THE BIG IDEA | PAGE 14 ECONOMY | PAGE 12 Porter:The conviction carrier’s $1-billion bet There may be a shortfall in nominal GDP growth: CEA AHMEDABAD, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2025 INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 13 Japan PM Ishiba resigns after election drubbing FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XX 84, 36 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 INTERVIEW WITH FINANCE MINISTER NIRMALA SITHARAMAN Industry wanted demand visibility, they should invest now, says FM ● Meeting with banks this week to review credit flows; minister says compensation cess can’t be extended PRASANTA SAHU, KG NARENDRANATH & SHOBHANA SUBRAMANIAN New Delhi, September 7 CORPORATE INDIA HAS now lost its often-repeated excuse of having to deal with uncertain demand, as the sweeping Goods and Services Tax (GST) cuts for more than 375 items will result in an enduring consumption binge,finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said. In an exclusive interview with FE,the minister added that she will hold a review meeting with public sector banks this week, where the issueofinadequatetransmissionof monetary easing, as reflected in a recent rise in average lending rate, will be discussed. Stating that the GST reforms will have a pronounced effect not only on consumption and capital asset creation,but also fiscal stability,she said:“At some point in time, I heard some of them (from India Inc) saythat theyare not able to see demand going up, and that unless demand convincinglygoes up,they won't be able to invest and take a downside risk. “But now with these GST reforms, I would think even that question should be answered. Demand pick-up will be obvious now,so hopefullytheyshould come out (and invest more).” IN THE NEWS India flags trade imbalance, export curbs at SCO meet INDIAAGAIN RAISED the issue of export controls, trade imbalances and the need to address them at a multilateral setting with China also in attendance. Another long-standing issue with China is the ever rising trade deficit. ■ PAGE 12 Sebi versus Jane Street could be a long battle WITH SECURITIES Appellate Tribunal all set to hear US market maker Jane Street’s arguments against Sebi’s interim order on Tuesday, there are strong chances that it could be the beginning of a longdrawn battle, reports Nesil Staney. ■ PAGE 7 Shewas answering a question as she may not be leaving it at that.“I to howlong the governmentwould will certainly be talking to the do the heavy lifting, when the corbanks, and checking up on what's porate sector refuses to step up happening with industry.” investmentsingreenfieldventures. She hinted at more reforms to Though Indian companies are sitbolster the productive capacity of ting on a war chest of `13.5 lakh the economy.“For Prime Minister crore in cash, the absolute value (Narendra) Modi, reforms are of investments in Q1FY26 never a secondary issue, and was still the lowest among are always at the top. Even several of recent quarters. during the Covid period,we Frontloadingofbudgetary undertook several reforms. capex by the Centre and But of course,in the last few state governments played a years, the situation has significant role in bringing ON PAGE2 been such thatwe could not about better-thanmove as fast as we expected expected GDP growth of 7.8% in to. Reforms will continue,” the quarter, apart from buoyant she stressed. services industries. The finance minister said she She said although it is not will personally monitor from Sepalways necessary for the governtember 22 whether businesses are ment to interfere in lending deciindeed passing on the GST relief to sions of banks as “market correcthe consumers. “I will get inputs tions do happen,” this time around from the district level, associa- & ❝ tions, MPs etc. Once the information reaches us, we will engage with those who have not passed on the benefits to the consumers,” she said. Many sectors have alreadyvowed to extend the benefits to their buyers, she said, adding that with the substantial tax relief for everyday use items, the consumption revival won't be short-lived either. “It will take a couple of months after it (reformed GST) is rolled out,for one to estimate the additional demand created. There could be an immediate splurge,and then byJanuaryor so,(the uptick in consumption) might stabilise,”she said. Continued on Page 13 ❝ RAGHAVENDRA KAMATH Mumbai, September 7 ENERGY BOOST THE ADANI GROUP plans to invest $60 billion across renewables, power generation, and transmission and distribution (T&D) by FY32. The group outlined its plans in an investor presentation, projecting more than $21 billion in investments by FY30 to expand renewable energycapacityfrom 14.2 GW in FY25 to 50 GWbythe end of the decade. Its renewable energy arm, Adani Green Energy (AGEL), operates utility-scale solarand wind projects and is developing what it calls the world’s largest renewable park at Khavda in Gujarat. Adani Energy Solutions (AESL), which handles transmission, distribution, smart ■ The