ECONOMY | PAGE 3 COMPANIES | PAGE 4 India, US ink pact to usher in 'new era' in defence ties INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 7 Swiggy’s fundraise to take its reserves closer to Eternal CHENNAI/KOCHI, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2025 Xi holds court atAPEC meet after trade truce FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XLVI 150, 20 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: 83,938.69 ▼ 465.77 NIFTY: 25,722.10 ▼ 155.75 NIKKEI 225: 52,411.34 ▲ 1085.73 HANG SENG: 25,906.65 ▼ 376.04 `/$: 88.77 ▼ 0.07 `/€: 102.76 ▲ 0.28 BRENT: $64.91 ▼ $0.09 GOLD: `120,450 ▲ `545 MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA posted an 8% year-on-year increase in consolidated net profit at `3,349 crore in the second quarter of FY26, but fell short of Street expectations of `3,571 crore, reports Swaraj Baggonkar. PAGE 4 OTHER RESULTS GCPL PROFIT FALLS 6.5% VEDANTA PAT DIPS 38% BOB NET PROFIT SLIPS 8% RBI's short forward book up after seven months THE RESERVE BANK of India’s dollar short forward positions rose $6 billion to $59.4 billion in September – up 11% on month, according to data released on Friday, reports Christina Titus. This is the first time in seven months the RBI's position in the short forward market has increased. ■ PAGE 6 Statutory audit work for CAs raised to 40 firms THE INSTITUTE OF Chartered Accountants of India has proposed to allow CAs to take statutory auditwork for 40 firms – companies, limited liability partnerships, partnership firms etc – up from 30 now, reports Manu Kaushik.The draft Code ofEthics released by the institute recently also allows auditors to take on more non-auditwork. ■ PAGE 2 74.9% owned by the Tata Group, with the rest held by Singapore Airlines (SIA) ■ The funds will be used for overhauling Air India’s systems and services as well as developing inhouse engineering and maintenance departments ■ Interglobe Aviation, which operates the IndiGo fleet, is the only profitable domestic carrier with over 64% market share ■ The ailing carrier is far from a goal of breaking even operationally by end of March next year burning cash. Sector leader Interglobe Aviation, which operates the IndiGo fleet, is the only profitable domestic carrier with over 64% market share. Air India is 74.9% owned bytheTataGroup,withtherest held by SIA.Any financial support would be proportional to ownership, the people said, adding that the owners would decide if the fundingwill be an interest-free loan orvia equity. Spokespersons for Tata Sons and Air India did not respond to emailed queries seeking comments on the financial support sought by the carrier. SIA “has been working closely with”Tata Sons to help with Air India’s transformation programme, the carrier said in an email Friday. “This includes providing our expertise and support to Air India, where necessary,” it added but directed all queries on financial requirements to Air India. Continued on Page 7 Apple’sIndiarevenueatanewhigh FE BUREAU New Delhi, October 31 APPLEHITANall-timehighrevenue record in India during the July-Septemberquarter,underscoringthegrowingimportance of the country in the iPhonemaker’s global strategy. The milestonereflectsApple’sdeepening retail presence and local manufacturing push in the world’s second-largest smartphone market,where it continuestopostdouble-digitgrowth amid rising consumer demand forpremium devices. Apple CEO Tim Cook called India a standout performer as thecompanyachievedrevenue records across several regions. TIM COOK, CEO, APPLE WesetaSeptember quarterrevenuerecordin emergingmarketsandan all-timerevenue recordinIndia Weexpectthe Decemberquarter revenuetobethe besteverforthe company “We set a September quarter revenue record in emerging markets and an alltime revenue record in India,” Cook said during Apple’s fiscal Q4 2025 earnings call. The company has been expanding its retail footprint in India with new flagship stores in Mumbai and Delhi, and scaling local productionthroughits manufacturing partners. The India high- light