COMPANIES | PAGE 4 ECONOMY | PAGE 2 Statestobenefitfromexcise dutyontobacco,saysFM BACK PAGE | PAGE 24 Adani Group plans `1.35 L-cr airports expansion by 2030 MUMBAI, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2025 Putin's India visit sparks Europe’s push to end war FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL LXV NO. 286, 24 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: 85106.81 ▼ 31.46 NIFTY: 25,986 ▼ 46.20 NIKKEI 225: 49,864.68 ▲ 561.23 HANG SENG: 25,760.73 ▼ 334.32 `/$: 90.19 ▼ 0.32 `/€: 105.05 ▼ 0.69 BRENT: $62.99 ▲ $0.54 GOLD: `127,860 ▲ `779 Sanchar Saathi pre-installation order revoked RUPEECRACKSBELOW90TOTHEDOLLAR NERVOUS NINETIES » INSIDE « AI EMERGESAS KEY MARGIN LEVER:TCS STUDY PAGE 4 ECONOMY PAGE 2 INDUSTRY IGNORING SUPPLY CHAIN VULNERABILITIES, SAYS PIYUSH GOYAL Aug JAMAL MECKLAI: NEXT STOP 100 »INSIDE« FOR RUPEE? PAGE 8 VI’S OCTOBER NUMBERS suggest that recent network expansion has yet to translate into subscriber stickiness,with the month reversing the moderation in churn that had briefly emerged in recent months, analysts said, reports Urvi Malvania. ■ PAGE 3 IIT K sets Day 1 placement record with 672 offers IIT KANPUR ON Wednesday kicked off its 2025-26 campus placement season with record 672 job offers on the first day, reports Manu Kaushik. ■ PAGE 24 The proximate reason: foreign selling of Indian stocks, both FPI & PE under FDI. Time for business to shake out of comfort zone FOUNDER & DIRECTOR, KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK JAYANT ACHARYA, MASAYUKI HIROSE, Today’s announcement brings together JSW’s expertise with JFE’s tech strengths ...we will not only contribute to the growth of both companies but to India’s steel industry CHIEF EXECUTIVE, JFE JSW Steel management said the deal would reduce its consolidated net debt by `37,250 crore by June 2026. This will be achieved through three components: the slump sale proceeds of `24,483 crore (which include thefirsttrancheofJFE’sinvest- ment); the transferof approximately `4,900 crore of existing BPSL debt into the joint venture structure and the receipt of `7,875 crore from JFE’s second-tranche equity infusion. Continued on Page 12 Disruptionslikelyfor48morehours; travellerscomplainofnoupdatesfromairline IndiGocancelsmorethan200flights NITIN KUMAR New Delhi, December 3 HIT BY FLIGHT DUTY NORMS INDIGO’S OPERATIONS REMAINED severely disrupted on Wednesday with more than 200 flights cancelled amid mounting crew shortages and cascading delays across major airports. The carrier operates around 2,300 flights daily. Disruptions are expected to persist for another 48 hours as the airline may cancel and reschedule more services to stabilise operations. According to sources, the cancellations spanned key hubs including Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai,where it struggled to mobilise adequate cockpit and cabin crew. Passengers FE spoke to at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in the Capital said that no ground staff were visible at the airport, frequent gate changes were being done with no updates by the airline on re-scheduled flight timings. The situation, which had been deteriorating since early this week, worsened sharply ■ The cancellations spanned key hubs including Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai, where it struggled to mobilise adequate cockpit and cabin crew ■ IndiGo attributed the disruptions to a mix of “technology issues, airport congestion, and operational requirements” ■ The core of the problem, sources said, lies in an acute crew shortage, triggered by the second phase of the flight duty time limitation (FDTL) norms DGCA summons carrier THE DGCA on Wednesday took cognisance of the rising delays and cancellations at IndiGo and said it is investigatingthesituationandworkingwiththecarriertoidentify measuresthatcanreducedisruptionsandminimiseinconvenience to passengers, on Tuesday and spilled into Wednesday resulting in scores of flights being grounded or departing behind schedule.On Tuesday, reports NitinKumar. The regulatorhas directed IndiGo to appear at its headquarterstopresentthereasons behindtheoperationalbreakdown and submit a comprehensivemitigationplan. Continued on Page 12 IndiGo’s on-time performance at six major airports slumped to 35%,whereas Air India clocked 67.2%, Air India Express 79.5%,SpiceJet 82.50% and Akasa Air 73.20%,according to the civil aviation ministry website. The core of the problem, sources said, lies in an acute crew shortage, triggered by the second phase of the flight duty time limitation (FDTL) norms that came into force on November 1. The revised rules have introduced longer weekly rest periods,extended the definition of night hours and sharply restricted night landings from six earlier to two now. Continued on Page 12 Oct -543 Dec so far 40 -1,832 ...it’s not hurting our exports or inflation. I’m not losing my sleep over it. If it has to depreciate, now probably is the time