MARKETS| PAGE 6 BRANDWAGON | PAGE 9 ECLmay raise provisions, but banks seen resilient INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 7 StellaMcCartneybullishon India’sconsciousconsumers KOLKATA, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2025 US, China roll out tit-for-tat port fees FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL 34 NO. 290, 20 PAGES, `12 (NORTH EAST STATES `12 & ANDAMAN `20) 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: 82,029.98 ▼ 297.07 NIFTY: 25,145.50 ▼ 81.85 NIKKEI 225: 46,847.32 ▼ 1,241.48 HANG SENG: 25,441.35 ▼ 448.13 `/$: 88.80 ▼ 0.12 `/€: 102.60 ▲ 0.21 BRENT: $62.34 ▼ $0.98 GOLD: `1,25,675 ▲ `2,298 IN THE NEWS IMF raises FY26 growth estimate for India to 6.6% THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY Fund (IMF) revised upwards India's GDP growth forecast for the current fiscal to 6.6% compared to its earlier estimate of 6.4% on the back of strong growth, offsetting the impact of US tariffs on Indian shipments, reports Reuters. ■ PAGE 2 Centre draws up `19.3-lakh-cr plan for nuclear power THE CENTRAL ELECTRICITY Authority has drawn up a plan to raise India's nuclear power capacity to 100 GW and envisaged investments of `19.28 lakh crore, reports Arunima Bharadwaj. ■ PAGE 2 Brookfield and Blackstone finalists for ESR-Allianz JV BROOKFIELD ASSET MANAGEMENT and Blackstone Group, two of the largest global investors, have emerged as the frontrunners to buy the 10-million square feet warehousing portfolio of ESR-Allianz, sources in the know told Raghavendra Kamath. ■ PAGE 5 With 50% listing gain, $15-bnAIjackpotforAndhra life’s good for LG India GOOGLE PARTNERSADANI,AIRTELFORVISAKHAPATNAM PROJECT OJASVI GUPTA New Delhi, October 14 IN A TRANSFORMATIVE moment forthe country’s digital infrastructure, Google on Tuesday announced a $15-billion investment to set up its largestartificialintelligence(AI) huboutsidetheUSinVisakhapatnam,Andhra Pradesh. The multi-faceted project will include the country’s biggest data centre,developed in partnership with Adani Group and Bharti Airtel, to drive the next generation ofAI innovation and digital growth. The partnership brings together three of the most powerful forces in technology, infrastructure,and connectivity.Adani Enterprises,through itsjointventureAdaniConneX, will build and operate the gigawatt-scale AI data centre campus, while Airtel will pro- ● Firm makes dream debut,way above Korean parent’s valuation NESIL STANEY & VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO Mumbai, October 14 (From left) Electronics & IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu, Andhra Pradesh IT Minister Nara Lokesh, Google V-P (global infrastructure & capacity) Bikash Koley, and Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian pose for a selfie, in Visakhapatnam. The Google AI hub in the state will be its largest outside the US vide the crucial fibre backbone and subsea landing infrastructure to power Google’s AI ambitions in the country. The announcement was made during BharatAI Shakti, a Google-hosted event in the national capital attended by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Andhra Pradesh PTI Chief MinisterNChandrababu Naidu and Electronics and IT MinisterAshwini Vaishnaw. Continued on Page 7 Infybags`14,000-crUKgovtproject AYANTI BERA Bengaluru, October 14 INFOSYS ON TUESDAY said it has won a 15-year contract worth £1.2 billion, or around `14,000 crore, from the UK’s National Health Service Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) to build and manage a next-generation workforce management platform for the NHS in England and Wales. The project, called the Future NHS Workforce Solu- tion, will replace the existing electronic staff record (ESR) system that supports 1.9 million NHS employees and processes more than £55 billion in annual payroll. The new data-driven platform will integrate artificial intelligence(AI)andanalyticsto manage the entire employee lifecycle,fromrecruitmentand onboarding to career progression,payroll,and retirement. Continued on Page 7 BIG WIN ■ Infosys to build, manage next-gen workforce management platform for NHS in England & Wales ■ Called Future NHS Workforce Solution, it will replace the existing electronic staff record system ■ The new data-driven platform will integrate AI and analytics to manage entire employee life cycle IN A DREAM debut, LG Electronics India listed at a stellar 50% premium over its issue price of `1,140,notching up a valuation of `1.2 lakh crore. The stock listed on the BSE at `1,715 a share. The previous record for the highest listing premiumwas »INSIDE« held by Coal India, whose INDIAAT CENTRE OF IPO came way LG’S GLOBAL back in 2010. SOUTH The debut STRATEGY valued LG PAGE 4 India above its South Korean parent’s roughly`79,893 crore ($9 billion) market cap.The listing also put the firm way ahead of its local peers such as Whirlpool,Voltas and Havells. Parent LG had offered 15% ofitsshareholdingintheIndian subsidiary through an offer for sale.India is the second market after South Korea where LG is listed.Theproceedswillberepatriated bythe parent. The Korean brand’s listing beatmarketexpectations,assignalled by its grey market premium (GMP).Ahead of its listing,LGIndiasharesweretrading at `1,562 apiece in the unoffi- LG Electronics President & CEO Joo-wan Cho and NSE CEO Ashish Chauhan ring the bell during the listing ceremony of the company, in Mumbai on Tuesday ANI STAR PERFORMERS Issue size (` cr) Listing gain (%) Listing day gain (%) LG Electronics India 50.44 Reliance Power 21.73 17.22 Coal India 17.45 39.73 HDB Financial Services 12.84 13.64 Swiggy 5.64 16.91 11,607 10,123 15,199 12,500 11,327 Note: IPOs above `10,000 crore considered cialgreymarket,signallingalistingpremiumof37%,according to stock market experts. “The GST benefits,buzzing IPO market and a firm with a strong India operation came 48.19 Source: Prime Database together during listing,” a senior official at the NSE told FE on the sidelines of the listing ceremony. Continued on Page 7 Kolkata