came as Apple reported overall quarterly revenue of $102.5 billion,an 8% year-onyear increase, driven by strong demand for its latest iPhone 17 lineup and a record performance in services. “Today,Appleisveryproudto reportaSeptemberquarterrevenue record of $102.5 billion, including a September quarter record for iPhone and an alltime revenue record for services,” Cook said. Chief Financial Officer Kevan Parekh said iPhone revenuereached$49billion,up6% from last year, largely powered bythe iPhone 16 family. THE PRESSURE TO garner deposits saw rates inching up in September – the first time since the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) began its rate cut cycle in February. According to RBI’s monthly data,the weighted average rate on fresh rupee term deposits of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) has inched up by 4 basis points (bps) on month, with rates of public sector banks up by3bpswhileprivatesectorwas up 2 bps. Analysts believe that with credit growth picking up, deposit rates seemed to have bottomed out. “The rates on fresh deposits seems to have FRESH DEPOSITS RATES RISE 2-4 BPS Weighted average term deposit rates (WADTDR) 7.5 Private Sector Banks 7.0 Public Sector Banks 6.5 6.04 6. 5. 5.74 5. 5.60 6.0 5.5 5.0 4.5 4.0 Foreign Banks 4.76 4. Scheduled Commercial Banks Feb 2025 Sept 2025 Note: Based on provisional data submitted by banks bottomed out unless there are further cuts in repo rates or a slowdownincreditgrowth,”Anil Gupta,seniorvicepresidentand co-group head of financial sec- torratings at Icra said. At the same time,RBI’s 100 bps rate cut is being reflected in the continuous fall in the lending rates. Interestingly, the INTHE FIRSTinstance of highway monetisation during the current financial year, IRB Infrastructure is learnt to have emerged as the highest bidder for an operational asset being monetised through Toll Operate Transfer (TOT) mode. The companyhasputinabidworth `9,200 crore for 333.4-km long highwaynetwork in Uttar Pradesh, sources privy to the development said. This marks a revival of investorinterestinoperational highways, especially those with high revenue potential. The financial bids for the UttarPradesh highwaybundle were opened earlier this week. The final approval of the bid will follow multiple layers of scrutiny. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has also enhanced its monetisation target for the current financial year to `40,000 crore as against `30,000 crore mentioned in the Union Budget, the sources said. In Fordlinesup `3,250-crore plantorestart Chennaiplant NARAYANAN V Chennai, October 31 transmission has been to the tune of 90 bps since the beginning of the rate cut cycle. The weighted average lending rate (WALR) of fresh rupee loans of scheduled commercial banks stood at 8.50% in September, lower by 24 basis points on month. The WALR for public sector banks was down by 25 bps on monthto7.80%andforprivate sectorbanks,itwasdown10bps on month to 9.34% in September,data showed. The credit growth of banks increasedto11.45%asonOctober 17 from 11.38% the previous fortnight, while deposit growth slowed down to 9.51% from 9.9% a fortnight ago. THE FORD MOTOR Company on Friday confirmed that it will commence powertrain manufacturing operations at its Maraimalai Nagar plant near Chennai with an initial investmentof`3,250crore,markinga significant step in its renewed engagementwithIndia. The plant will focus on producingnext-generationengines and will have a planned annual capacity of 235,000 units.Production is expected to begin in 2029.The project is expected to create over 600 direct jobs in Tamil Nadu, in addition to a larger number of indirect employment opportunities acrossthesupplierecosystem. “We are pleased to advance ourplansandconfirmtheChennai plant’s vital role in Ford’s manufacturing network,” said JeffMarentic,president,International Markets Group, Ford Motor Company, in an official release.Thenewmanufacturing programme at Chennai will complement Ford’s existing engine plant in Sanand in