ECONOMY | PAGE 3 COMPANIES | PAGE 4 PM inaugurates 594-km Ganga Expressway in UP INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 12 TataTruststoreviewTataSons losses,listing&Chandraterm CHENNAI/KOCHI, THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2026 EUfindsMetafailingtokeep under-13soffFB,Instagram FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XLVI 303, 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 SENSEX: 77,496.36 ▲ 609.45 NIFTY: 24,177.65 ▲ 181.95 NIKKEI 225: 59,917.46 ▼ 619.90 HANG SENG: 26,111.84 ▲ 432.06 `/$: 94.84 ▼ 0.30 `/€: 110.94 ▼ 0.30 BRENT: $116.66 ▲ $5.40 GOLD: `147,461 ▼ `1,089 IN THE NEWS AT 94.84, RUPEE HITS RECORD CLOSING LOW THE RUPEE FELL to a record closing low on Wednesday, pressured by rising oil prices as efforts to end the Iran conflict remained stalled, while persistent foreign selling of Indian assets added to the strain, reports Reuters. ECONOMY PAGE 2 GOVTWORKING ON JAN VISHWAS 3.0, SAYS GOYAL THE CENTRE HAS started work on the third Jan Vishwas Bill that will go beyond decriminalisation of laws and focus on simplifying processes and procedures, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said Wednesday, reports Mukesh Jagota. DII buying slows in April, investments down from March AFTER INVESTING A record amount in Indian equities in March, domestic institutional investors have started the new financial year on a slower note, reports AnjanaThereseAntony. So far inApril, DIIs have made net investments of over `47,577 crore in equities, compared with `1.43 lakh crore in March — the highest ever for a single month. ■ PAGE 6 Edible oil firms mull fresh price hikes on cost pressure EDIBLE OIL COMPANIES are preparing for a new round of price increases as elevated import costs, high freight rates and firm domestic oilseed prices continue to squeeze margins, report Viveat Susan Pinto & Sandip Das. ■ PAGE 5 »QUARTERLY RESULTS« Cognizant Vedanta beats profit nearly forecast, cuts doubles on revenue metal price guidance surge PAGE 4 PAGE 4 GOVTMOVETO COUNTERANYPOTENTIALTHREAT Mythos testing: Govtbarsbanks ● Stance maybe reviewed afterUS sandbox results on frontierAI model SAFETY FIRST ■ Finance PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, April 29 INDIA HAS TAKEN a pre-emptivestanceonAnthropic’sunreleased frontier AI model Mythos, indicating that banks and insurance companies will not be allowed to test or deploy it until its safety is established, evenasauthoritiesstepuppreparedness against potential cyberrisks,sources told FE. The guidance does not amount to a ban on an existing deployment,asMythoshasnot yetbeenmadeavailableoutside alimitedsandboxenvironment in the United States. Instead, it signalsthatanyfutureaccessto themodelwillbesubjecttoregulatoryclearance. “No stress testing with Mythos. We will not allow Mythos to be tested on our banks and insurance companies,” a senior official said. “Howdowe knowwhetherit is safe or not?” Officialssaidconcernsstem from the model’s potential to significantly accelerate offensive cyber capabilities. Mythos ■ Mythos is seen as capable of compressing months of cyber intrusion work into hours, raising the risk of automated attacks ■ At present, it is being used in four or five major US banks under what officials call as a sandboxing arrangement minister Nirmala Sitharaman last week said the emerging threat from advanced AI models is unprecedented and requires heightened vigilance EXIT POLL ExitpollsonWednesday showedadecisivevictoryfor theBJPinAssamand Puducherry.InWestBengal, thepartyhasanedgeoverthe TMC,markingasharpreversal fromtheincumbent’sdominance.Keralashowsabig swingtowardstheUDFwhile inTamilNadu,theDMK-led ISKCON monks after casting their votes at a allianceretainsthelead.P22 polling station in Kolkata on Wednesday Anthropic, along with US authorities, has not provided access to other countries, including India with US authorities, has not provided access to other countries, including India.The officialsaidIndiawouldtakeaview onanyfutureengagementafter results from these sandbox tests are shared and access is offered. “As of now, there is no need toworry,butwe need to bevery alert to the potential threat Mythos may pose to the country,”the official added. Continued on Page 12 BAJAJ FINANCE NON-EXECUTIVE director Rajiv Bajaj will be stepping down from the board of the country’s largest non-banking finance company (NBFC) at the end of his current term. Bajaj’s tenure will conclude at the close of the company's annual general meeting (AGM) on July 30,2026. According to the NBFC, Bajaj has expressed his desire to not stand for re-elec- tion at the upcomingAGM.As a result, he will cease to be a non-executive director after the meeting. The Bajaj Finance board,during its meeting held on Wednesday, acknowledged Bajaj's request and expressed sincere appreciation for his valuable service and contributions throughout his long association with the company. Bajaj's departurefrom the non-banking finance company,over- Ethanol road map: Govt proposes E85,E100 fuels SAURAVANAND & NITIN KUMAR New Delhi,April 29 THE CENTRE HAS proposed allowinghigherethanolblendsin petrol,including E85 and E100, through changes to the Central MotorVehicles Rules,marking thenextstepinthecountry'sbiofuel roadmap beyond the ongoingrolloutofE20fuel. In a draft notification issued for public consultation,the