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APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL LXV NO. 76, 14 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: 77,414.92* ▼ 191.51 NIFTY: 23,519.35* ▼ 72.30 NIKKEI 225: 35,617.56 ▼ 1,502.77 HANG SENG: 23,426.60 ▼ 152.20 `/$: 85.46* ▲ 0.33 `/€: 92.09* ▲ 0.33 BRENT: $74.46 ▲ $0.83 GOLD: `88,691* ▲ `579 *Prv close After Temasek, Haldiram’s draws IHC & Alpha Wave HALDIRAM’S ON MONDAY announced that the UAE's International Holding Company (IHC) and Alpha Wave Global would invest in the business, after Singapore's Temasek picked up nearly 10%, reports Raghav Aggarwal. ■ PAGE 4 FE SPECIAL Do banks make money on ATM interchange fee? Only a few big banks benefit from this SIMPLE AVERAGE Total Agri Non-agri 1990 80.9 1997 28.9 2016 13.4 32.7 10.2 Current 17 39 13.5 WEIGHTED AVERAGE Total Agri Non-agri 1990 56.4 1997 20.1 2016 7.5 34.8 5.5 Current 12 65 9 India’s tariffs versus others’ (in %) Simple average 17 12 Weighted average 13.4 8.4 7.5 3 India Source: GTRI S Korea 3.3 2.2 China 4.9% US Additional US tariffs if it imposes a single tariff on all products from India Extra tariffs on India if Trump imposes separate levies 32.4% Continued on Page 7 ■ Fresh tariff threat looms over Russian oil purchase Page 2 ■ EXPLAINER, P9 India’s import tariffs (in %) ■ S&P, on Indian agriculture 3.3% Nasdaq at over six-month lows Page 6 on Indian products Dealwon’t impactJapanese firm’s local operations or lead to staffrestructuring Renault buys Nissan’s entire 51% stake in India manufacturing unit NARAYANAN V Chennai, March 31 THE RENAULT GROUP on Monday announced acquiring the entire 51% stake of Nissan in Renault Nissan Automotive India (RNAIPL), becoming its sole owner. ThedealwillnotimpactNissan’s operations in India — existingandfutureproduction, androll-outofnewmodels—or lead to any workforce restructuring, a senior company official said at a press conference. The deal,which is expected to be completed by the end of the first half of this year and financial details of which were not disclosed, further loosens thetwo-decade-oldpartnership between French auto major RenaultandNissanandisaimed at making the Japanese carmaker“leanerand more agile”. TIES LOOSEN ■ The factory has ■ RNAIPL’s 600-acre manufacturing plant in Chennai caters to both domestic and export market requirements of Renault and Nissan produced more than 2.75 million Renault and Nissan vehicles and over 4.5 million powertrain units since its establishment in 2010 ■ The factory currently employs more than 6,300 people, including 4,958 permanent and contract workers, in addition to 1,695 temporary workers ■ The buyout by Renault comes a day before Ivan Espinosa takes over as CEO of Nissan “As a long-time partner of Nissan within the alliance and asitsmainshareholder,Renault Group has a strong interest in seeing Nissan turn around its performance as quickly as possible,”RenaultCEOLucadeMeo said in a statement. The dealcomesadaybefore Ivan Espinosa takes over as CEO of Nissan, which is under pressure to significantly boost its competitiveness. “Nissan is committed to preserving the value and benefits of our strategic partnership within the alliance while implementing turnaround measures to enhance efficiencies,” said incoming CEO Espinosa in the statement. As a result of Renault’s buyout of RNAIPL, Nissan will cease making cars in India and will focus on sales and service. Renault will continue to make cars for Nissan at its factory in Chennai in Tamil Nadu. Continued on Page 7 2,99,024 Adani Green -1,40,171 1,83,226 ICICI Bank -1,15,365 Tata Motors 1,06,539 -1,00,981 M&M 92,643 -96,093 Vedanta Kotak Mahindra Bank Bharat Electronics 80,503 -80,306 TCS Adani Enterprises Jio Financial 76,700 -72,548 LIC 72,915 -70,480 IndusInd Bank Hindustan Zinc 71,725 -65,781 Titan Mazagon Dock 69,095 -56,485 IOCL Bajaj Finance (M-cap gain/loss in ` crore, FY25) Source: Capitaline Auto parts makers see gain in pain ● Despite25%tariff, theyseescopeto undercutChinese peersinUSmarket NITIN KUMAR New Delhi, March 31 INDIAN AUTO COMPONENT makers, which are facing an additional 25% tariff for exports to the US,are seeing a silver lining in the dark clouds. Some of them believe the universal tariff will help them undercut their Chinese competitors — the thirdlargest suppliers in the American market. Underthenewtariffregime — applied on top of existing »INSIDE« EYEING A BIGGER PIE AUTO SALES GROWTH SLOWS TO 6% IN FY25 PAGE 5 Imports by US ($ bn) % share TOTAL 197.3 81.2 19.5 18.3 15.8 12.7 10.1 5.4 3.4 3.2 3.1 24.7 41.2 9.9 9.3 8.0 6.4 5.1 2.8 1.7 1.6 1.6 12.5 Others US PRESIDENT DONALD Trumpsaidheplanstostarthis reciprocal tariff push with “all countries,” tamping down speculation that he could limit the initial scope of tariffs set to be unveiled on April 2. “You’d start with all countries,solet’sseewhathappens,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.