JOINT MD & CEO, JSW STEEL JSW STEEL HAS entered into a 50:50 joint venture with Japan’s JFE Steel Corporation, restructuring the ownership of Bhushan Power and Steel (BPSL) and creating a separate platform for its future expansion. As part of the transaction, the BPSL steel business will be transferred to JSW Sambalpur Steel through a slump salevalued at `24,483 crore. JSW Sambalpur is wholly owned by JSW Kalinga Steel, which will become the actual joint venture vehicle. JFE will acquire a 50% stake in JSW Kalinga for `15,750 crore,invested in two equal tranches, resulting in joint control of the asset once all transactions are completed. Sept UDAY KOTAK, JSW,JFEinJVforBPSLunit URVI MALVANIA Mumbai, December 3 RUPEE@90: WIN SOME, LOSE SOME; PAGE 9 V ANANTHA NAGESWARAN, Continued on Page 12 Rapid user loss shows Vi's weak recovery: Analysts (773 days) EDIT: POLICYMAKERS MUST READ THE WARNING SIGNALS PAGE 10 CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISOR ($ mn) 90 Jun (inverted scale) *Time taken for that level 2,373 (1,240 days) 80 FPI inflows/outflows (990 days) 1,738 70 16.68 1,266 80 70 530 (2,726 days) 60 Oct -11.8 (1,114 days) -4,314 50 50 Sept 60 FE BUREAU New Delhi, December 3 IMAGING: SUNEESH K 40 (1,372 days) 40 90 Jul Aug 30 (471 days) 30 -2.17 -1.73 -0.05 -3.85 6.86 8.69 1.73 -10.10 6.74 16.66 Jun Dec 3, 2025 (close) -2,852 20 90.19 Jul 20 (2,104 days)* downloadshintsat appgainingtraction 9.02 19.13 May May THE INITIAL PUBLIC offering of Meesho received 2.35 times subscription on the first day ofshare sale onWednesday amid strong investor participation, reports PTI. Retail portion ofthe share sale received 3.85 times subscription,while QIBs got subscribed 2.12 times. 10 ● Govtsaysspikein Imports (% chg y-o-y) Apr Apr DAY 1: MEESHO IPO SUBSCRIBED OVER 2.3 TIMES 10 Exports 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 2021 2023 2025 PAGE 4 0 Merchandise trade 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 COMPANIES THE RUPEE BREACHED past the psychological level of 90-adollar for the first time on Wednesday,asthedelayedtrade deal between India and the US continued to dampen market sentiments.In addition,persistent foreign portfolio outflows andlimitedinterventionbythe Reserve Bank of India kept the currencyunderpressure. The domestic currency finally closed 30 paise down at 90.19afterhitting90.29intraday. The rupee pared some losses after likely intervention fromtheRBI,saidforextraders. In fact,the rupee has taken just eight sessions to depreciate from 89 to 90.The pessimism spilledoverintotheequitymarket, with the benchmark NSE Nifty 50 Index declining as much as 0.5%. The latest fall has taken the depreciationinFY26to5.53%, the worst in three years. In the calendaryear 2025,it depreciated 5.35% so far. However, the government doesnotseemtobetooworried. Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran said that he was not “losing sleep” over the weakening of the domestic currency as long as it was not hurting exports. “If it has to depreciate now probably is the right time,”he added. Rupee vs dollar 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 IN THE NEWS 10 TO 90 IN 42 YEARS Nov CHRISTINATITUS Mumbai, December 3 TWO DAYS AFTER issuing the directive and following a storm ofprotestfromoppositionparties and digital rights activists, thegovernmentonWednesday withdrew its order requiring smartphone makers to preinstall the Sanchar Saathi cybersecurity app on all new devices, citing the sharp rise in voluntarydownloads. The communications ministryin a statement said that the app has now crossed about 15 milliondownloads,withnearly6 million new registrations added injustoneday,whichprovesthat the platform is gaining traction without enforcement.The app willcontinuetoremainavailable on app stores foruserswhowish todownloadit. Announcing the rollback, the statement said the surge in uptakeshowedthatmandatory bundling was no longer necessary. It reiterated that Sanchar Saathiisasecureconsumer-protection tool meant to help track and block stolen handsets,verify device authenticity and reportcyberfraud.Accordingto Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia,the system U-TURN ■ The app has now crossed about 15 mn downloads, with nearly 6 mn new registrations in just a day ■ The govt said the surge in uptake showed that mandatory bundling was no longer necessary ■ Roughly 4.1 mn fraudulent mobile connections were disconnected using the app hassofartracedaround2.6million stolen handsets, returned about 700,000 to consumers, disconnected roughly 4.1 million fraudulent mobile connections and blocked about 600,000 fraud attempts. As reported by FE in its Wednesday edition, handset makers including Apple and Samsung had opened channels with the government urging withdrawal of the mandate, stating that while they were ready to promote the app to users, compulsory installation at the manufacturing stage would be impractical. Continued on Page 12