BRANDWAGON | PAGE 9 POLITICS | PAGE 11 XilikelytoattendBRICS summitinDelhinextmonth INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 10 Bajaj Pulsar eyes reclaiming lead in performance biking MUMBAI, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2026 Canadaannounces$20-bn retaliatorytariffsonUSgoods FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL LXVI NO. 202, 36 PAGES, `12 P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E SENSEX: 77,656.09 ▲ 286.98 NIFTY: 24,334.55 ▲ 115.50 NIKKEI 225: 65,856.43 ▲ 328.34 HANG SENG: 25,511.10 ▼ 6.23 `/$: 95.42 ▲ 0.33 `/€: 111.34 ▲ 0.34 BRENT: $89.40 ▼ $2.77 GOLD: `161,292 ▼ `365 IN THE NEWS COMPANIES PAGE 4 AIR INDIA SEEKS $1.5-BN FUNDING FROM TATA, SIA AIR INDIA IS SEEKING about $1.5 billion in fresh equity from its owners Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, months after the second-largest Indian airline posted a record annual loss, reports Reuters. It would be one ofAir India's requests for shareholder funding since Tata took control in 2022. ECONOMY PAGE 2 ‘INDIA IS BETTER PLACED TO FACE SEC 301 TARIFFS’ INDIAIS BETTER placed that some other Asian economies such as China to face the Section 301 tariffs imposed by the US in July, the RBI’s latest bulletin said on Tuesday, reports Shubham Rana.The Indian economy also remains resilient amid ongoing global headwinds, it added. » INSIDE « GOYALPROMISES BIS RELIEF FOR HIGH-TECH FIRMS PAGE 3 NO ONION SUPPLY CRUNCH: FOOD SECRETARY PAGE 2 Avaada to set up `10K-cr Haryana green campus AVAADA GROUP HAS signed an agreement with the Haryana government to facilitate development of a 300-acre Zero-CBAM Green Industrial Campus in Hisar, with a proposed investment of `10,000 crore, reports Saurav Anand. ■ PAGE 6 IPO, OFS boom crimps secondary market inflows A RUSH OF IPOs, QIPs and OFS is competing with the secondary market for domestic investor money, with primary market inflows surging nearly ninefold in March-August, even as buying in listed stocks has weakened sharply, reports Kushan Shah. ■ PAGE 7 BOTH LENDERS PLAYDOWN DEALREPORTS ASTELLAR SEVEN-MEMBER JURYLED BYKUMAR MANGALAM BIRLAMEETS TODAYTO CHOOSETHE INAUGURALFE LEADERSHIPAWARDSWINNERS Federal-JanaSFB mergerbuzzgrows ChoosingIndiaInc’sbest FE BUREAU Mumbai, August 25 SPECULATION OVER A merger between Federal Bank and Jana Small Finance Bank (Jana SFB) intensified onTuesday after a television channel reported that the Kerala-based lenderwasinadvancedtalksto acquire a controlling stake in the small finance bank. CNBC-TV18,citing sources, reported that Jana SFB’s promoter, Jana Holdings, is likely to sell its entire 16.9% stake to Federal Bank, a transaction that would trigger an open offer. Shares of Federal Bank fell 3% on the BSE onTuesday, while Jana SFB slipped 2%. Since regulations bar one bank from owning another, investment bankers said any acquisition of a controlling stakewould eventuallyhave to culminate in a merger. “A bank cannot own a bank, so it will necessarily have to merge. There will be a stock swap, and Jana’s shareholders will get shares of Federal Bank,” an investment bankersaid. Federal Bank Aug 25 shares (`) TRUSTEES OF THE Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) are expected to approach the Charity Commissioner of Maharashtra this week with a fresh plea for interim relief from the ban on conveningmeetings,astheneed tobegintheprocessofchoosing the next Tata Sons chairman adds urgency to resolving the impasse,peoplewithknowledge of the mattersaid. Efforts to secure relief ahead of the August 18 Tata Sons annual general meeting proved unsuccessful, forcing the holding company to adjourn its AGM for the first time in the group’s history. SRTTtrusteesarenowbelieved to have deliberated afresh on approaching the CharityCommissioner. People close to the development said the trustees favour making another representation, stressing the need to resume meetings to deal with pressing trust business, includingapprovalofaccounts and grants,aswell as decisions 2.96% 347.30 Close 357.9 Previous close Jana Small Finance Bank 581.85 2.04% Previous close 570 Aug 25 close FY26 financials (` cr) Federal Bank Jana SFB Merged entity Total assets 387,521 47,448 434,969 Deposits 313,909 35,784 349,693 Advances 264,594 85,811 33,828 6,028 298,422 Market cap (as of Aug 25) Both lenders played down the reports.In a clarification to exchanges,Federal Bank said it evaluatesgrowthandexpansion opportunities in the ordinary course of business.