ECONOMY | PAGE 3 COMPANIES | PAGE 4 Cutting pendency: FM to meet customs, I-Tofficers Foxconn ships most of India iPhones to US CHENNAI/KOCHI, SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 2025 VOL NO. XLVI 33, 16 PAGES, `12 BACK PAGE | PAGE 16 Post-India crash, Boeing boss pulls out ofParisAirshow FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD 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: 81,118.60 ▼ 573.38 NIFTY: 24,718.60 ▼ 169.60 NIKKEI 225: 37,834.25 ▼ 338.84 HANG SENG: 23,892.56 ▼ 142.82 `/$: 86.09 ▼ 0.49 `/€: 99.22 ▼ 0.17 BRENT: $74.21 ▲ $4.85 GOLD: `98,732 ▲ `1,937 DOMESTIC CA FIRMS are seeking relaxed norms as the government pursues PM Modi’s vision of building India’s own ‘Big Four’ advisory firms, reports Manu Kaushik. ■ PAGE 3 FE S P EC I A L S But you need really strong legs, arms, and core to ride it safely, especially in traffic. ■ MOTOBAHN, P9 Check if your health plan is Covid-ready It is essential to have OPD & at-home cover ■ PERSONAL FINANCE, P9 FRIDAY FEARS 573 points (0.70%) After plunging over 1% intra-day, benchmarks later recovered some of the losses. While the rupee closed at a two-month low, gold hovered near its record high. ■ P2 June 13 (close) 81,118 Sensex June 12 (close) 81,691 85.2 Dollar vs rupee 85.6 (inverted scale) 85.60 0.57% MCX gold futures prices (` per 10 gm) 86.0 Continued on Page 7 ■ Domestic airlines divert flights, Page 2 CRUDE OIL PRICES jumped sharply on Friday, with Brent hovering around $78 a barrel before cooling a bit, posing a challengetoIndia’senergysuppliesandapotentialpriceshock. India imports as much as 88% of its crude oil requirements — much of it through the vulnerable Strait of Hormuz.The countryalso imports nearly 50% of its natural gas consumption, a large portion coming from West Asia. Iran produces around 3.3 millionbarrelsofcrudeoiladay, around3%ofglobalsupplyand exports about 1.5 million barrels a day,with China being the main importer (80%) followed byTurkey.Iran is on the northernsideoftheStraitofHormuz or the Persian Gulf through which over 20 million barrels per day of oil trade flows.In the past, Iran has warned of blocking the route. While the Organisation of thePetroleumExportingCountries (OPEC) has said itwill raise 86.09 86.4 Jun 13 Jun 12 OIL TURMOIL Brent crude prices 1,00,400 1,00,250 1,00,000 99,600 Energyprices surge,India faces oil supplychallenge ARUNIMA BHARADWAJ New Delhi, June 13 New BMW F 900 GS ridden on highways Firefighters and people clean up the scene of an explosion in a residence compound after Israel attacked Iran's capital Tehran on Friday AP ($ per barrel) Intra-day, June 13 78.46 08:12 AM 75.02 69.36 Close 16:30 PM IST Previous close Source: Bloomberg output,expertsbelievepricesof Brent crude could nonetheless rule at $70-72/bbl in FY26. Prashant Vasisht,seniorV-P, Icra, said that 20% of world oil andLNGtradeistransportedvia Strait of Hormuz, which Iran straddles.Assuch,anyescalation of the conflict result in supply shocks.“As loading ports are on the Strait of Hormuz with no alternative arrangements for most of these supplies,the risk is high in case the conflict esca- lates,”Vasisht told FE. Amit Kumar, partner and energy & renewables industry leader,GrantThorntonBharat, pointed out that even if direct imports from Iran are minimal, global price spikes due to the conflict would push up India’s oil import bill. In the past,Iran haswarned of blocking the route which could potentially hurt oil flows. Continued on Page 14 99,200 99,880 Jun 13 Open Close ILLUSTRATION: SUNEESH K Netanyahu talks to Modi; PM calls for early peace ISRAEL PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday to brief on the evolving situation in west Asia.The PM stressed the need for early restoration of peace and stability. “Receivedaphonecallfrom PM @netanyahu of Israel. He briefed me on the evolving situation. I shared India's concernsandemphasisedtheneed for early restoration of peace and stability in the region,” Modi said on X. Earlier in the day,the external affairs ministrysaid India is "deeply concerned" over the recent developments between Iran and Israel and is "closely monitoring"theevolvingsituation. India urged"both sides to avoid anyescalatorysteps". Besides Modi, Netanyahu reachedouttootherworldleaders,includingGermanChancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron, in a diplomatic push. AGENCIES A DAY AFTER Air India’s London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad airport,killing 241 of the 242 on board,the aviation regulatorordered a safetyinspection of the airline’s Dreamliner fleet. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said it would implement immediate checks across all 33 Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 aircraft operated byAir India, including key systems and take-off parameters. Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran said on Friday that the group “will not retreat from its responsibilities” even as it grapples with “one of the darkest days in Tata Group’s history”. In an internal communication to employees, he said: “This is a very difficult moment. What occurred yesterday (on Thursday) was inexplicable, and we are in shock and mourning. To lose so many lives at once Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, the lone survivor of Thursday’s Air India plane crash, at a hospital in Ahmedabad on Friday. The PM also visited the crash site ■ PAGE 16 PTI »INSIDE« FAMILIES LINE UP FOR DNA TESTS TO IDENTIFY KIN P16 EDIT: BOEING, AIR INDIA HAVE THEIR TASKS CUT OUT P8 is incomprehensible”. The internal note came as the search team recovered one of the aircraft's two black boxes on Friday, a breakthrough that is expected to shed light on what went wrong during what was to Govt considers options to keep Voda Idea afloat ● May grant telco more time for payment of dues DIALLING UP Continued on Page 14 Fidelitymarks upLenskart valuationto $6.1billion FE BUREAU Bengaluru, June 13 the telco, but it is keen to ensureVodafoneIdea’scontinued operations to preserve competition in the sector and protect consumer interest. Officials say that one of the optionsonthetableisafurther deferment of the telco’s dues post-September 2025, when the current moratorium period for AGR and spectrum payments ends. Continued on Page 7 Continued on Page 7 PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, June 13 AFTER CATEGORICALLY RULING out any further debtto-equity conversion of Vodafone Idea’s adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues, the government is now exploring alternative options to support the financially strapped telecomoperatoriftheneedarises. Themoveispartofthegovernment's efforts to prevent the creation of a duopoly in the telecom sector. Communications minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has categorically said that there is no further scope of converting Vodafone Idea’s dues into equity. The government had already raised its stake in the companyto49%followingthe conversion of spectrum debt worth `36,500 crore, he added. “We have taken the equity conversion route to a significantextent.Thatavenue is now closed,”Scindia said. This leaves the government with limited options to assist have been a routine flight. Investigators said the retrieved unit could either be the flight data recorder or cockpit voice recorder. It has been handed over to the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which is leading the probe with support from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Boeing, and engine maker GE Aerospace. US-BASED FIDELITY Investments has raised the valuation of omnichannel eyewear retailer Lenskart by 21% to $6.1 billion in its most recent portfolio update as ofApril 30. In November, Fidelity had pegged the company’s valuation at $5.6 billion. The valuation mark-up comes as Lenskart prepares for an initial public offering (IPO), through which it is reportedly looking to raise $1 billion at a targeted valuation of $10 billion. Fidelity had invested in Lenskart’s $200-million funding round in June 2024, along with Temasek, likely increasing its valuation from $4.5 billion to around $5 billion. This was followed by an additional $20-million investment led by Lenskart CEO Peyush Bansal. As per Tracxn, the company has raised a total of $1.08 billion over 19 rounds, to date. As per reports, the firm is expected to confidentially submit its draft red herring prospectus to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) bythe end of the month. Vodafone Idea dues as of March 31 6,012 CA firms urge easing of rules in Big Four push SWARAJ BAGGONKAR Mumbai, June 13 Penalty HOUSEHOLD ITEMS LIKE toothpaste, detergent bar and shampoo could become dearer if crude oil prices continue to rally, reports Viveat Susan Pinto. ■ PAGE 4 ISRAELATTACKED IRAN early onFridayinstrikesthattookout top military officers and hit nuclearandmissilesites,raising the potential for an all-out war between the two bitter West Asianadversaries.Itappearedto be the most significant attack Iran has faced since its 1980s warwith Iraq. Simmering tensions over Iran'srapidlyadvancingnuclear programme boiled over and Iran quicklyretaliated,sending a swarm of drones at Israel as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned of “severe punishment”. Countriesintheregioncondemned Israel's attack, while leaders around the globe called for immediate de-escalation from both sides. Israel's military said about 200 aircraft were involved in the initial attack on about 100 targets. Two security officials said the country’s Mossad spy agencywasalsoabletoposition explosive drones inside Iran aheadoftimeandthenactivate them to target missile launchers at an Iranian base near Tehran. They said Israel had also smuggled precision weapons intocentralIranaswellasstrike systemsonvehicles,whichwere activatedastheattackbeganto hit Iranian airdefences. 