COMPANIES | PAGE 4 COMPANIES | PAGE 4 BajajAuto slips to fifth place inAug EVsales INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 7 Trump’s trade rage hitsAmbani hard LUCKNOW, FRIDAY, AUGUST 22, 2025 Nikki Haley: US must see India as a free ally FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL 18 NO. 222, 32 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: 82,000.71 ▲ 142.87 NIFTY: 25,083.75 ▲ 33.20 NIKKEI 225: 42,610.17 ▼ 278.38 HANG SENG: 25,104.61 ▼ 61.33 `/$: 87.26 ▼ 0.18 `/€: 101.71 ▼ 0.31 BRENT: $66.97 ▲ $0.13 GOLD: `98,904 ▲ `539 COUNCILMAYTAKE FINALCALLNEXTMONTH GSTreform plan gets a leg upwith GoM’s nod ● Few state FMs seek relief for potential revenue losses FESTIVE SEASON TOPPING ■ Most of the items under the 12% slab, ■ The average revenue loss is like certain packaged food, will be brought down to the 5% bracket `85,000 cr ■ Sin and luxury items, per annum, according to attracting 28% tax now, will be facing 40% tax SBI Research three pillars -- structural improvement,simplificationandeaseofliving. Apartfromstreamliningthemultiple slabs under GST into a two-pillar structureof5%and18%,theproposal intendstolevyaspecialrateof40%on sinandluxurygoods.Theexistingrates of12%and28%willbeabolished. Whilesinandluxuryitems,attracting28%taxnow,willbefacingthe40% tax,most of the items under the 12% India,Russiasee Rajya Sabha nod $100-bnbizby‘30 to gaming Bill INDIA ON THURSDAY sought speedy resolution of non-tariff barriers and regulatory impediments for a more balanced trade with Russia, reports Mukesh Jagota. Both sides have set a target of $100 billion bilateral trade by 2030 during Union minister S Jaishankar’s three-day Russia visit. ■ PAGE 2 GST will now be a twopillar structure of 5% and 18% PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, August 21 PAVING THE WAY for an overhaul of the eight-year-old Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime,a group of ministers (GoM)onraterationalisationhasgiven its nod to the Centre’s proposal for a reductionintaxslabsandrates,evenas some opposition-ruled state sought compensationforrevenuelosses. ThisisashotinthearmfortheCentre as several analysts were expecting Opposition-ruled states to showdissidence with the proposed GST reset including rate cuts on a number of items and revenue implications not quantified.Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Dayspeech announced the much-needed reform and flagged it as a Diwali gift to the people in the form of lower taxes on everydayitems.Thesereformswillhave ■ The multiple-slab THE PARLIAMENT ON Thursday passed the Bill to ban all forms of online money games and promote eSports and online social gaming, with the Rajya Sabha approving it without debate amid din, reports PTI. ■ PAGE 2 CLOSURE BEGINS FOR SOME, P4 slab,like certain packaged food,will be broughtdowntothe5%bracket. “Every member expressed his/her views on the Centre’s proposals. We have supported the proposals and referredtheproposaltotheGSTCouncil, which will decide on this,” Bihar deputy chief minister and GoM convenorSamratChoudharysaid. Stage set for longer tenure F&Os to curb retail frenzy NESIL STANEY Mumbai, August 21 SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE Board of India (Sebi) chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey caused more than a mild flutter in the market on Thursdaywhen he said that the markets regulator is planning to increase the tenure and maturity of equity derivative contracts. "All this will be done in consultation, in what form, how, when... Yes (there will be a consultation paper). I can't tell you when, but that is the thinking process we have,"Pandey said on the sidelines of the FICCI Capital Markets Summit in Mumbai. A consultation paper in this regard will be initiated after taking opinions from the stakehold- HIGH-RISK BET Angel One 2,720 2,539 2,523 2,332 Aug 20 Aug 21 6.69% BSE 7.65% »INSIDE« SEBI CHIEF HINTS AT REGULATED PLATFORM FOR PRE-IPOs PAGE 6 ers, he added. Reacting to his comments, there was a steep fall in some of the major listed stocks linked to Sebi chairperson Tuhin Kanta Pandey said the plan to extend the tenure of F&Os is at a conceptual stage ■ PMIdatashow bizactivityat 20-yearhigh REUTERS Bengaluru, August 21 capital markets. The shares of Angel One and BSE fell 6.7% and 7.5% respectively.Other brokerage firms such as Master Trust dropped 7% while Arihant Capital closed down 2%. INDIA’S PRIVATE SECTOR activity expanded at the fastest paceonrecordinAugust,fuelled bya robust surge in demand led bythedominantservicessector, which allowed firms to hike prices at the fastest clip in over 12 years, a survey showed on Thursday. HSBC's flash India Composite Purchasing Managers'Index (PMI),compiled by S&P Global, roseto65.2inAugustfrom61.1 in July, confounding expectations in a Reuters poll for a decline to 60.5.It was the highest reading since the survey beganinDecember2005. Continued on Page 11 Continued on Page 11 ■ Sebi has also set up a dedicated unit to check patterns of manipulation Continued on Page 11 Wipro to buy JBL maker’s digi unit WIPRO IS SET to acquire the Digital Transformation Solutions (DTS) business unit of Harman, part of Samsung, for $375 million (nearly `3,260 crore), the IT major said, reports Urvi Malvania. Harman is best known for its audio brands JBL, Harman Kardon and Infinity. ■ PAGE 4 Lucknow