company projects renewable capacity to grow to 50 GW by end of decade ■ Targets 30,000 km ■ Aims to lift capacity to 41.9 GW of transmission by FY32 lines by FY30 metering and cooling, will put in over $17 billion to scale its network. Continued on Page 13 PhysicsWallah Modi, Xi revive filesforIPO auto projects STOCK MARKETS HAVE SO MANY OTHER CONSIDERATIONS RATHER THAN JUSTTHE ONE HUGE THING (GST) IN INDIA. THE GLOBAL CHALLENGES ARE GETTING MORE CHALLENGING AND UNPREDICTABLE REFORMS HAVE NEVER BEEN ON THE BACK BURNER. EVEN DURING THE COVID PERIOD, WE UNDERTOOK REFORMS. FOR THE PM, REFORMS ARE NEVER A SECONDARY ISSUE, AND ARE ALWAYS ATTHE TOP Adani to invest $60 billion into power byFY32 EDTECH UNICORN PHYSICSWALLAH has filed its updated draft red herring prospectuswith the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), setting the stage for a `3,820-crore initial public offering (IPO). ■ PAGE 6 SEVERAL STALLED AUTOMOTIVEprojectsinIndiainvolving Chinesecompaniesarebackon track, following a push by New Delhi and Beijing to improve bilateralties.ThisfollowsPrime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent meeting. ■ PAGE 6 BrokeragesseeIndiaInc’s revenuegrowthat6-7% VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO Mumbai, September 7 INDIA INC’S REVENUE growth is expected to improve by 100-200 basis points in FY26 compared with FY25 as the government’s GST rationalisation feeds through to consumption, according to analysts and brokerages. Revenue growth for FY25 was around 5%.With GST cuts taking effect from September 22,brokerages,including Motilal Oswal, JM Financial and Kotak, now peg topline growth in FY26 at 6-7%. The benefit will be visible mainlyin the second half of the year,coincidingwiththefestive andwedding seasons. Conglomerates such as Reliance Industries and theTata Group are expected to be key beneficiaries.AccordingtoMotilalOswal,theirgroupcompanies inFMCG,food,apparel,footwear, consumerdurablesandautomo- HOWTHEY STACK UP GST rate decrease (%) Number of items 9 38 257 1 59 20 29 5 to Nil 12 to Nil 12 to 5 18 to Nil 18 to 5 IGST 18 to Nil 28 to 18 413 3 Total no. of items bileswilldirectlypassonthebenefit of lower GST rates to consumers.Reliance Retail and Jio, whichtogetheraccountfor54% ofReliance’sconsolidatedEbitda, willleadthecharge. Reliance Retail director Isha Ambani said last week that the company would pass on GST benefits to consumers from the GST rate increase (%) 5 to 18 12 to 18 18 to 40 28 to 40 Total no. of items Number of items 3 19 1 17 40 first day of implementation. Prabhudas Lilladher expects RelianceRetail’stoplinetogrow 12-15%intheOctober-Decemberquarter,against11.3%inthe April-Junequarter,andasimilar print in the July-September period,aidedbyGSTtailwinds. Continued on Page 13 Enterprises carving outAI-focused leadership roles HumanstakechargeasAIscalesup URVI MALVANIA Mumbai, September 7 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS no longer a sideshow in the enterprise. It is moving from labs to boardrooms, forcing companiestocreatenewleadership roles that can make adoption both real and responsible. Much like the ITrevolution of the 1980s, which spawned chief information officers and system administrators, the AI wave is producing its own cadre of leaders, that is people who must integrate technology into strategy while safeguarding oversight. The shift is visible at global banks, technology majors and conglomerates. JP Morgan Chase, for example,has moved its AI and data function out of the technology division to report directly to CEO Jamie Dimon and the bank’s president.“We EXECUTIVE REALIGNMENT ■ JP Morgan Chase spends $2 billion on AI within its $18 billion IT budget ■ RIL’s AI subsidiary, Reliance Intelligence plans gigawatt-scale AI-ready green data centres ■ Tata Consultancy Services has set up a dedicated AI and Services Transformation unit took AI/data out of technology. It’s too important,” Dimon said recently. The bank spends $2 billion of its $18 billion IT budget on AI, with more than 600 use cases across the enterprise. Closer home, Tata ConsultancyServices (TCS) has set up a dedicated AI and Services Transformation unit from September 1, led by Amit Kapur as chief AI and services transformation officer, reporting to executive director and COO Aarthi Subramanian. In her memo to employees,Subramanian said the unit is central to TCS’s strategy of becoming a future-ready organisation. It will pull together existing AI teams,cut across service lines, and focus on reimagining client propositions, partnerships and rapid innovation. ■ Demand for AI leadership roles has surged 30–35% over two years ■ Firms inclined to train existing staff for these roles rather than hire from outside Reliance Industries too has planted its flag with Reliance Intelligence, a new AI subsidiary announced at its annual general meeting.CMD Mukesh Ambani said the unit will build gigawatt-scale, AIready data centres powered by green energy,“engineered for training and inference at national scale”. Continued on Page 13 Ahmedabad