MARKETS | PAGE 7 ECONOMY | PAGE 2 BACK PAGE | PAGE 20 IndiacanweathershortWest Asiashock:CitiIndiaCEO $300-bnAIbet:CanIndia powerdatacentreboom? MUMBAI, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2026 OpenAIamendingdeal withPentagon:Altman FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL LXVI NO. 52, 20 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 IN THE NEWS TRUMP SAYS US CAN HOLD TARIFFS AT 15% FOR 5 MONTHS PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP said on Tuesday that the US can hold tariffs at 15% for five months, days after the Supreme Court struck down his import levy last month. “The courts said ‘no,’ but they said you can do it many other ways, and we are doing it,” he said, reports AP. ECONOMY PAGE 2 EPFO JOINS NEW INVIT OF NHAI AS A STRATEGIC INVESTOR THE EPFO WILL join the public infrastructure investment trust promoted by the NHAI as a strategic investor, committing funds to acquire 16.6% of the total units on offer in the maiden public issue of Raajmarg Infra Investment Trust (RIIT), reports Mukesh Jagota. TataConsumer scalesupruralbiz fornextgrowthleg WITH RURAL DEMAND outpacing urban, e-commerce contributing a fifth of sales, and a sweeping revamp of its go-to-market model,Tata Consumer is positioning itself for a sharper, distribution-led growth, president and head, India sales, Punit Gupta told FE, reports Viveat Susan Pinto. ■ PAGE 6 Statedebtdemand rises;G-secspread fallsfrompeak THE SPREAD BETWEEN central and state government securities has narrowed from its peak, driven by increased investor participation. The latest state development loan auction received stronger-than-expected demand, reports Christina Titus. ■ PAGE 7 US embassy hit as conflict flares ● US,Israel,Iran ramp up strikes on Day 4 of war ● Israel orders ground troops into Lebanon ● Iran president office & Unesco ships on Strait site targeted of Hormuz: Iran Oil at 8-month high,India holds 50-dayfuel cushion SAURAVANAND New Delhi, March 3 BRENT CRUDE SURGED past $85abarrelonTuesday,soaring forathirdstraightsessionasthe widening US-Israeli conflict with Iran disrupted fuel shipments and shut off the Strait of Hormuz, triggering fresh volatility in global energy markets. Even as oil prices hit their highest level since July 2024, officials here said it remained comfortably stocked with around 50 days of crude and petroleumproductinventories, cushioning the immediate impact of the crisis. Crude oil benchmarks rose about 8% on Tuesday. Brent crude futureswere up $6.05,or 7.8%, at $83.79 a barrel by 1143 GMT after touching $85.12 — their highest since July 2024.US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained $5.31,or 7.5%, to $76.54 after hitting Govt hopes for a short war WITHTHEESCALATIONof theIranconflictraisingconcerns over India’s energy and fertiliser supplies as well as exports,the government has intensified interministerialconsultationsto closely monitor developments, reports Prasanta Sahu. Officials remain hopeful that the conflict willbeshort-lived. ■PAGE 2 »INSIDE« EDIT: NO ONE WILL WIN THIS WAR PAGE 8 $77.53,its strongest level since June.The rally followed a 13% surge at the start of the week as marketspricedintheriskofprolongeddisruptionintheStraitof Hormuz, which carries nearly 20% of global oil flows and roughly one-third of seaborne crude exports. India, however, remains in whatofficialsdescribedasastable position.“India holds sufficientcrudeandfuelinventories to meet domestic demand for petrol,diesel and otherfuels for sixtoeightweeks,”atopgovernment source said. State-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) currentlyholdcrudestockssufficient for about 25 days and petrolanddieselinventoriesfor another 25 days, taking the cumulative buffer to nearly 50 days, over and above strategic petroleum reserves. Aseniorofficialsaidthegovernmentismonitoringthesituation “on a daily and hourly basis”and is confident of navigatingthroughthecrisisevenif it lasts“aweek orten days.” Continued on Page 4 SingteltoparestakeinAirtel promoterconsolidationplan FUTURE CALL URVI MALVANIA Mumbai, March 3 BHARTIENTERPRISESCHAIRMAN Sunil Bharti Mittal has outlined a road map to consolidate the promoter holding of Bharti Airtel under Bharti Telecom (BTL), saying the residual stake held by Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) and the Mittal family outside the promoter vehicle will be paredoverthenextthreetofour years in an orderlymanner. Inarecentinvestorcall,Mittal said BTL, which currently owns about 41% in Bharti Airtel, will remain the principal vehicleforpromoterownership. The remaining 8-8.5% stake — ■ Current shareholding: Bharti Telecom holds in Bharti Airtel, with 7% held directly by Singtel and 1% by the Mittal family outside Bharti Telecom 41% split between Singapore Telecommunications with around7%andtheMittalfamilywithabout1%outsideBTL— will be brought down gradually through market transactions. ThemoveispartofarestructuringfirstarticulatedinAugust 2022,when the two promoter ■ Post restructure: Bharti Telecom to retain 41% as sole direct promoter vehicle, while Singtel and the Mittal family will pare their residual direct stakes to nil, raising public float groups set out plans to simplify and equalise their holdings. Since then, overall promoter shareholding in Airtel has declined from 55.9% in