COMPANIES | PAGE 4 MARKETS | PAGE 7 BACK PAGE | PAGE 24 GSTratecutsdrivingFMCG premiumisation:ITC’sBSumant Forthefirsttime,goldETF inflowssurpassequityMFs CHENNAI/KOCHI, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2026 Facingno-trustnotice,Speaker tostayawayfromLSfornow FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XLVI 236, 30 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: 84,273.92 ▲ 208.17 NIFTY: 25,935.15 ▲ 67.85 NIKKEI 225: 57,650.54 ▲ 1,286.60 HANG SENG: 27,183.15 ▲ 155.99 `/$: 90.58 ▲ 0.19 `/€: 107.92 ▼ 0.24 BRENT: $69.41 ▲ $0.37 GOLD: `1,55,646 ▲ `1,384 COMPANIES PAGE 4 AUTO SALES IN JAN INCREASE 17.61%, HIGHEST SINCE OCT DOMESTIC AUTOMOBILE RETAIL sales rose 17.61% yearon-year to 2.72 million units in January, the strongest monthly performance since October, as demand remained firm across most vehicle categories, reports Akbar Merchant. Joblessnessfallsto 4.8%inOct-Dec, lowestin3quarters THE GOVERNMENTONTuesday notified the amended Information Technology (IT) Rules, 2026, rolling out a significantly tighter compliance regime for social media platforms to curb the spread of deepfakes, non-consensual imagery and other sensitive content across digital platforms such as X, Facebook, Instagram and Telegram. The new rules will come into effect from February 20. The most consequential change is a sharp reduction in takedown timelines tied to user safety. Platforms are now required to remove non-consensual intimate imagery and deepfake content within two hoursofreceivingacomplaint, comparedwith a 24-hourwindow under the earlier frame- AI labelling softened Continued on Page 10 Continued on Page 10 Platformsmustremove deepfake contentwithintwohoursofauser complaint,downfrom24hoursearlier Quicker compliance with orders Grievance timelines halved Unlawfulcontentmustbetakendown withinthreehoursofagovtorcourtorder, comparedwith earlier36-hourwindow Platforms have seven days to resolve user complaints, reduced from the earlier 15-day deadline Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, reflectthegovernment’sgrowing concern over the speed at whichAI-generatedimpersonation content can spread and cause harm before remedial action is taken. Officials have Small firms steal the show SMALLAND MID-SIZED companies have turned in a much better performance than their bigger counterparts so far this earnings season, reports Kishor Kadam. Specifically, these companies have reported a much stronger growth in sales — in the mid-teens compared with a mid-single-digit growth posted by big firms — in the December 2025 quarter.This has helped small and mid-sized firms report a good increase in operating profits even though their expenses have risen sharply. 23 large companies Net sales above `20,000 cr in Q3FY26 Q3FY26 (` crore) Q3FY25 13,88,562 Net sales Opt profit 6.6 Net profit 8.3 5.7 % change 23 mid-sized companies Net sales between `10K cr and 20K cr in Q3FY26 Q3FY26 (` crore) Q3FY25 15 9.4 Net profit 1,416 small companies 27,103 All 1,462 companies Net sales below `10,000 cr in Q3FY26 (` crore) Q3FY26 (` crore) Q3FY25 Net sales Net sales Opt profit Net profit 8,73,019 25,151 71,340 Opt profit 65,205 3,19,067 Net sales 2,77,400 ADANI ENTERPRISES SAID the US has sought information from the company after a media report alleged it imported Iranian oil products, raising potential sanctions concerns, reports Bloomberg. The company initiated discussions with the US' office of foreign assets control. ■ PAGE 6 repeatedly said that delayed enforcement renders postfacto takedowns ineffective, particularly in cases involving sexual exploitation, fraud and political manipulation. THE AIRPORTS AUTHORITY of India (AAI) is set to kick off the third round of airport monetisation after a gap of nearly five years, seeking bids for 11 airports, including Varanasi and Amritsar, by April, multiple government officials aware of the discussions told FE. In the new round, the government has created five bundles, each combining metro and non-metro airports.These areAmritsar-Kangra,VaranasiKushinagar-Gaya, RaipurAurangabad, BhubaneswarHubli,and Trichy-Tirupati. Faster deepfake takedowns UNEMPLOYMENT RATE DECLINED to 4.8% in the OctoberDecember quarter, recording the lowest print so far in the current financial year, according