OPINION, P10 FE LINES WELL BEING HOW MENSTRUAL CUPS CAN HELP YOU GO WITH THE FLOW Distortion of history, disdain for future Through the AI lens Exciting news on the smart glasses front—Google and Apple to join Meta in the market Page 6 As Indian women become more aware, exposed & educated, choices in period hygiene are also shifting Page 9 ACROSS THE AISLE, P CHIDAMBARAM LEISURE Follow us on Twitter & Facebook. App available on App Store & Play Store WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM VOL XXV NO. 7 IT’S WOK-ING! FINANCIAL EXPRESS ON SUNDAY NEW DELHI SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2025 18 Pages, `12 (Patna `12, Raipur `12, Srinagar `15) 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 , READ TO LEAD H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , BELARUS HAS released Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski from prison, a human rights advocate said. His release comes as authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko seeks to improve relations with Washington. ■ PAGE 17 ● Outbound tourist numbers rising, inbound static WINTER ESCAPE SUGANDHA MUKHERJEE New Delhi, December 13 18-25% INDIA ENTERS THE year-end travel season with outbound tourism accelerating to unprecedented levels, marking a decisive shift in how Indians spend the December break.As international departures climb to fresh highs, foreign tourist arrivals into WHAT'S INSIDE Thrillophilia reports ■ ixigo reports 40-45% y-o-y jump in December international bookings rise in foreign bookings for December Esports spreads its web From top-tier competitions to govt recognition and mainstream brand interest, the industry is now evolving from a video gaming format with isolated events to an ecosystem of all-round activity India remain subdued, extending a post-pandemic imbalance that is now reshaping the country’s peak travel calendar. Outbound demand has expanded sharply. In December 2024, 27.08 lakh Indians ● Foreign insurers NOT AN EASY TASK might still opt for ■ Even when FDI limit was raised to 74% from 49%, insurance penetration Indian partners did not change meaningfully ■ WORDS WORTH, P4 A myth & its unmaking FOREIGN INSURERS MIGHT still prefer partnering with homegrown insurers or large corporates with strong franchises and distribution networks to enter the Indian market, despite the government fully opening the sector to foreign investors, feel industry players. The Union Cabinet on Friday approved a bill to raise the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in the insurance sector from 74% to 100%, aimed at attracting more capital flows,global expertise and boosting the country’s insur- A dismantling of the idea of progress, forcing a rethink what it means to advance at all Metals, auto shares shine in CY2025 METALS AND AUTO Top gainers (Metal stocks) shares have delivered Hindalco Inds 41.65 returns of up to 54% in NALCO 31.38 calendar year 2025 so far, significantly Hindustan Zinc 26.52 outperforming the JSW Steel 24.8 benchmark indices. The Tata Steel 24.48 BSE Metal Index and BSE Auto Index have Top gainers (Auto stocks) surged 20.78% and 19.71%, respectively, TVS Motor 54.22 in YTD 2025, compared Maruti Suzuki 52.03 to the Sensex’s Eicher Motors 50.02 9.12% rise during the same period. Ashok Leyland 48.54 Compiled by Hero MotoCorp 43.19 Kishor Kadam Shiprocket aims to raise `2,342 crore TEMASEK-BACKED E-COMMERCE enablement platform Shiprocket has filed updated draft paperswith markets regulator Sebi to raise a little over `2,342 crore through its initial public offering (IPO), reports PTI. The IPO is a combination of a fresh issue of equity shares aggregatingupto`1,100crore along with an offer for sale of `1,242.3 crore by the selling shareholders,according to the updated draft red herring prospectus(UDRHP).Aspartof the OFS,Lightrock,Tribe Capital,Bertelsmann,Arvind,Gautam Kapoor, Saahil Goel, and Vishesh Khurana will be diluting their stakes. YTD2025 return (%) 120.78 119.71 109.12 100 90 80 ■ Industry’s NARAYANAN V Chennai, December 13 110 Relative performance Base: Dec 31, 2024=100 Dec 31, 2024 Dec 12, 2025 Continued on Page 2 growth model built on deeply entrenched distribution ecosystems; not replicated overnight ance penetration. A bill to amend the insurance law is likely to be tabled in Parliament on Monday. Kamlesh Rao, MD & CEO, Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance, said even when the FDI limit was raised to 74% from 49%, insurance penetration did not change meaningfully, ■ Thomas Cook India, SOTC Travel report 20% rise in searches for winter 23.56 lakh Indian foreign departures in Dec 2019 travelled overseas which is the highest for any December and well above the 23.56 lakh departures recorded in 2019. This year’s figures are set to surpass even that record. Travel company Thrillophilia reports an 18-25% rise in FOR THE FIRST time since electric vehicle (EV) sales took off in India in 2020, a nonTata car will lead a calendar year’s sales. January-November 2025 sales data sourced from industry shows that it’s not Tata Motors’ Nexon