June 2022 to 48.9% currently, according to JM Financial. Continued on Page 4 SATtightensthegrammarofcorporategovernance,callstimeonvaguedisclosures ‘Unforeseencircumstances’no longerasafehavenforIndiaInc ANJANATHERESE ANTONY Mumbai, March 3 GETTING RID OF SMOKESCREEN IF CORPORATE INDIA were handed an award for creative writing,“unforeseen circumstances” would surely top the bestseller list. Last week, the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) delivered a gentle but pointed reminder that stockexchangesarenot literature festivals. Upholding the market regulator’s `5-lakh penalty on Som Distilleries & Breweries,SATruledthatvague phrasing cannot pass for meaningful disclosure. Investors, it implied, deserve more than a shrug in prose. Som Distilleries had cancelled an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) that was to approvea`100-crorefundraise. The official explanation to the exchanges:“unforeseencircumstances.” Only weeks later,duringaninvestorcall,didthecompany concede that the fund requirement had turned out to belowerthanexpected.SATwas unimpressed.The tribunal held that the company failed to provide clear and accurate disclo- form, not substance’ approach has quietly become the status quo for many ■ Market watchers say the ‘compliance by ■ The relatively modest penalty of `5-10 lakh hardly acts as deterrent for large companies ■ Companies will also need to tighten their disclosure language and move from form to substance sure,leaving investors guessing in the interim. Few market watchers were surprised. Senior lawyers say such linguistic gymnastics are hardlyrare.Thereasonsvary:the relativelymodest cost of penalties, commercial sensitivities, evolving boardroom decisions, orsimplythetemptationtobuy time.Whenthedownsideriskis a `5-10 lakh fine, some large listed entities may view it as a modest toll charge on the highwayto delayed transparency. Indeed,IndiaInc’sdisclosure lexicon is rich with protective euphemisms — “unavoidable reasons”,“unforeseen events”, ■ Som Distilleries & Breweries penalised `5 lakh for vague disclosure ner at CMS INDUSLAW, “externalchallenges”,“no material impact”, and “temporary disruption.” They soundreassuring,almostpoetic, untilonelooksforthefootnotes and finds none. Regulators,lawyerssuggest, maynowhave toweed out such generic buzzwords and mandate greater granularity in disclosures. Companies, in turn, may need to tighten their language and move from form to substance. Some believe the SomDistilleriescasewillnowset a precedent. “Many generic terms like these may now be avoidedsincetheissueisnowin the open,” Paras K Parekh,part- ● Will set ablaze said.He added that there maybemoremindfulnessatthe level of regulators on surveillance.Regulators,hesuggested, may even need to upgrade systems with proficient artificial intelligencetoweedoutgeneric buzzwords in disclosures. The practice of legalistic obfuscation, market observers admit,isnolongerconfinedtoa handfulofparticipants.A“compliance byform,not substance” approach has quietly become the status quo for many — though certainlynot all. Continued on Page 4 DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, US Their (Iran’s) air defence, air force, navy, and leadership is gone. They want to talk. I said ‘Too Late!’ We have a virtually unlimited supply of (medium and upper medium grade) weapons. Wars can be fought ‘forever’... The US is stocked, and ready to WIN, BIG Nothing like home: Thousands return from conflict zone A woman kisses her child as her husband and children arrive at Mumbai airport on Tuesday after being stranded in Dubai amid the ongoing war. Thousands of Indians returned home on special flights as Gulf airspace partially reopened. ■ REPORT ON PAGE 2 SANKHADEEP BANERJEE Wall Street crumbles over2% FE BUREAU & AGENCIES New Delhi, March 3 WALLSTREET’S MAIN indices fell more than 2% onTuesday, with the S&P 500 hitting its lowest in over two months, as thewarinWestAsia ragedwith no end in sight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,083.69 points,or 2.22%, to 47,821.09 in early trade, while the S&P 500 lost 141.91 points, or 2.06%, to 6,739.71,andtheNasdaqComposite lost 483.41 points, or 2.12%,to22,265.45.Theselloff was broad and all major sectors on the S&P 500 were trading in the red. GIFT Nifty and Asian markets too extended losses on Tuesday, signalling a muted show in the Indian equity markets when they reopen on Wednesdayafteraday’sholiday onaccountofHoli.GIFTNifty— consideredasIndia’searlymarket indicator — was trading 209.50 points,or 0.86%,lower at 24,150.50 at 8.45 p.m. InAsia,South Korea led the market decline on Tuesday, with the benchmark Kospi plunging7.2%initsworstsession since August 2024. TheMSCIAsiaPacificIndex dropped as much as 3.1%,setting the gauge on track for its worst two days in 11 months. “Theinvestmentquestionis notprimarilyaboutIranitself— itiswhethertheconflictleadsto a larger value-at-risk episode driven bycorrelation into other markets,” said Nick Ferres,chief investment officer of Vantage PointAssetManagementinSingapore.“My guess is that markets traded as though the conflict would be relatively short last night. However, that view might be too optimistic.” If transport disruptions persist in the Strait of Hormuz, that could continue to weigh onAsianequities,saidDilinWu of Pepperstone Group.