COMPANIES | PAGE 4 THE BIG IDEA | PAGE 18 Medical access goes off the beaten track COMPANIES | PAGE 4 Zomato's Goyal eyes regional air travel TataSteelfaces`1,007-cr GSTdemandnotice LUCKNOW, MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2025 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL 18 NO. 177 , 34 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 Torrentsealsdeal tobuyJBChem INTERVIEW WITH FINANCE MINISTER NIRMALA SITHARAMAN Positive sentiment playing out in urban areas too: FM ● Controlling stake FE BUREAU New Delhi, June 29 ● TheministersaysIndiawouldlovetoenterintoa“big,good,beautiful”bilateraltradepactwithUS PRASANTA SAHU & KG NARENDRANATH New Delhi, June 29 AS THE DEADLINE to avoid the UnitedStates’punitivereciprocaltariffsisdrawingcloser,thegovernment hashintedatuninhibiteddeal-makingwiththeworld’slargesteconomy, but also made an unequivocal commitment to drawdefinitive red lines in the best interests of India’s farmersandlivestockbreeders. Reacting to President Donald Trump’sstatementlastweekthatan interim bilateral trade agreement (BTA) soon in the offing with New Delhi would “open up” the Indian market forAmerica,finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: “Yes, wewouldlovetohaveanagreement, abig,good,beautifulone;whynot?” In a free-wheeling interview with FE,the ministeradded:“At the junction we are in, and given our growth goals and ambition to be Viksit Bharat by 2047, the sooner we have such agreements with strong economies, the better they will serve us.” According to the minister,agriculture and dairyhave been among the“verybigredlines,”whereahigh degree of caution has been exercised,during BTAtalkswith the US. On a perceived slowdown in investments by the private sector, the minister said things have tural push to the economy, includstarted changing for the better. ing “getting the banks to be better “At least in the last six months, off,” and spurring private investthere is a clear sign that private ment in nuclear energy. She also investments and capacity expanindicatedthattheweightedaverage sion are happening…There is defGoodsandServicesTax(GST)might initely surplus cash with private come down from the current companies,and they’re problevels,as part of a restructurably earning passive ing of the rates and slabs of income. But we can see the eight-year-old compresigns of change”. hensive indirect tax. AskedwhatthegovernShe stressed the need to ment is planning to do to give additional support to reverse urban slowdown, Sitharamansaid,sentiment ON PAGE2 merchandiseexports,while noting that tax content in is definitely turning in exported products isn’t fully neuurban areas too.“From April, there tralisedyet,withcertainembedded have clearlybeen signs of the (posistate and local levies. tive consumer) sentiment playing “We are looking at different out (thanks to the income tax dimension of reforms other than, reliefs)”,she said. of course,land and asset monetisaSitharaman outlined a raft of tion,”she said,while asserting that, “second-generation reforms” to be “there is no going back on the three unleashed soon to impart a struc- & ❝ AT LEAST IN THE LAST SIX MONTHS, THERE IS A CLEAR SIGN THAT PRIVATE INVESTMENTS ARE HAPPENING… SOME ARE PROBABLY EARNING PASSIVE INCOME FROM SURPLUS CASH, BUT WE CAN SEE CHANGE ❝ THE EXPECTATION IS THAT (THE AVERAGE GST RATE) WILL COME DOWN, AND WE ARE WORKING ON IT. YOU CAN HAVE THE REVENUE BUOYANCY IF THE RATES ARE LOW, AND THAT LEADS TO AN EXPANSION ■ Torrent will acquire KKR’s 46.39% stake through a share purchase agreement TORRENT PHARMACEUTICALS, THE flagship entity of theTorrent Group,announced on Sunday its decision to acquire a controlling stake of 46.39% in JB Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals from global investment firm KKR. The transaction, one of the largest in the pharmaceutical sector, values JB Chemicals at `25,689 crore on a fully diluted basis. Thedeal,whichwillbecompleted in two phases, marks a labour codes, which states are keenly taking up.” Sitharaman, who met the chiefs of public sector banks on Friday for a performance review, acknowledged the issue of their deposits (CASA) not growing as much as they used to. “There will be some kind of attempt by the banks to improve on this,” she said, referring to the “tightrope walk” of bankers, as people at once want credit to become cheaper and deposits toyield better returns. “Though banks can go to the market to raise funds, CASA was a cheap capital available,” she noted, adding that challenge is compounded bythe fact that retail savings are going to the stock markets at a greater pace. She said the time hascomeforreaching a consensus at the GSTCouncil to design a“verysimplified and easy-to-comply”tax. Continued Page 15 TAKING CONTROL for`25,689 crore ■ Also plans to buy up to 2.80% extra shares from certain JB Chemical employees ■ The open offer will be made at `1,639.18 per share, potentially costing Torrent `6,842.8 crore majorstepinTorrent’sstrategy to build a diversified, futureoriented healthcare platform. Continued on Page 15 RILeyes Rosneft’s stake in Nayara AMMAR ZAIDI New Delhi, June 29 on EXPRESS PHOTO: RENUKA PURI RUSSIAN OIL GIANT PJSC Rosneft Oil Company is in early talks with Reliance Industries for sale of its 49.13% stake in Nayara Energy, which operates a 20million tonne-a-year oil refinery and 6,750 petrol pumps in India. Reliance has held preliminary talks for acquisition of Nayara, which will help it overtake state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to become India's No.1 oil refiner as well as give a meaningful presence in the fuel marketing space. But the talks are at preliminary stage and there is no guarantee that they may lead to a definite deal as valuation remains a sticky ground, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. Continued on Page 15 Lucknow