accused the group of stock manipulation and accounting fraud and called it the largest con in RELIEF ■ Hindenburg, which shut shop in Jan, against Buch had claimed are 'untenable, Buch and her unsubstantiated, husband held and bordering stakes in offson frivolity', hore funds the Lokpal linked to Adani said in its order via complex investment structures ■ The complaints against Sebi ex-chief were linked to allegations based on an Aug 2024 report by Hindenburg ■ The claims ■ Both Buch and her husband had denied all allegations corporate history. This triggered sharp losses in Adani firms. At the lowest,therewasa$150-billiondent. The report surfaced just before Gautam Adani finalised a $1.2-billion deal to acquire Haifa Seaport in Israel. Sebi had issued notices to the high-profile shortseller research outfit,accusing it of market manipulations. Hindenburg denied and claimed it as an attempt to silence critics. Continued on Page 11 India-US interim trade deal likely before June 25 FE BUREAU New Delhi, May 28 THEMUCH-AWAITEDinterimtrade dealbetweentheUSandIndiamaybe advanced,andtakeplacebeforeJune 25,according to official sources. A team of US negotiators is expected in India early next month, with a view to taking forward the talks from where they were left off duringcommerceandindustryministerPiyushGoyal’srecentvisittothe nation.The aim of the fresh negotiations is to arrive at a clear understanding on the interim deal. The reciprocal tariffs on India and other countries by the US are paused till July9,which makes July8 the deadline for averting these via a mutually agreed deal to increase market access for both countries. Now, Indian exports are subject to just 10% extra baseline tariffs. "Talks are moving positively. Before July 8,we are looking at concluding an interim deal. It will include goods, non-tariff barriers, ON TRACK ■ A team of negotiators from the US is expected in India early next month to take forward the talks ■ Commerce minister Piyush Goyal was in US last week, where he met US commerce secy Howard Lutnick twice some areas of services also like digital,"an official had earlier said. While negotiators were talking, Goyal had met US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick twice during the last week to give a political direction to the negotiations. Continued on Page 11 Automation of routine functions helps free up analysts for higher-order decision-making VC firms employAI to automate deal sourcing & screening S SHANTHI Bengaluru, May 28 VENTURE CAPITAL FIRMS are increasingly adopting artificial intelligence (AI) and automation to streamline their internal operations, mirroring practices they often advocate to their portfolio companies. From deal sourcing to portfoliomanagement,VCfirmsare letting generative AI (GenAI) and automation tools handle a substantial portion of routinework,freeing up time for higher-order decisionmaking and deeper engagement with startups. Deeptech-focused Auxano Capital has already automated about 30-40% ofitsrecurringtasks,while IvyCap Ventures has set an ambitious goal of automating 60% of its end-to-enddealflow,investormanagement and portfolio oversight by the end of the year. The push towards automation is driven by the growing complexity and volume of work that venture capitalists manage,particularlythe need to sift through a high number of startup pitches and investment opportunities. The use of large language models (LLMs) and GenAI is proving transformativeacrossaspectrumof functions.These include evaluating pitch decks, conducting initial sector research, generating content, TECH-ING IT FORWARD ■ VCs are also ■ The push towards automation driven by growing complexity and volume of work managed by venture capitalists ■ Deeptech-focused Auxano Capital has automated 30-40% of its recurring tasks ■ IvyCap Ventures to automate 60% of end-to-end deal flow by year-end ■ Good Capital, investor in Meesho, says 70-80% internal tasks now automated performing data entry, managing communications, and even carrying out preliminary due diligence. Good Capital, an investor in startups such as Meesho,Apnibus, Solar Square and Orange Health, has taken automation further.The firm estimates that 70-80% of its proactively encouraging AI adoption in portfolio companies ■ Fully automated dealmaking, however, still a few years away, say venture capitalists internal tasks are now automated. It uses tools likeAirtable,Zapierand Paperform to automate follow-ups with portfolio firms and capture information across WhatsApp, email, voice notes and links, all of which are centralised and updated in real time. “Automation isn’t just a productivity hack for us, it is core to how we scale good judgement,” said Arjun Malhotra, general partner at Good Capital, adding: “It speeds up screening and improves accuracy. An AI prompt handles first-level triage of inbound deals based on predefined criteria, narrowing down what our team needs to review.” According to Malhotra, action items and the next steps are automatically tagged and assigned, ensuring a seamless workflow and high deal velocity withoutcompromisingonthequality of evaluation. For many firms, automation is proving especially effective in the heavy-lifting stages of deal sourcing and initial analysis. “As the volume of deals is high, manual evaluation is tough. AI makes it easy to shortlist. We have created the initial filters which automation takes care of,” said VikramGupta,founderandmanaging partner at IvyCapVentures.The firm has even appointed a chief technology officer to lead its techdriven transformation. Continued on Page 11