to the latest quarterly Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), reports fe Bureau. ■ PAGE 3 AdaniEnterprises saysUSsoughtinfo overIranoilimports 9,89,576 13.4 7.8 % change 25,38,981 1,67,969 74,510 1,91,403 86,745 14 27,88,833 16.4 % change Q3FY25 Q3FY26 Opt profit Net profit 4,66,911 1,99,522 99,522 5,15,846 2,19,390 9.8 10.5 10 % change Source: Capitaline Experts expect shake-out by FY27 as economics under pressure Instanthouse-helpfirmsonaroll S SHANTHI Bengaluru, February 10 THE10-MINUTEPROMISEthat reshapedgrocerydeliveryisnow storming India’s living rooms. Quick commerce has spilled into house help,with sweeping, mopping, dishwashing and laundry now bookable on apps and delivered within minutes. What began as an experiment barelyayearagohasturnedinto oneofurbanIndia’sfastest-scaling consumercategories. Startups such as Snabbit, Urban Company’s InstaHelp and Pronto are racing to lock in neighbourhood density before rivalscan.Thegrowthnumbers tellthestory.Snabbit’smonthly orders have surged from roughly 100,000 in August 2025 to 750,000 now — a sevenfold jump in under six HOME RUN ■ Key players in the field are Snabbit (launched in 2024), Urban Company’s InstaHelp (March 2025) and Pronto (April 2025) ■ Snabbit’s scale-up has been rapid — monthly order volumes crossing 750,000, up from roughly 100,000 in August 2025 months.InstaHelp,launchedby Urban Company in March 2025, clocked 1.61 million orders in Q3 FY26 alone. Pronto, a later entrant, has scaled from under 30,000 monthly orders in August to around66,000byOctober,with momentum building since. Companies say this is not a conveniencefadbutastructural shift.“We are seeing the space heatupveryquicklyandthat’sa goodsign.Itvalidatesthatthisis not a niche convenience play, butarealstructuralshiftinhow urbanIndiawillaccessessential services,” a Snabbit spokesperson says. Over the next 12 months, the company plans to Airport revenues before & after privatisation in 2006 Mumbai (` cr) 860 590 1,082 857 Delhi 673 666 `6,000 cr;Adani, GMR,Vinci among potential bidders GROWTH PUSH YARUQHULLAH KHAN & PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, February 10 Draft proposal for mandatory 10% visual and audio labelling dropped; fixed-size watermarking removed in final rules work. Separately, intermediaries must take down other unlawful content within three hours of receiving an order from a government authority or a court, down from the previous 36-hour limit. The rules, notified by the ● AAI aims to raise 570 587 THEN & NOW OJASVI GUPTA New Delhi, February 10 Bids for privatisation of 11 airports byApril 1,05,542 THE LOWER US import tariffs on textiles and apparel shipments from Bangladesh could mean more competition for Indian exporters though the impact may be limited as Dhaka has capacity constraints, reports Narayanan V. Justtwohours:NewITRules trimdeepfaketakedowntime 99,861 LOWER US TARIFFS ON DHAKA TEXTILES MAY IMPACT INDIAN FIRMS 2,53,103 PAGE 2 2,33,736 ECONOMY AI LABELLING MANDATE EASEDAFTER INDUSTRYPUSHBACK 14,80,190 IN THE NEWS ■ InstaHelp’s order volumes rose to around 468,000 in October from about 209,000 in August ■ Pronto saw its orders increase from 25,000-30,000 in August to 66,000 in October deependensityinexistingmarkets,expandselectivelyintonew micro-geographies and strengthenitsoperatingengine. “We are building repeat usage and trust,so Snabbit becomes a daily habit, not an occasional service,” the spokesperson says. Continued on Page 10 CHENNAI/KOCHI FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08 Source: Parliamentary data, Ministry of Civil Aviation, AAI reports BHELoffer for sale opens today; govt eyes `4,422 cr THE GOVERNMENT WILL sell up to 5% stake in Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) via offer for sale (OFS) on Wednesday and Thursday to raise about `4,422 crore. OFS“opens tomorrow for non-retail investors. Retail investors can bid on Thursday. Government offers to disinvest 3% equity in BHEL with an additional 2% as a greenshoe option,” Dipam Secretary Arunish Chawla posted on X. The OFS floor pricehasbeensetat`254—a discount of nearly 8% to the closing price of the stock on the BSE onTuesday.The Centre has raised `8,768 crore in disinvestment receipts so far this fiscal. —FE BUREAU