government has sought to formally include petrol with up to 85% ethanol (E85) and near-pure ethanol (E100) as recognised automotive fuels. At present, IndiahasmovedtoE20--petrol blended with 20% ethanol -which has been introduced in phases across the countryand is now the reference fuel for new petrolvehicles. The proposal does not mandateanimmediateshifttohigher blends but creates a regulatory FLEX FUEL MODEL ■ Higher ethanol blends typically require changes in engine materials, fuel systems and calibration ■ The proposal does not mandate an immediate shift to higher blends but creates a regulatory pathway for their adoption ■ India has moved ■ As a result, vehicles capable of running on E85 or E100 -- commonly called flex-fuel vehicles -- may carry higher upfront costs »INSIDE« OMCs LOSING UP TO `18/LITRE ON FUEL SALE PAGE 2 pathwayfortheiradoption.Italso rationalises fuel definitions and labelling,andincludesprovisions forotheralternativefuels,aspart ofabroaderpushtoreducecrude oil imports and increase the share of domestically produced to E20 -- petrol blended with 20% ethanol -- which has been introduced in phases across the country biofuels. For consumers,the immediate impact is limited as E20 remainsthedominantfuelavailableatretailoutlets.However,the movesignalsagradualtransition to a multi-fuel ecosystemwhere higher ethanol blends could becomeavailablealongsideconventionalpetrol. Continued on Page 12 ‘Foreign investors not coming to India as their entire focus is onAI’ AI wave a bubble,unlikely to sustain,says Ruchir Sharma AKASH MANDAL Mumbai, April 29 THE CURRENT AI wave is likelya bubble and cannot possibly sustain in the longer run, according to Ruchir Sharma, chairman of RockefellerInternational, and founder and chief investment officer of Breakout Capital, an investment firm focused on emerging markets. “...what’s happened is that the entire world today has a monomaniacal focus,which is AI,”Sharma said at the Express Adda in Mumbai on Tuesday. He was in conversation with Anant Goenka, Executive Director,The Indian Express. Drawingparallelstothedot com bubble in the late 1990s, Sharma said while Indian IT companies had benefited then Ruchir Sharma at the Express Adda in Mumbai due to arbitrage-like business models, this time India looks devoid of any AI “play”, which has made foreign investors “indifferent” towards the Indian markets. “...this was always said, by AMIT CHAKRAVARTY the way, for a long period of time, that our IT is just doing an arbitrage business; it's not actually,youknow,doinginnovative stuff, and we lived with that. But today, that is coming back to haunt us a bit,because POLLSTER Axis People’sPulse P-Marq Matrize TimesNowJVC WEST BENGAL (294) TAMIL NADU (234) TMC BJP LEFT DMK+ NDA TVK 92-110 22-32 98-120 177-187 95-110 1-4 125-145 65-80 18-24 118-138 150-170 2-6 125-145 65-85 16-26 125-140 146-161 6-10 122-132 87-100 10-12 131-152 138-159 0-1 75-95 128-147 8-15 Current composition of West Bengal Assembly: TMC: 220, BJP: 71, Cong: 1, Others: 2; Tamil Nadu: DMK+: 158, AIADMK+: 69, Vacant: 7 POLLSTER Axis People’sPulse P-Marq Matrize TimesNowJVC ASSAM (126) KERALA (140) BJP INC OTH LEFT INC OTH 88-100 24-36 0-3 49-62 78-90 0-3 55-65 75-85 0-3 62-69 72-79 3 85-95 25-32 6-12 60-65 70-75 3-5 88-101 23-33 0-2 52-61 72-84 3-7 Current composition of Assam Assembly: BJP+: 81, Cong+: 27, AIUF: 15, Others: 1, Vacant: 2; Kerala: LDF: 92, UDF: 40, Independents: 6, Vacant: 2 RajivBajaj to step down from Bajaj Finance board GEETA NAIR Pune, April 29 ■ is seen as capable of compressing months of cyber intrusion workintohours,raisingtherisk that automated attacks could outpace existing defence systems.Therisk,theyadded,isless about systemic takeover and moreaboutthespeedandscale at which vulnerabilities could be exploited. At present, Mythos is being used in four or five major US banks under what officials described as a sandboxing arrangement.Anthropic,along BJPLEADS BENGAL; UDFKERALA; HIMANTA, STALIN GOVTSTO STAY we don’t have any of that. So, thatisthereflectiontoday,that the main reason foreign investment is not coming into India today,because the entire focus is on AI,”Sharma said. Continued on Page 12 CHENNAI/KOCHI »INSIDE« BAJAJ FINANCE Q4 PROFIT UP 22% TO `5,553 CR PAGE 7 seenbyhisbrotherSanjiv,comes inthewakeoftheestablishment of a new captive financial services entity, Bajaj Auto Credit (BACL). This new business has taken over two-wheeler loans, allowing BajajAuto to reduce its reliance on Bajaj Finance and gain complete control over its financial services operations. BajajAutoCredit,awhollyowned subsidiary of Bajaj Auto, began operations in March 2024 with a `2,700 crore capital support fromtheparentcompany. Continued on Page 12 Supplyshock mayhitFY27 growth:FinMin A SUPPLY SHOCK accompanied by demand compression amid high prices and slowing activity may weigh on India's FY27 economic growth, Finance Ministry economists said on Wednesday, underlining the severe impact of the WestAsia conflict. They said even sixty days afterthewarbeganonFebruary 28, there's still more haze than visibility on the duration for which energy supplies will remain disrupted. “Inthepresenceofpervasive uncertaintyand distrust,it does not make sense to assume the best, as stock market investors seem to be doing,” according to the ministry's monthly economicreportforApril. PAGE 3