MARKETS | PAGE 12 COMPANIES | PAGE 4 Overnight rates surpass repo afterVRRR auctions INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 7 E-bus majors hit the brakes over payment delays PUNE, WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2025 US, China to talk tariff deadline extension FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL XVI NO. 148, 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 SENSEX: 82,186.81 ▼ 13.53 NIFTY: 25,060.90 ▼ 29.80 NIKKEI 225: 39,774.92 ▼ 44.19 HANG SENG: 25,130.03 ▲ 135.89 `/$: 86.37 ▼ 0.07 `/€: 101.10 ▼ 0.62 BRENT: $68.35 ▼ $0.86 GOLD: `99,026 ▲ `675 IN THE NEWS States raising off-budget loans despite curbs STATES RAISED `29,336 crore in FY25 via offbudget means, indicating their continued reliance on off-balance sheet liabilities to fund programmes, minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, reports Prasanta Sahu. ■ PAGE 2 Air India seeks $200-mn loan to add Boeing jets AIR INDIA IS SEEKING a bank loan of around $200 million to purchase a fleet of Boeing 777 planes from a US-based aircraft leasing company, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. ■ PAGE 4 Mid-and small-cap schemes continue to gain traction INVESTORS CONTINUE TO prefer small-andmid-cap schemes over large caps despite concerns over higher valuations, reports Ananya Grover. In the first six months of 2025, these schemes saw a combined inflow of `46,645 crore —more than 3 times than that of large caps. ■ PAGE 6 FE S P EC I A L S DEPENDENTCHILDRENTO GETPENSION Brands are shedding stereotypes about men, but still play it safe ■ BRANDWAGON, P9 Why fewer people are looking for jobs India’s unemployment rate has held steady at 5.6% since May ■ EXPLAINER, P9 PART I ● Pension maybe treated as‘salary’ foravailing of standard deduction PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, July 22 THE CENTRE MAY further incentivise the guaranteed unified pension scheme (UPS) in a bid to increase acceptability among its 2.7 millionstrong staff. The additional benefits may include treatment of pension as ‘salary’ for availing standard deduction for income tax relief and pension for dependent children, more likely for single parents. The UPS, launched amid demand from a section of employees and Opposition parties for risk-free pension payouts for government staff, has seen a surprisingly muted response so far. SinceApril 1,when a threemonth window for a switchover from the marketlinked national pension system to the UPS was opened, just 30,000 or 1% of the NPS subscribers have opted for the guaranteed pension. “Thegovernmentwilllikely extend pension to dependent children to an extent similarto theoldpensionscheme(which existed before NPS),” a senior official said. OFF TO A SLOW START ■ Contribution to Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) may be returned to all employees resigning before 10 years ■ Govt also examining demand that immediate pension be given to central paramilitary force personnel who retire before 60 ■ Govt has extended the deadline for switching to UPS by 3 months till Sept 30; this may be extended further ■ On July 4, the Centre extended tax benefits available under NPS to UPS ■ UPS provides an assured pension of 50% of last drawn salary for all staff completing 25 years of service ■ Response to the guaranteed pension scheme has been dismal so far Itmayalsoextendacoupleof pendingtaxbenefitssoontothe staff opting for UPS. Under the erstwhile old pension scheme, pensionistreatedas‘salary’and pensioners can claim `75,000 standard deduction.The same benefitislikelytobeextendedto pensioners under UPS to give them additional tax benefits, anotherofficial said. Similarly, the government may clarify that employees quitting service before 10 years of service can withdraw their share of the contributions made to the pension corpus. However, no pension would be payable if an employee resigns before ten years of service under UPS. UPS provides an assured pension of 50% of the last drawnsalary(averagebasicpay of the last 12 months of service) upon superannuation for all employees completing a minimum of 25 years of service, with the value of such deferred compensation fully indexed to inflation. Staff are eligible for pension after turning 60. Besides, there will be assured payouts to the spouse of the pensioner after his/her demise at 60% of the last pension drawn.Also,all employees with a minimum of 10years of servicewill getanassured pension of `10,000 per month. Continued on Page 7 EUcurbskeepoilshippers, tradersawayfromNayara TROUBLED WATERS ■ An oil tanker SHIPOWNERS AND OIL traders are staying away from Russia-backed Nayara Energy as part of the fallout faced by the Indian refiner, after it was singled out in the latest round of European Union (EU) sanctions. At least one oil tanker, the Talara, U-turned and sailed away from Vadinar port in Gujarat on Sunday, according to Bloomberg ship-tracking data. The vessel was meant to pick up a cargo of fuel — likely diesel — from Nayara, shipbrokers said. The booking was cancelled following Friday’s sanction, they said, and the cargo was not loaded. Shipbrokers added that owners have become wary of dealings with Nayara this week, be it fuel exports or crude imports. Rosneft holds a 49.13% stake in the recently made a U-turn and sailed away from Vadinar port in Gujarat ■ The vessel was to pick up a cargo of fuel from Nayara, shipbrokers said ■ Domestic refiners seeking more clarity from EU on Nayara curbs, other matters ■ Owners from Greece to Norway control a chunk