Gujarat,whichalreadyproduces and exports engines to internationalmarkets. Continued on Page 7 Continued on Page 7 Continued on Page 7 FightfordepositspushesSeptratesup KSHIPRA PETKAR Mumbai, October 31 MUKESH JAGOTA New Delhi, October 31 Highway monetisation (` cr) Year Toll operate transfer 2021-22 1,011 2022-23 10,662 2023-24 15,968 2024-25 Infrastructure Project investment based trust (InvIT) financing 2,850 15,700 22,367 9,824 8,646 17,738 6,661 Total 14,006 7,350 23,336 40,314 4,325 ■ The govt mentioned a `30K cr monetisation target in the Budget 28,724 ■ In FY25, NHAI raised `28,724 cr via monetisation ■ For FY26, the highway builder has identified 24 road assets for monetisation via ToT & InvIT FY25, the highway builder raised `28,724 crore through monetisation. Of the total target for this year, `15,000 crore each will come via the TOT and Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) routes, and rest from project-based financing. For FY26, the NHAI has identified 24 road assets with a total length of 1,472 km for monetisation throughToTand InvIT,the sources added. The assets which IRB had bid for are grouped under TOT-Bundle 17. It includes the sections from Lucknow to Ayodhya,Ayodhya to Gorakhpur and Lucknow to Sultanpur. This is the first monetisation through ToT after more than a year. ToT Bundle 16 was monetised in September last year. OtherthanTOT-Bundle 17, bidding for another five bundles (18-22) of highways is still open. In the coming two-tothree months,monetisation of some of them might be completed. Continued on Page 7 Govt’s capex up 40% in H1,fiscal deficitwidens PRASANTASAHU New Delhi, October 31 THE CENTRE’S FISCAL deficit came in at 36.5% of the annual target in the first six months of 2025-26, compared with 29.4% in the year-ago period, largely due to a surge in capital expenditure while net tax revenues continuedto contract. The fiscal deficit stood at `5.73lakhcroreinH1compared with`4.75lakhcroreinH1FY25. Itsbudgetarycapitalexpenditure (capex) rose a steep 40% onyear in H1FY26, partly helped by a 15% year-on-year fall seen in H1FY25 due to election-related lull.Capex rose by 31% on-year inSeptember2025. Overall, the capex stood at `5.8 lakh crore or 51.8% of the annual target in H1 as against 39% in the year-ago period. Robust capex by the Centre is seen to have helped boost the Q2FY26 GDP. The economy expanded by a higher-thananticipatedrateof7.8%inQ1. With the front-loading of capex, it could contract about 15% in H2 and yet meet the annualtargetof`11.2lakhcrore. On the other hand,the Centre’snexttaxreceiptscontracted by 2.8% to `12.29 lakh crore, TAX MOP-UP DIPS Centre’s expenditure (FY26, Growth, %, y-o-y) 40 37 10 3.3 Sept Maruti Suzuki Q2 net profit rises 8%, misses estimates ■ Air India is HIGHWAY ROADMAP Aug THE INITIAL PUBLIC offering of eyewear retailer Lenskart sailed through on the first day of bidding on Friday, with over 100 million bids received against 99.7 million shares on offer, as per NSE data, reports PTI. ■ PAGE 6 UNPROFITABLE AIR INDIA is seeking at least `10,000 crore ($1.1 billion) in financial support from its ownersTata Sons and Singapore Airlines, said people familiar with the matter,as the airline grappleswith theaftermathofadeadlyplane crash among otherchallenges. The request includes funds for overhauling Air India’s systems and services aswell as developing in-house engineering and maintenance departments, some of the people said,requesting not to be identified as the information is not public. Theailingcarrierisfarfrom a goal of breaking even operationally by end of March next year after facing multiple setbacks. The appeal for more funding underscores the challenges of operating in the India’s aviation market where manycarriershaveexitedafter AIR POCKET top bid forfirst TOT asset thisyear Jul Day 1: Lenskart IPO sails through on strong demand MIHIR MISHRA & P R SANJAI October 31 ● IRB’s `9,200 cr Jun CONSUMER GOODS MAJOR Hindustan Unilever (HUL) on Friday said that it had received an assessment order, along with a notice of