ECONOMY | PAGE 3 NEWS POINT | PAGE 16 India’sextremepoverty ratefallsto5.3%in2022-23 INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 5 SudarshanVenu easing into theTVS hot seat HYDERABAD, SATURDAY, JUNE 7, 2025 Musk blinks first inTrump feud that cost him $34 bn FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL. NO. XXII 31, 16 PAGES, `12 P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E SENSEX: 82,188.99 ▲ 746.95 NIFTY: 25,003.05 ▲ 252.15 NIKKEI 225: 37,741.61 ▲ 187.1 HANG SENG: 23,792.54 ▲ 114.43 `/$: 85.64 ▲ 0.16 `/€: 97.80 ▲ 0.18 BRENT: $66.22 ▲ $0.88 GOLD: `96,648 ▼ `905 Respecting Every Grain, Rewarding Every Effort 01101/13/0009/2526 With a historic rise, MSP now 150% of the cost ₹18 lakh crore given to farmers for wheat and paddy procurement at MSP in the last decade; 3 times compared to 2004-2014 ● MPC BETS ON GROWTH WITH ● POLICY STANCE SHIFTS TO NEUTRAL, ● CASH RESERVE RATIO REDUCED STEEPEST RATE CUT IN 5 YEARS INDICATING PROLONGED PAUSE 100 BPs IN STAGES FROM SEPT RBI’SDOUBLE DELIGHT IN THE NEWS PMO meet on creating Indian ‘Big Four’ firms THE PRIME MINISTER'S Office (PMO) on Friday held a meeting with key government officials on creating Indian advisory firms that can compete with the Big Four -- EY, KPMG, PwC, and Deloitte, reports Manu Kaushik. ■ PAGE 2 China rejects Sona Comstar plea for rare earth imports THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT has rejected Sona Precision Forgings’ (Sona Comstar) application to import rare earth magnets — the first Indian company to face such a decision, reports Nitin Kumar. ■ PAGE 4 Sebi attaches MF, bank accounts of Mehul Choksi SEBI ORDERED THE attachment of assets such as bank accounts, shares, and mutual funds of absconding diamantaire Mehul Choksi to recover `2.1 crore in a case of insider trading rules violations, reports Nesil Staney. »MOTOBAHN« IS TATA HARRIER EVTHE QUICKEST INDIAN SUV? PAGE 9 Continued on Page 7 (%) 5.75 5.5 to initiate action as complaints surge PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, June 6 HEALTHINSURANCECOMPANIES hiking annual premiums unfairly despite low incurred claim ratios will likely face strongpenalactionbytheregulator, government sources told FE.Theregulatorycrackdownon a couple of private insurers, which have been found to have indulged in such practices, is expectedinamonth,thesources said,withoutnamingthefirms. With complaints from the publicrisingaboutclaimsbeing rejected on flimsy grounds,the government is understood to haveexpresseditsdispleasureto May 21, 2022 Dec 28, 2024 Jun 6, 2019 Jun 6, 2025 Jun 6, 2025 SANJAY MALHOTRA, RBI GOVERNOR We have won the war against inflation but there is scope to push the GDP rate further In case RBI has to step in and take any action (in IndusInd Bank matter), it will not be failing in its duty Marketsrally;NiftyBanktouchesnewhigh Sensex Intra-day, June 6 GAINS IN THE shares of financial companies following the RBIannouncementofasurprise 50-basis point repo rate cut led the outperformance of Indian equitybenchmarks on Friday. The Nifty 50 reclaimed its 82,000 25,000-mark after eight sessions posting a recovery of around 360 points intraday. It finally settled 252.15 points higher at 25,003.05, report AnanyaGrover&NesilStaney. The BSE Sensex closed at 82,188.99,its two-week high. Both Nifty Bank and BSE Bankex touched new all-time highs of 56,695 and 63,688.24,respectively,intraday, with most of their constituents rising. ■ PAGE 7 Crackdown soon on health insurers for high premiums ● Govt asks IRDAI 3% 4.5% 4% 3% Mar 28, 2020 INCURRED CLAIM RATIO 105 89 FY21 FY24 FY21 FY24 the Insurance Regulatory and DevelopmentAuthorityofIndia (IRDAI)inthisregardandasked it to set examples by punishing errant companies. Prompt action by the Reserve Bank of India(RBI)againstsimilarlapses in the banking sector has been citedtotheinsuranceregulator, as examplesto be followed. Incurred claim ratio — the total value of claims paid as against the premium collected in a year — had peaked during the Covid-19 pandemic in FY21, when the ratio for the publicsectorgeneralinsurance companies stood at 126% and private insurers at 105%.The ratio has since declined,and by FY24, moderated to 103% for publicsectorinsurersand89% 81,200 80,800 0.92% Previous close 81,442.04 Open Close Tata Steel