EV or Punch EV,but the MGWindsor that is leading the sales charts. Till now, JSW MG Motor India has sold 43,139 units of the Windsor, which is more than double of the Nexon EV (22,878 units) and Punch EV (14,634 units) combined. First launched in Septem- HOWTHEY STACK UP 22,878 Tata Nexon EV 15,127 Tata Tiago EV N E W D E L H I , P U N E nordid it lead to a surge in capital inflows. India had increased the FDI cap to 49% in 2015, before raising it further to 74% in 2021. So far, the sector has attracted about `82,000 crore in FDI inflows. Continued on Page 2 ■ REPORT ON PAGE 2 90% IndiGo ops back to normal PRESS TRUST OF INDIA Pune, December 13 ABOUT 90% OF IndiGo’s flight operations have returned to normal, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said on Saturday. Speaking to the press in Pune,he said,“Air ser- vices will resume gradually in the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji has issued instructions, and an explanation has been sought from IndiGo.” The Union minister said a four-member committee would be appointed to fix responsibility for the situa- Collegium far more open than earlier: CJI ANANTHAKRISHNAN G New Delhi, December 13 SIGNALLING CONTINUITY WITH reform, new Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant has said the collegium system of judicial appointments is “certainly far more open and transparent todaythan it once was”and“there is always room to do better.” “Change is the only constant, and as society evolves, institutions must also adapt theirmechanismsaccordingly. The same applies to the Collegium system, which is certainlyfarmoreopenandtransparent today than it once was. There is,however,always room to do better,”he said. InaninterviewtoTheIndian Express, the CJI said while the collegiumhasevolved,“anysys- 14,634 Tata Punch EV Sales 13,890 Mahindra BE 6 (in units) Jan-Nov 2025 Tata Harrier EV 7,663 Hyundai Creta Electric 4,332 24,951 Tata Tigor EV Mahindra XEV 9e 3,947 Tata Curvv EV 43,139 2,764 MG Windsor ber 2024 with a 38-kWh battery and 332-km ARAI-certified range, sales of the Windsor took off when the bigger 10,836 Mahindra XUV400 battery variant was introduced in May (52.9-kWh battery and 449-km range). From an average of less than 3,000 units per month prior to May, sales have remained more than 4,000 units since then, and touched a high of Continued on Page 2 Lionel Messi’s tour of India kicked off on a chaotic note as fans vandalised Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata over his brief visit on Saturday. As part of his GOAT tour, the Argentine soccer star is also visiting Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi. While West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee apologised and formed an inquiry panel over the incident, the main organiser of the event was later arrested AP ■ Bill likely to mandate at least one among chairman, MD or CEO to be an Indian citizen; could be irritant for foreign insurers international bookings for the December window, citing smoothervisa regimes, competitive airfares on midhaul routes and rising appetite for short, experience-led itineraries. “India continues to be one of the fastest-growing outbound travel markets globally, and that momentum is clearly visible this holiday season,” said Abhishek Daga, cofounder of Thrillophilia, noting that many properties and activities abroad are already nearing full occupancy. ● UGLY START TO MESSI’S GOAT TOUR JUSTICE SURYA KANT, CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA Justice will suffer if we focus on what’s said on social media tem or practice,no matter how well-established, will at some stagerequireimprovement”.He pointed to the introduction of in-person interactions with candidates as “a very welcome step”, adding that it allows members to “arrive at a more objectiveview.” Continued on Page 2 MG Windsor zooms past Tata to take EV crown VIKRAM CHAUDHARY New Delhi, December 13 M U M B A I , Indians travelled overseas in Dec 2024 Full FDI in insurance may not shake sector ■ SPOTLIGHT, P5 120 L U C K N O W , 27.08 lakh LOCAL CONNECTIONS CRITICAL Sensex BSE Metal Index BSE Auto Index K O L K A T A , Indianholidayersfavourforeignshoresoverdomestic Belarus releases Nobel laureate 130 Pan-Asian remains a perennial favourite, most new openings favouring the cuisine Page 7 4,741 units in September this year. According to analysts, the carmaker’s Battery as a Service (BaaS) scheme has worked in favour of the Windsor. For example, the 52.9kWh variant launched in May was priced upfront at `17.49 lakh, but was also available under BaaS for `12.49 lakh, plus `4.5 per km of driving. “This `12.49 lakh attracted a lot of customers to the showroom,even though most people ended by buying the car upfront,” a Gurgaon-based dealer told FE. Continued on Page 2 New Delhi tion. “Passengers have suffered losses,and the ministry is taking immediate action,” Mohol said. IndiGo had earlier cancelled thousands of flights nationwide after failing to plan for tighter safety regulations. The cancellations had peaked on December 5 before declining.