demand of `1,986.25 crore under Section 156 of the Income-Tax Act. ■ PAGE 4 AirIndiaseeks`10Kcrfrom ownersforsystemupgrade NHAItargets`40,000cr viamonetisationinFY26 May HUL receives `1,986-crore tax demand PROFITABILITYPUSH HITBYMUTILPLE SETBACKS Apr IN THE NEWS -9.9 -8 Growth, %, y-o-y H1FY26 FY26BE* Net tax -2.8 receipts 13.5 Non-tax 30.5 8.5 revenue Non-debt 138 81.7 capital receipts Capital 40 expenditure 6.6 Revenue 1.5 9.5 expenditure *Over actuals of FY25 partlyduetotheincometaxrelief given in the Budget and modest growthinindirecttaxcollections as well as a front-loading of tax devolutiontothestates. Continued on Page 7 Spot rates for Sunday’s final match zoom 40% as win againstAustralia catches nation’s imagination India’swomencricketteamknockadratesoutofthepark CHRISTINA MONIZ Mumbai, October 31 WHEN AMANJOT KAUR struck the winning boundary off Australia’s Sophie Molineux in the semi-final on Thursday,it not only led to the biggest win for India’s women cricket team, it also ensured the television spot rates forthe Sunday decider surge by around 40%. TV ad spots for India games,which were at `3 lakh per10 secondsat the start of the tournament, have climbed up to `5 lakh for the final. On digital, the ad rates are now between `650-700 per CPM (cost per mille/thousand),up from `400-500. “Advertisers are likely to scrambleforadspotsatthelast moment," says a market observer. "While several advertisers have locked their ad spending forthefinalmuchearlier,those comingatthelastmomentwill have to pay a premium for inventory.We’re seeing brands across categories, not just women-specific advertisers, coming on board,”he added. He expects this to also have a positive impact on the next season of the Women’s PremierLeague (WPL)with advertisers willing to invest more in women’s cricket. The excitement around the finals is unprecedented, says Anup Govindan,chief revenue officer for sports,JioStar.“This is poised to be a watershed moment for women’s cricket, SUPER SUNDAY ■ TV ad spots for Sunday have increased to `5 lakh ■ On digital, CPM rates have climbed to `700, up from `500 per 10 seconds, up from `3 lakh at the start of the tournament ■ Brands have increased their ad spending this World Cup by 50% over the 2022 edition much like 1983 was for men’s cricket," he says. "Advertisers are keen to be part of this historic moment,with both existing partners and new ■ OTT viewership for the first 13 games saw a fivefold increase over 2022; TV viewership has increased this World Cup by 160% over the last one ■ Around 57-58% of the audiences are male ■ Even nonIndia games have seen viewership of 7-8 mn on OTT platforms brands looking to connect with audiences during the highly anticipated finals." Standout performances on the field, particularly by Jemimah Rodrigues, combined with the high level of fan engagement, highlightthegrowingappealof women’s sport and make the finals an incrediblycompelling opportunityforbrands,headds. The Indian women’s team has peaked at the right time, bouncing back from three back-to-back losses earlier in the tournament to beat New Zealand in a do-or-die quarter final last week. “Their performance has been phenomenal and the semi-final win against Australiawas the icing on the cake. Advertisers are showing more interest in partnering with women’s cricket, which is a great sign. Continued on Page 7 Jemimah: Playing to win JEMIMAH RODRIGUES, againstthe oddsandcarwho took India past the ried her team past the finishlineagainstAusmammoth record. tralia on Thursday, is The Mumbaikar, who special in manyways, also grew up playing reports Vinayakk hockey,istheproduct Mohanarangan. of the city's rich In front of more cricketing culNEWS than 33,000 ture. Having fans who had made headturnedup,itwas lines as a oneoftheirown teenage whowasplaying prodigywitha ON PAGE 19 an innings that tendency to will be rememscore big, it bered for ages. took awhileforRodriguesto With a slice of luck going her crackinternationalcricketin way,Rodriguesstooddefiant the 50-over format. CHENNAI/KOCHI POINT