“I haven’t heard a rumour about 15 countries, 10 or 15.” Trump is set to launch reciprocal tariffs on April2,acentrepieceofhisplan to rebalance global trade and boost US manufacturingwhile collecting tariff payments to fundhisdomesticpolicypriorities,including an extension of tax cuts from his first administration and additional tax promises made during the 2024 campaign. The White House hasn’t yet outlined what tariffs are coming,howthey’llbecalculated,or what countries will need to do to secure coveted exemptions. Trump has also said his tariffs willaccountforothercountries’ non-tariffbarriers,thoughhasn’t detailed how those calculations will be made. The administrationalsohasn’t specified when these new tariffswill take effect. “We’re going to be much nicer than they were to us, but it’s substantial money for the country,” he said. It is yet unclear what shape the reciprocal tariffs by the US would take. Here is how the scenarios of additional tariffs on India could be. However, the US trade department’s estimate of India's tariff incidence might vary from these calculations, just as the two-way trade figures put out by the two countries differ significantly. HDFC Bank RIL -2,88,633 3,10,540 India LOOKING BACK TO LOOK FORWARD Bharti Airtel Vietnam SKYLAR WOODHOUSE March 31 TOP LAGGARDS Taiwan ‘All countries’ face US levy tomorrow TOP PERFORMERS Thailand INDIANS ARE DOING online FMCG shopping over three times more frequently than they did a year ago, shows Kantar’s latest Asia Pulse Report, reports Viveat Susan Pinto. ■ PAGE 5 TRUMPRULES OUTANYEXCEPTION WIN SOME, LOSE SOME Germany 3-fold rise in online FMCG shopping frequency in India FY 25 49.9%. Sectorally, healthcare, financialservices,commodities, metals,and private banks were the top gainers, rising up to 18.2% in FY25.Whereas, PSU banks,energy,oilandgas,realty, andutilitieswerethetoplosers, declining byup to 10.6%. Ofmorethan3,600actively tradedstocks,1,763 postedpositivereturnsand 1,839endedin the red.Among BSE 100 index constituents, Vedanta, Divi’s Laboratories, Bajaj Holdings, and InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo) were the top gainers, rising by up to 70.84%. IndusInd Bank,Jio Financial Services, Tata Motors, and Adani Enterpriseswere the top losers,declining byup to 58.25% in FY25. S Korea ADITYA BIRLA REAL Estate has sold Century Pulp and Paper (CPP), located in Lalkuan, Uttarakhand, to ITC for `3,498 crore in a lump-sum deal, reports Raghavendra Kamath. ■ PAGE 4 WITHA40.84% rise in its share price,BhartiAirtel’s market cap soared`3.10lakhcroreinFY25, emerging as the topwealth creator. Many brokerages remain bullish on the stock and have recently given it a buy rating. Driven by tariff adjustments in the Indian wireless segment, Bharti’s free cash flow generation has improved significantly over the past few years,accordingtoareportbyMotilalOswal. “Withhigh-costdebtlargely repaid and leverage under control,webelievecapitalallocation remains the key monitorable andwilllikelybethebiggestdri- ver for Bharti’s stock price per- broaderindicesroseupto8%in formance over the medium FY25. But there were many at term,”thereport stated.Another the other end of the spectrum. brokerage firm, CLSA, has Reliance Industries was the top namedBhartiAirtelas loserinFY25,withits itstoppickinthetelemarket cap eroding com sector. HDFC `2.89 lakh crore as Bank and ICICI Bank its share price fell ranked second and 14.3%.Adani Green, third, respectively, in TataMotors,TCS,and the list of top wealth Adani Enterprises creators.HDFCBank’s were among the market cap rose by othertopmarketcap REVIEW losers,sheddingupto `2.99 lakh crore and ICICIBank’sby `1.83 `1.40 lakh crore. lakh crore.Bajaj Finance (up by The total market cap at the `1.06 lakh crore) and M&M BSE surged by`25.9 lakh crore, (`92,642 crore) secured the or 6.7%, to `412.9 lakh crore fourth and fifth positions. during FY25 —significantly The benchmark indices lower than the previous year’s returned up to 5.3%,while the increaseof`128.7lakhcrore,or Japan ITC to buy Aditya Birla realty arm's unit for `3,498 cr KISHOR KADAM Mumbai, March 31 China MOST PARTS OF the country are expected to witness hotterthan-usual temperatures during summer months (April-June), the India Meteorological Department said on Monday, reports Sandip Das. ■ PAGE 2 BhartiAirtel leads m-cap chart; Reliance sheds the most Canada IMD predicts intense summer heat in most areas Mexico IN THE NEWS Source: US department of commerce duties and fees — the minimum levy on Chinese auto parts will jump from 12.5% to at least 37.5%, with the highest duty reaching as high as 62.5%,whilethelevyonIndian parts will be capped at 30%. AccordingtotheUSdepartment of commerce, Indian components in US imports totalled $3.1 billion in FY24, having a modest share of 1.6% in the $197.3-billion market, whereas Chinese parts dominated with $18.3 billion, capturing 9.3% of the market. While the US department of commerce data recorded $3.1 billion in imports from India,theAutomotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) reported that India exported $5.72 billion worth of auto parts to the USin FY24.Sectorexperts suggest that the discrepancy may stem from differences in calculation methods. Continued on Page 7