of the world’s shipping fleet VIKRAM MISRI, FOREIGN SECRETARY Wewilldowhatweneedtodo(onenergy security)...Aswehavesaidpreviously,itis importantnottohavedoublestandards Indian processor. Global oil market observers are waiting to see if the hesitation among shipowners will spread beyond logistics to trading counterparties and even financiers. Domestic refiners have beenseekingmoreclarityfrom the EU in the past days on a variety of matters, including Nayara’s blacklist and a ban on the diesel supplies made from Russian crude. Owners from Greece to Norway control a significant portionoftheworld’sshipping fleet, with companies likely to adhere to EU restrictions to some extent. Continued on Page 12 Record `14,750-cr sales in Jan-Jun;Worli remains most preferred Mumbai’s rich spend big bucks on ultra-luxuryhomes RAGHAVENDRA KAMATH Mumbai, July 22 THE ULTRA-LUXURY residential property market in Mumbai continues to boom, with the segment—homes priced above `10 crore—clocking its highest-ever half-yearly sales of `14,750 crore in the first six months this year. In terms of value, the sales of ultra-luxury homes rose 20% in January-June 2025 compared to last year, showed a report by Sotheby’s International Realty and data analytics firm CRE Matrix. In terms ofvolume,such sales rose 11% to 692 units in H1 from 622 units in the year-ago period. “Record sales in H12025 The country’s elderly population is expected to double in the next 25 years. The first of a three-part series looks at India’s state of preparedness to tap the silver economy Govt to make UPS Senior living: Most developers more attractive ECONOMY NICHOLAS LUA & SERENE CHEONG July 22 Superman out. Clark Kent in. SILVER HOUSE THAT! ■ AEX Real Estate ■ Businesswoman Leena Gandhi Tewari buys apartment in Naman Xana, Worli, for `639 cr ■ Shaula Real Estate buys `225.8-cr apartment in Naman Xana buys apartment for at Oberoi 360 West, Worli, for `201.6 cr ■ Apco ■ Seema Singh, one of the promoters of Alkem Labs, buys `185-cr apartment at Lodha Sea Face, Worli signal sustained appetite for ultra-premium homes, especially in established micro-markets like Worli, Prabhadevi, Tardeo, Malabar Hill, and Bandra West — driven by better infrastructure and a spate of high-quality new launches,”said Sudershan Sharma, executive director, India Sotheby’s International Realty. Infratech buys `155-cr apartment at The Legend by Ashar, Bandra West Worli retained its lead as the most preferred luxurydestination, contributing 22% of the primary sales value. Continued on Page 12 ignore the‘golden opportunity’ RAGHAVENDRA KAMATH & GEETA NAIR Mumbai/Pune, July 22 THE IRONY IS unmistakable. With the surge in elderly population, almost everyone agrees seniorliving is a“golden opportunity”waitingtobetapped.Yet, a majority of real estate developershaveavoidedthesegment. Considerthis:TheNitiAayog saysthecountry’selderlypopulation, which currently comprises a little over 10% of the population—about 104 million—is projected to reach 19.5% by 2050.According to a reportbyJLLandtheAssociation ofSeniorLivingIndia(ASLI),the penetration of senior living ROOM FOR MORE ■ India's ■ Senior living elderly population is projected to reach penetration is just 1.3% here against 6% in US, Australia of the total by 2050 from 10% now facilities seen growing from 1.57 mn households in 2024 to 2.27 mn by 2030 19.5% ■ Senior living ■ The market is expected to grow 300% to reach $7.7 billion (`64,500 cr ) by 2030 Source: Niti Aayog; JLL & Association of Senior Living India players is just 1.3% in India against 6% in the US and Australia,showingthehugemarket potential.Themarketforsenior living facilities will grow from 1.57 million households in 2024 to 2.27 million by 2030, the report says,adding that the seniorlivingmarketisexpected togrow300%toreach$7.7bil- Paytmposts Tesla’sall-India BCCI under first-everprofit bookingsopen sports Bill PAYTM ON TUESDAY reported a consolidated profit of `122.5 crore for the June quarter, reports fe Bureau. The numberssurprisedtheStreet,which had anticipated the company would report a loss of about `100 crore. Sequentially seen, however, revenue from operationswere flat. ■ PAGE 6 GLOBAL EV GIANT Tesla has started accepting bookings for all states and Union Territories in India, reports Surender Negi. The announcement was made on Tesla India’s official X handle.“Now everyone in India can order directly on our website,” the companysaid. ■ PAGE 4 THE GOVERNMENT IS all set to introduce the National Sports Governance Bill in Parliament on Wednesday, which will bring the Indian cricket board under its preview along with the 45 National Sports Federations (NSFs), reports Pritish Raj. ■ PAGE 18 lion (`64,500crore) by2030. “This could be one of India’s mosttransformativeinfrastructureopportunitieswiththepath forward focused on building inclusive ecosystems that enable dignified and comfortable ageing,” said Arvind Nandan, managing director, research & consulting, Savills India,a propertyconsultant. But the huge opportunity that these reports indicate seems to have escaped the attention of large developers whoarestillwaitinginthesidelines, mainly due to sluggish sales, lack of awareness and after-sales service hassles. Continued on Page 12 AkasaAir eyes 226 jets by ’32 AKASA AIR IS seeing a steady improvement in its financial performance and is on track to become operationally profitable soon, according to the airline’s CFO Ankur Goel. The airline has set its sights on operating a fleet of 226 aircraft by the end of 2032, reports fe Bureau. ■ PAGE 4