MARKETS | PAGE 7 BACK PAGE | PAGE 24 The last ring:When India’s village phone fell silent INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 10 Kotak Investment Banking MD expects $135-bn M&As in 2026 NEW DELHI, THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 2026 Warner Bros turns down revised Paramount bid FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL. L1 NO. 266, 30 PAGES, `12 (PATNA & RAIPUR `12, SRINAGAR `15) P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E SENSEX: 84,961.14 ▼ 102.20 NIFTY: 26,140.75 ▼ 37.95 NIKKEI 225: 51,961.98 ▼ 556.10 HANG SENG: 26,458.95 ▼ 251.50 `/$: 89.89 ▼ 0.29 `/€: 105.02 ▼ 0.61 BRENT: $60.76 ▲ $0.06 GOLD: `1,36,103 ▼ `107 INDIGO ADDS FIRSTAIRBUS A321XLR INDIGO ON WEDNESDAY received the first of 40 Airbus A321XLR aircraft on order, reports Nitin Kumar. The airline plans to deploy the aircraft on non-stop services from Delhi and Mumbai to Athens later this month. » INSIDE « TECHM CUTS 200 JOBS IN EUROPE PAGE 4 UBER ENTERS CORPORATE COMMUTE BIZ PAGE 4 INDIA'S GROSS DOMESTIC product (GDP) is set to grow at7.4%inthecurrentfinancial year, in line with independent consensus estimate, the NationalStatisticsOffice(NSO) indicated on Wednesday, even asitprojectedeconomicexpansionat6.9%inthesecondhalf, slowing down from 8% in the first half. The economy had grown at 6.5% in FY25. Economistscalleditresilient growth, given the global headwindsincludingtheTrumptariffs, but statistically favourable deflatoreffects played a significant role in lifting growth. Among the sectors that are expectedtoslowdownfromH1 to H2 on annual terms are agriculture (3.9% to 2.7%),manufacturing (8.4% to 5.7%), and construction (7.4% to 6.7%). Among services,“financial,real estate,etc,” andpublicadminis- Key numbers (% chg, y-o-y ) Growth dynamics Real GDP Nominal GDP FY22 FY24 Electricity, gas, etc FY25 FY26 # tration are seen recording higher annual growth in H2 comparedwith H1. TheNSO,initsfirstadvance estimates (FAE), projected the nominal GDP in the current THE GOVERNMENT HAS asked IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet and Akasa Air to provide data on average fares charged, a document shows, as antitrust authorities probe unprecedented travel disruptions in December, reports Reuters. Pilot shortages forced IndiGo to cancel about 4,500 flights last month. -1.8 2.4 1.7 Construction Trade, hotels, transport, etc Financial, real estate, etc Public administration, etc * To meet the first advance estimates year to be `357.14 lakh crore, marginally higher than `356.97 lakh crore estimated in the Budget FY26. Continued on Page 10 8 6.9 H1FY26 Growth required in H2FY26* 0.3 Manufacturing # First advance estimates Airlines asked to furnish fare details 3.9 2.7 Agri, forest & fishing Mining FY23 At constant prices, (% chg, y-o-y) GDP 7.4 8 PAGE 6 FIRST ADVANCE ESTIMATES 6.5 9.8 COMPANIES KULDEEP SINGH New Delhi, January 7 9.2 12 US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump’s remark claiming “PM Modi came to see me, ‘Sir, may I see you please’. Yes” has led to a sense of disquiet in Delhi which has chosen not to issue an official response, for now, reports Shubhajit Roy. GDPpegged to grow at a faster clip of7.4% in FY26 14 TRUMP’S PM REMARK: DELHI STAYS SILENT 7.6 PAGE 3 18.9 ECONOMY NOMINALGROWTH SEENAT8%; NOTHREATTO FISCALTARGET 9.7 IN THE NEWS 5.7 8.4 7.4 6.7 8 7.1 9.9 10 9.7 10.1 Source: MoSPI »INSIDE« ECONOMISTS FLAG LOW NOMINAL GROWTH P2 EDIT: RESILIENT INDIA P8 XrespondsonGrok, Rupee rises 29 p govtsaysneedmore on RBI support X ONWEDNESDAYsubmitteditsdetailed compliance report to the government on measures taken to prevent its AI chatbot GrokAI from generating obscene and sexuallyexplicitcontent,accordingtosources, reports Ojasvi Gupta. The government, however, said the response was not adequate and soughtmore details. ■ PAGE 6 THE RUPEE ENDED higher for the second consecutive session, gaining 29 paise on Wednesday, on likely dollar sales from state-run banks, which traders said could be on behalf of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), helping reverse the pressure from slightly softer Asian cues, reports Reuters. ■ PAGE 11 Govt to revup auto parts sectorwith `5K-crpush ● Schemetofocus onexport-oriented, high-valuegear NITIN KUMAR New Delhi, January 7 THEGOVERNMENTISworking onanincentiveschemeofmore than `5,000 crore for the automobile component industry, aimed at scaling up domestic manufacturing and increasing thecountry’sshareintheglobal automotivevaluechain,officials familiarwiththemattertoldFE. The programme is being formulated by the ministry of heavy industries and is IN THE WORKS New scheme to have two major components: ■ Opex support for engines, engine parts and transmission systems ■ Capex support for tools and dies expected to focus on exportoriented, high-value componentswhereIndiacontinuesto depend heavily on imports. The proposed scheme is designed to raise the country’s ■ Goal is to raise India’s share in global auto parts trade from ~3% to ~8% in medium term It also aims to strengthen supply chain resilience amid rising global protectionism ■ share in the global auto components market from the current 3% to about 8% over the medium term. Continued on Page 10 Thyssenkrupp maysell Europe unit to Jindal Steel in phases ● German giant’s shares rise 5% GRADUALTAKEOVER ■ Jindal Steel CHRISTOPH STEITZ, TOM KÄCKENHOFF & NEHA ARORA Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, New Delhi, January 7 ■ The remaining 60% could be acquired later in two tranches or in one go may take a majority stake of GERMANY’S THYSSENKRUPP COULD sell its steel division to Jindal Steel International in several steps, four people familiar with the talks said, as the two sides try to strike a deal for the complex business. in a first step 40% Jindal Steel has been conducting due diligence on Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe (TKSE) since October after making an indicative bid for Europe’s second-largest steelmaker. The deal is key for Thyssenkrupp as the group seeks to become leaner and more focused. Continued on Page 10 LARGE, MID YA SMALL? MULTI CAP FUND IS FOR ALL! 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SCORES portal facilitates investors to lodge complaint online with SEBI and subsequently view its status. In case the investor is not satisfied with the resolution of the complaints raised directly with the AMCs or through the SCORES portal, they may file any complaint on the Smart ODR on https://smartodr.in/login. For more information contact MFD/RIA | Learn about SIPs: hdfcfund.com/sip Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully. New Delhi
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