UK’s exports to US at risk post FTA URVI MALVANIA Mumbai, June 6 Continued on Page 7 Continued on Page 7 penetration in India remains relatively low -at 1% of GDP compared to a global average of 4.2% in 2023 — but insurance density has steadily improved increasing from $9 in 2019 to $25 in 2023 103 81,600 Starlinkgetssatcomlicenceafterthree-yearwait URVI MALVANIA Mumbai, June 6 ELON MUSK’S STARLINK has secured its global mobile personalcommunicationbysatellite (GMPCS) licence from the department of telecommunications(DoT),asignificantregulatory milestone in its longawaited India entry. With this, the SpaceXowned satellite communications service provider inches closer to commencing services in the country,with a fewmore MOVING CLOSER TO INDIA LAUNCH ■ Starlink needs a few more approvals, including from Indian National Space Promotion & Authorisation Centre Elon Musk-led firm is third satcom operator to receive GMPCS licence, after Eutelsat’s OneWeb & Jio-SES joint venture approvals pending. Starlink is nowthethirdsatellitecommunications (satcom) operator to receive theGMPCSlicence,fol- lowing Eutelsat’s OneWeb and the Jio-SES joint venture. The clearance from DoT comes afterthecompanymetallsecu- rity compliance conditions outlined in its letter of intent (LoI), including commitments on lawful interception and local infrastructure. A fourth applicant,Amazon’s Kuiper, is still awaiting approval. Having crossed this regulatoryhurdle,Starlinknowneeds to secure the next critical approval, from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (InSPACe). The space regulator’s go-ahead is mandatory before Starlinkcanbegintrialservices ● LTVincreased to 85% from 75% CASH IN Total consumption loan amount* per borrower Maximum LTV ratio (%) KSHIPRA PETKAR & CHRISTINATITUS Mumbai, June 6 85 THE RESERVE BANK of India releasedthefinalguidelinesfor gold loan on Friday, providing a major relief to borrowers availing loans of below `2.5 lakh. Under the new norms, lenders will not be required to dotheircreditappraisalandthe loan-to-value ratio has been increased from 75% to 85%. However, the 85% shall be on the total amount payable at maturity,including interest. Thoughitrelaxednormson credit appraisal, loans, which are renewed or sanctioned as a top-up, will be subjected to creditassessment,theRBIsaid. Earlier in the day, the RBI and receive a provisional spectrum allocation. This interim allocation would allow the companytotestoperationsand demonstrate compliance with the country’s national security and technical standards. Starlink’s India launch has been years in the making. The company had been awaiting the GMPCS licence for over three years and has already submitted detailed plans to the government. Continued on Page 7 HYDERABAD Batting for real economy, writes Prasanna Balachander EDIT: Over to corporate India OPINION, PAGE 8 80 75 *In case of Bullet repayment loans, the loan amount shall be the total amount payable at maturity. governorsaidinthepost-monetary policy press conference, “Wehadjustconsolidatedolder guidelines,anditwasreiterated because it was seen that some regulated entitieswere not following the guidelines because there was no clarity.” Continued on Page 7 »INSIDE« 82,188.99 for private insurers. The government is understood to be concerned about the annual increase in health insurance premiums byas much as 20%, which is causing hardship for the poor and the middle class, and ultimately impacting insurance penetration. Private insurers ■ General insurance 126 81,434.24 TATASTEELUK’Sexportstothe United States could be significantly impaired,with its £150 millionannualtradefacingdisruption due to technicalities in theUK-USfreetradeagreement (FTA). As the company transitions its Port Talbot plant from blast furnaces to an electric arc furnace (EAF),it has temporarily ceased melting and pouring steel in the UK, a requirement fortariff-free access undercurrent US trade regulations. Therulemandatesthatsteel be “melted and poured” in the exportingcountry itselftoqualifyfortariffexemptions.Withits blast furnaces now offline and EAF production not expected until late 2027,Tata Steel UK is reliant on importing steel substrates from its operations in India andthe Netherlands. Public sector insurers (in %) 82,400 Nocreditappraisal forsmallgoldloans >`5 lakh THE MONETARY POLICY Committee (MPC) delivered a twin surprise on Friday — a higher-than-expected 50 basis point (bps) repo rate reduction anda100basispointscutinthe cash reserve ratio (CRR).They were accompanied by another unexpectedmove—achangein stance from “accommodative” to “neutral”,which means that afterthe latest round of cut — a total of 100 basis points since February—thereislikelytobea prolonged pause. “Certainty in the uncertain environment was necessary; hence the front-loading of rate cuts which should ensure faster transmission of policy rates,” RBI governor Sanjay Malhotra said at a post-policy press conference. “Afterhaving cut the policy rate by 100 basis points in quick succession since February 2025,the monetary policy committee also felt that under the present circumstances, monetary policy is now left withverylimited space to support growth,”he said. The reduction in the repo rate is the steepest since the emergency 75-basis-point easing in March 2020, when the economywas undersevere strain due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The decision to front-load the cut was driven by a favourable inflation outlook of 3.7% from 4% for FY26. “We have won the war against inflation and successfully controlled it, and there was a need to give confidence in an uncertain environment to the market, banks and the economy. Our decision had to be decisive and we have done the same,”Malhotra said. The central bank retained its growth forecast at 6.5% for the financial year that started in April. “Our aspiration is to grow at 8% and we would like to grow as fast as possible,”the governor said. The 100 bps cut in CRR — funds that banks are required to hold — will inject `2.5 lakh crore liquidity into the financial system. The cut will take effect in four stages between September and December. REPO RATE CASH RESERVE RATIO >`2.5 lakh & up to `5 lakh MAHESH NAYAK Mumbai, June 6 LOWER EMIs AHEAD Up to `2.5 lakh Repo rate,CRR see deep cuts Repo rate cut is expected to spur sales in residential properties, automobiles and consumer durables MARKETS, PAGE 6 Be quick to lock into highyield deposits: Banks will start cutting rates within days PF, PAGE 9 Birlaseesredin AsianPaintsact, filescasewithCCI ● Birla Opus charges rivalwith abusing its market position ADITYA KALRA New Delhi, June 6 ADITYABIRLAGROUP’Spaints venture has filed an antitrust complaint against market leaderAsianPaintsforallegedly abusing its market position, three sources said, a case that could lead to a stand-off betweenthetwoindustryrivals. AsianPaintsisthecountry's biggestplayerwitha52%marketshare,butithaslostsomeof its dominance after Birla Opus launchedinFebruary2024and grew rapidly to garner a near 7%marketsharebyMarchthis year,Elara Capital data shows. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has in recent weeks been reviewing a confidential complaint filed byBirla Opusalleging abuse ofits position by Asian Paints, said the twosources,whodeclinedtobe named as the discussions are private.The CCI isyet to decide if the complaint holds merit and needs a broader probe by its investigations unit, or should be dismissed. One of the sources familiar with the matter said the allegations from Birla say Asian Paints had asked its retail dealerstonotstocktherival’sproducts and had warned of restrictingtheircreditfacilities if they do so. The CCI, Asian Paints, and Birla Opus, the PAINTED BLACK ■ Asian Paints is India’s biggest player with a 52% market share ■ Birla Opus, launched in February 2024, grew rapidly to garner a near 7% market share by March this year ■ Birla has five plants operational now, while Asian Paints runs 26 factories globally ■ In 2022, CCI closed a case filed by JSW Paints against Asian Paints for abusing its market position paints arm of the Aditya Birla Group company Grasim, did notrespondtoReutersqueries. The first source added that Asian Paints also allegedly told its dealers itwill curtail its supplies to them if they put up hoardings of Birla paint products or place them at prominent places. Asian Paints has not been told about the case, accordingtoasource.Butithad received some media queries and has told the CCI in a confidentialletterthatthecompany must be allowed fair comment before anydecision is taken. Continued on Page 7