12,797 FMCG players on edge as Israel-Iran tensions heat up to find answers: Tata Sons chief ASSOCIATED PRESS Dubai, June 13 Principal THE NCLT HAS admitted a corporate insolvency plea by the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency against Gensol Engineering & Gensol EV Lease for a `510crore loan default, reports Krishna Barot. ■ PAGE 4 ● Investigation on 28,294 NCLT admits Ireda insolvency plea against Gensol DGCAorders thorough inspection of 787 fleet Israel attacks Iran’s nuke sites, top military leaders Interest INDIA HAS ASKED state-run miner IREL to suspend a 13-year-old agreement on rare earth exports to Japan and to safeguard supplies for domestic needs, sources said. REUTERS ■ PAGE 3 A DAY AFTER THE TRAGEDY 83,400 Govt puts rare earth supplies to Japan on hold IRAN RETALIATESWITH DRONES; FURTHER ESCALATION LIKELY Total AGR dues IN THE NEWS THE LAST OF A FOUR-PART SERIES ON THE MASSIVE MAKEOVER OF INDIA'S FINANCIAL NERVE CENTRE Themotherofportsfightshardtocomeoutoftroubledwaters MUMBAI NEXT-IV RAGHAVENDRA KAMATH Mumbai, June 13 ONCE COMPLETED, ITis projected to be three times bigger than the Jawaharlal Nehru Port. Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis says the Vadhvan Port will make the country a maritime force. But as you enter the Vadhvan village near Dahanu town,the reality hits hard. Villagers are hostile towards any visitors, even journalists.Krishna,avillager, says that the mainworryis the loss of fisheries’ income after the project takes off.“We also want development but not at our own cost,” he says. In fact, the conflict has been going on for several decades, with residents expressing fears that it will negatively impact the marine ecosystem and their traditional fishing practices. These concerns have led to widespread demonstrations, including boycotts of MEGA PROJECT Developer USP Capacity Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust 23.2 million TEUs annually/ (JNPT) -74% stake; Maharashtra cargo capacity of Maritime Board (26% stake) 298 MMT per year Cost: `76,220 crore 13th major port of India, top 10 in the world Location Situated just 12 km from the dedicated rail freight corridor and 22 km from the Mumbai-Vadodara Expressway Employment generation: 1.2 million jobs expected Targeted year of Completion: 2030 elections and road blockades. The process of starting the project itself has already taken almost a decade. The memorandum of under- standing (MoU) for the port was signed between the Maritime Board and JNPTin 2015, the ‘in principle’ approval came in 2020 and the pro- posal to build the port was approved in 2024. A government official who did not wish to be quoted said that the villagers need not worry as the port will be built on the sea,that is,it will be the country’s first offshore port as it will be built on an artificial island. He believes that most of the villagers’ fears have been allayed. He also added that villagers will get first right in the job opportunities in the new port and they will be trained properly to help them take up the opportunities. The port is expected to create 1.2 million job opportunities. “We also gave employment to villagers when JNPT port was built.We understand their position,” he said. Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) holds a 74% stake in the Vadhvan Port through a special purpose vehicle (SPV), while the Maharashtra Maritime Board holds 26%. An email sent to CHENNAI/KOCHI JNPT did not elicit any response on the subject. The scale is humungous. And there is considerable truth in the assertions of the central and state government that the port will rewrite the shipping scenario in the country.To be built at a cost of `76,220 crore, it is designed to handle 23.2 million TEUs annually and a cumulative cargo capacity of 298 million metric tonne (MMT) a year. In all, a total of nine container terminals with 18 berths will be developed, JNPT said in its presentation. Continued on Page 7