PERSONAL FINANCE | PAGE 9 BIG IDEA | PAGE 18 NIYO stays close to payments, regulation BACK PAGE | PAGE 18 2026: Discretionary consumptiontobekey BENGALURU, MONDAY, JANUARY 5, 2026 Bangladesh:Won’t play T20WC games in India FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XXXVIII 222, 22 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 COMPANIES PAGE 4 FMCG FIRMS SEEN SUSTAINING D2C ACQUISITION FMCG COMPANIES ARE expected to maintain a steady pace of acquisitions in the direct-to-consumer (D2C) space in 2026, as they look to accelerate premiumisation, shorten innovation cycles and build sharper digital capabilities amid unevenvolume growth in their core portfolios.The case for buying D2C brands remains intact, reports S Shanthi. » INSIDE « EXECUTION STRESS FOR OLA’S TRIPLE UNICORN PAGE 4 GOYALTOVISITBRUSSELS FROMWEDNESDAY PAGE 3 OPINION PAGE 9 SOMNATH SWABHIMAN PARV: 1,000 YEARS OF UNBROKEN FAITH, WRITES NARENDRA MODI ● Venezuelan oil supplies may resume to RIL, other refiners MUKESH JAGOTA New Delhi, January 4 THE UNITED STATES' capture of oil-rich Venezuela may help unlock $1 billion in longpending dues »INSIDE« for India's INDIAVOICES state-run hydrocarbon ITS 'DEEP CONCERN' ON explorer VENEZUELA ONGC Videsh CRISIS (OVL), and PAGE 3 accelerate crude productionfromthefieldsintheLatin Americancountry,whereithas equity interest. In addition,Venezuelan oil supplies to Reliance Industries (RIL) could gather pace under a 15-year crude contract with Demonstrators protest outside the UN Plaza against the US bombing of Venezuela and seizure of President Nicolas Maduro in San Francisco on Sunday AP PetróleosdeVenezuela(PdVSA). Accordingtoanalysts,India, as the world's third-largest oil importer, may stand to gain as resumption of Venezuelan oil NITIN KUMAR Bhogapuram (Andhra Pradesh), January 4 to ease capacity constraints and expand air connectivity, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said on Sunday. Speaking after a successful validation flight at the upcoming Bhogapuram Airport near Visakhapatnam on Saturday, Naidu said the next THE COUNTRY'S AIRPORT expansion is gathering pace, with a new airport being added roughly every 50 days as the government is pushing SEASONAL DRAG 67,084.5 (` cr) Revenue EBIT Constant currency revenue growth (%) 17,019.3 URVI MALVANIA Mumbai, January 4 WINTER TIGHTENED ITS grip across north India as day temperatures dropped in Delhi, and fog disrupted visibility in parts of Rajasthan. Kashmir remained in the throes of sub-zero temperatures with the IMD forecasting light rain or snow in the higher reaches of the valley over the next few days, reports PTI. Indian refiners are technically configuredtoprocessVenezuelan heavy crude. Continued on Page 5 set of greenfield airports are nearing operational readiness. Following the launch of Navi Mumbai Airport, the Noida International Airport at Jewar is set to begin operations in February, while Bhogapuram is expected to open by June. “We have fast-tracked the project for operations by May or June 2026,well ahead of the original schedule. The Noida International Airport at Jewar will be ready by February,” the minister said. Continued on Page 5 India Inc goes all-in onAI mainstreaming URVI MALVANIA Mumbai, January 4 INDIA INC MAY not be at the forefrontofcutting-edgetechnological development, but it is gearing up for large-scale adoption of artificial intelligence, with large enterprises beginning to rework organisational structures, workflows and leadership roles to embed AI across operations. That shift has been most clearly articulated by Reliance Industries, where chairman Mukesh Ambani recently talked about framing AI as a new operating model rather than a bolt-on technology. Reliance’s draft AI manifesto positionsAI as a horizontal capability cutting across businesses, with a focus on redesigning end-to-endworkflows rather than delivering isolated use cases. The approach reflects a broader point made by Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella duringhisIndiavisitlastmonth. “The countries,companies and communitiesthatpulledahead weren’t the ones that invented the leading tech, but the ones that adopted it the fastest,” Nadella said,pointing to India’s advantage in scaling technologies once theyare proven. AcrosscorporateIndia,companiesarestructuringAIdifferently depending on their scale and organisational culture. Largeconglomerateswithmul- SCALING UP LARGE-CAP DOMESTIC IT services companies are expected to post modest sequential revenue growth of 0.3-2.2% in the December quarter, with results likely to underline stabilityratherthan aclearaccelerationindemand, according to analysts. The quarter’s performance is expected to be driven largely by deal ramp-ups and company-specific factors, rather thananybroad-basedimprovement in client spending.AnalystsatICICISecuritiessaidthey expect constant currency growth of 0.3-2.2% quarteron-quarter for the top IT com- TCS Infosys HCL Wipro Tech 0.8 0.3 2.2 1.5 Source: ICICI Securities panies, supported by resilient BFSI execution and the rampup of large dealwins,but partly offset byseasonal furloughs. Among the large caps, HCLTech is expected to outper- ■ Reliance Industries plans to frame AI as an operating model, not just a standalone technology initiative ■ Smaller firms are embedding AI within IT and digital functions operations tiplebusinessesareincreasingly moving towards centralised AI teams ordedicated subsidiaries to drive standardisation,governance and platform development.Smallerfirms,andseveral large single-business companies, are embedding AI within existing IT or digital transformation functions. Continued on Page 5 form peers in Q3FY26,aided by seasonalityinitssoftwareproducts business.Wipro is likely to seebenefitsfromtheramp-upof largevendorconsolidationdeals and early contributions from recent acquisitions.In contrast, TCS and Infosys are expected to reportsoftersequentialgrowth, as furlough-related headwinds and fewer working days weigh on near-term momentum despite steady execution in coreverticals. Seasonal furloughs, muted discretionary spending and calendar-related factors are expected to cap quarter-onquarter growth across the sector, even as BFSI-led deal execution offers some support. Analysts note that these factors have become a recurring feature of the December quarter and continue to obscure underlying demand trends. Continued on Page 5 DEAL DETAILS 4 Axis Bank 10,853 13,665 11 Goldman Sachs 9 18,201 24,317 5,961 Morgan Stanley JPMorgan 15 25,913 14 Citi 5 6,009 5 Ernst & Young 7,746 Goldman Sachs 7 8,218 7 Citi Barclays 8,728 8 2025 Deal value at announcement ($ mn) Sh re (in Share (i %) Morgan Stanley 2024 Deal value at announcement ($ mn) Share (in %) Sh Source: Dealogic improvement from 2024, when it ranked second with $8.2 billion of announced deals and a 5% share, behind Barclays, which led that year with $8.7 billion and an 8% share. India’s total announced M&A value climbed to $168.1 billion in 2025, up from $110 billion in 2024, underscoring the impact of several large transactions completed or announcedinthefinalmonths of the year. The overall picture, however, was uneven. “2025 has been a mixed year from M&A deals; overall activity was somewhat slower in the first half,” said Ketan Dalal, is focussing on adopting AI across functions to improve execution emerge gradually, complicating near-term financial attribution visibility CititopsM&Aadvisoryleaguetable US FINANCIAL POWERHOUSE Citigroup topped India’s mergers and acquisitions advisory league table in 2025, capturing the largest share of announced deal value in a year that was slow for much of the period before being lifted by a burst of large transactions towards the end. According to data compiled by Dealogic, Citi advised on $25.9 billion of M&A deals in India during theyear,accounting for 15% of total announced deal value. The showing put Citi narrowly ahead of JPMorgan Chase, which ranked second with $24.3 billion of deals and a 14% market share, and well ahead of Morgan Stanley, which advised on $18.2 billion, or 11% of the market. Goldman Sachs Group followed with $13.7 billion and an 8% share,the data show. Citi’s lead marked a sharp ■ Tata Group ■ AI productivity gains Late surge in big deals lifts overall number in 2025 DEV CHATTERJEE Mumbai, January 4 Home loans drag personal credit growth THE SLOWDOWN IN home loans pulled down the overall growth in the personal loan category in November. The segment reported a 12.8% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth, down from 13.4% in the year-ago period. In October 2025, the segment recorded a 14% growth. ■ PAGE 6 ITresults mayunderline resilience,not recovery RESULTS PREVIEW North India shivers as cold wave persists supplieswouldofferastrategic alternativetoWestAsiancrude, reduceexposuretogeopolitical shocks, and strengthen its hand in price negotiations. Newairport every50 days,says Naidu 23,148.6 THE CENTRAL GOVT’S capital expenditure (capex) in the current financial year (FY26) could exceed the Budget Estimate (BE) of `11.21 lakh crore if the spending momentum is not slowed sharply in the remaining months, reports Kuldeep Singh. ONGCVidesh may get to recover $1 billion in dues 3,773.2 FY26 CAPEX COULD EXCEED BUDGETESTIMATE 33,282.2 5,954.8 PAGE 2 45,501.3 ECONOMY OPECTO KEEPOUTPUTSTEADY 9,669.3 IN THE NEWS founder of Katalyst Advisors. Deal momentum picked up sharply in the final quarter as boards grew more comfortable with valuations and financing conditions, and as strategic imperatives overrode caution. Continued on Page 5 BENGALURU EVpenetration inluxurycar segmentdips ELECTRIC VEHICLE (EV) PENETRATION in the luxury car segment has seen a drop by nearly 3 percentage points in the GST 2.0 era with the internal combustion engine versions offering better total cost of ownership, according to industry players. the trend is also visible in the mass market segment. ■ PAGE 18 Musk’s X to remove illegal content X SAID ON Sunday that it would take strict action against illegal content on its platform, including child sexual abuse material, by removing such content and permanently suspending accounts of the miscreants. The social media platform also said it would work with local governments and law enforcement agencies when required. ■ PAGE 4
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