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 PUNE, MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2025 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL XVI NO. 128, 30 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 for`25,689 crore 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 started changing for the better. tural push to the economy, includ“At least in the last six months, ing “getting the banks to be better there is a clear sign that private off,” and spurring private investinvestments and capacity expanment in nuclear energy. She also sion are happening…There is defindicatedthattheweightedaverage initely surplus cash with private GoodsandServicesTax(GST)might companies,and they’re probcome down from the current ably earning passive levels,as part of a restructurincome. But we can see ing of the rates and slabs of signs of change”. the eight-year-old compreAskedwhatthegovernhensive indirect tax. ment is planning to do to She stressed the need to reverse urban slowdown, give additional support to Sitharamansaid,sentiment ON PAGE2 merchandiseexports,while is definitely turning in noting that tax content in urban areas too.“From April, there exported products isn’t fully neuhave clearlybeen signs of the (positralisedyet,withcertainembedded tive consumer) sentiment playing state and local levies. out (thanks to the income tax “We are looking at different reliefs)”,she said. dimension of reforms other than, Sitharaman outlined a raft of of course,land and asset monetisa“second-generation reforms” to be tion,”she said,while asserting that, unleashed soon to impart a struc“there is no going back on the three & ❝ 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 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 ■ Torrent will acquire KKR’s 46.39% stake through a share purchase agreement ■ 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