“Further,we SRTTset forfresh appeal thisweek toliftmeetingban URVI MALVANIA Mumbai, August 25 FE BUREAU Mumbai,August 25 SHARES TAKE A HIT SUCCESSION STALEMATE ■ Tata Sons succession adds urgency to resolving impasse ■ Meeting freeze stalls constitution of 5-member selection committee ■ Ban stems from objections over proportion of lifetime trustees on SRTT board relating to SRTT’s representation at Tata Sons. “Now, the board also needs to convene in order to set the ball rolling on the selection committee to appoint a new chairman forTata Sons,”one of the persons cited above said. Continued on Page 6 91,839 clarify that there is no material event/informationthatrequires disclosure,” it said. Jana SFB issuedasimilarclarification. Continued on Page 10 QUICK PICKS Missile tech transfer to pvt firms gets nod DEFENCE MINISTER RAJNATH Singh approved the transfer of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)-developed technologies for all conventional missile systems to Indian private companies for production within the country, in a move aimed at boosting domestic defence manufacturing, reports PTI. ■ PAGE 11 US sanctions 4 Indian firms for Iran oil trade THE US HAS sanctioned four India-based companies— Portease Partners, Sadashiva Overseas, PP Softtech and Prakrutees Infra Impex India—and three Indian nationals over their alleged involvement in the trade of Iranian petroleum and petrochemical products, escalating Washington’s campaign to cut off Tehran’s access to global revenues, reports Mukesh Jagota. ■ PAGE 3 HIGHERVISACOSTS MAYPUSH FIRMSTO LIMITTALENTTRANSFERTO US H-1BfeeplanthreatensITplaybook POULOMI CHATTERJEE Bengaluru, August 25 THE US DEPARTMENT of Homeland Security’s (DHS) proposal to impose an additional $103,265 fee on new cap-subject H-1B petitions could force Indian IT services companiestorethinktheirtraditional model of moving employees trained in India to the US for two-three year assignments, while making them more selective about the talent they deployonsite. The proposal marks a fresh attempt by the Trump administration to impose the steep charge after a federal court struck down the earlier $100,000 fee introduced through a Presidential proclamation.Unliketheearliermeasure, the new fee is being proposed by the DHS through formal rule-making under its fee-setting authority. It would applytocap-subjectH-1Bpeti- DUAL EFFECT ■ IT companies may reserve visas for critical/senior talent $103,265 ■ More work proposed additional fee per new US H-1B petitions is expected to have a mixed impact across India IT services firms could stay with India-based teams and centres of excellence ■ Large technology firms may absorb the higher cost to move India-based employees to the US tions, including those eligible for the US advanced-degree exemption, but not to routine extensions or renewals of workers already counted against the H-1B cap. “Theimpactwilllikelybefelt across IT services firms with large teams moving between India and the US could see a more direct impact because international talent deployment is an important part of ■ Firms could become more selective about new sponsorships their operating model,” Amit Gajwani,chiefoperatingofficer at Mastek,said. Theproposal,whichisstillat therule-makingstage,hassofar failedtounsettleinvestors,with the Nifty IT index gaining 0.57%onTuesday,aheadofthe benchmark Nifty’s 0.48% rise. Infosys and TCS advanced 1.24%and0.53%,respectively, while Wipro declined 0.67% and HCLTech 0.47%. ■ Overall operating model could become more hybrid and balanced The proposed fee would apply to new H-1B petitions subject to the annual cap, including beneficiaries eligible for the US advanced-degree exemption, and would be over andaboveexistingfees.Itwould not apply to routine extensions or renewals of H-1B workers who have alreadybeen counted against the cap. Continued on Page 10 THESEARCHFORthebestofIndia Inc begins in Mumbai on Wednesday,when a high-powered jury led by Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla sits down topickthewinnersoftheinaugural FE LeadershipAwards 2026. JoiningBirlaatthejurytableisa formidable line-up drawn from banking, law, private equity and professional services: Arundhati Bhattacharya,former chairman of State Bank of India and now President&CEO,Salesforce,SouthAsia; Cyril Shroff, managing partner, CyrilAmarchand Mangaldas; SanjayNayar,formerCEO of Citigroup India and South Asia and former CEO of KKR India; Amit Chandra, chairman, Bain Capital; Rajiv Memani, chairman & CEO, EY India; and Manish Kejriwal, founder and managing partner, Kedaara Capital. Their task: to identify the leaders,companiesandideasthatstood out in a year when disruption was relentless, markets were being reshaped and the demands on corporateleadershipbecametougher. The FE Leadership Awards will celebrate business leaders who are helping drive India’s growth story, companies that have reinvented themselves, ideas that have disrupted established markets and innovations that could change the waybusiness is done.Theywill also recognise financial stewards who protectedcorporatebalancesheets Arundhati Bhattacharya Cyril Shroff Sanjay Nayar Rajiv Memani Amit Chandra Manish Kejriwal Kumar Mangalam Birla JURYMEETING in a challenging environment and smaller enterprises that have punchedwell above theirweight. There is room, too, for the new generationofbusinessbuilders.The awards will recognise young founders whose platforms have challengedlegacymodels,entrepreneurs who have created new marketsandbusinesses,andcompanies and leaders making sustainability central to thewaytheyoperate. Continued on Page 6