OPINION, P10 WELL BEING A case of breach of promise FE LINES YOUR MOUTH, YOUR WELLNESS MIRROR Now AI ‘cuts’ it Director, actor, editor, effects, with AI films, there’s just one boss Page 6 New studies have linked poor oral hygiene to developing cancer later in life. Know how to address the common risk factors Page 9 ACROSS THE AISLE, P CHIDAMBARAM LEISURE Follow us on Twitter & Facebook. App available on App Store & Play Store WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM VOL. XXI, NO. 52 FLAVOUR FIESTA FINANCIAL EXPRESS ON SUNDAY KOLKATA SUNDAY, AUGUST 24, 2025 18 Pages, `12 (NE States `13 & Andaman `20) 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 , WHAT'S INSIDE C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , Growing appetite for novel flavours, particularly among younger consumers Page 7 READ TO LEAD H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K A T A , L U C K N O W , KUNAL DOLEY New Delhi, August 23 AMID THE BLANKET ban on real-money gaming (RMG), industryexpertsopinethefocus is now likely to shift to in-app purchases,advertisingandsubscription-based models—alternativeand‘sustainable’revenue Business of digital detox Whether it’s paid retreats, minimalist phones, or screen-time management apps, people are now paying a premium to disconnect, even if just temporarily, with businesses going all out to ‘sell experiences’ ■ WORDS WORTH, P4 E-comm’s magic number Financial (down 32.57%), REC (down 24.99%), TCS (down 24.23%) and HCL Tech (down 23.27%). — Compiled by Kishor Kadam Nifty vs Nifty Dividend Opportunities 50 Index 110 10 105.18 Nifty 100 93.64 93 90 80 Base: December 31, 2024 = 100 Dec 31, 2024 Aug 22, 2025 Nifty Dividend Opportunities 50 Index Top losers (YTD % return) -33.1 -32. Cyient Oracle Financial -25.0 REC -24. TCS -23. HCL Tech Source: Bloomberg ■ Currently, in-app purchases, advertising make up 34% of gaming revenue used for monetisation ■ By FY29, in-app purchases expected to contribute 60% of revenue ■ In-app purchases continue to be fastest-growing revenue segment with 41% y-o-y growth streams that are already seeing strong traction in the online gaming industryin India. Currently, non-RMG plat- forms like casual, free-to-play titles employ this monetisation model unlike RMG,where users need to pay an entry fee to win cash rewards. As per a report released by interactive media and gaming VC firm Lumikai in November BASIS OF VIKSIT BHARAT IS ATMANIRBHAR BHARAT First made-in-India chip by end ofthis year: Modi PMSPEAK ■ Working on made-in-India 6G ■ India to start exporting EVs to 100 countries FE BUREAU New Delhi, August 23 Dividend-paying firms underperform in YTD25 THE NIFTY DIVIDEND Opportunities 50 Index fell 6.36% in the year-to-date 2025, significantly underperforming the benchmark Nifty, which gained 5.18% during the same period. Several IT and PSU firms were among the top laggards, including Cyient (down 33.05%), Oracle win cash rewards ● GST reforms to be completed by Diwali, says PM An empathetic, anecdotal view of human stories behind the OTPdriven ecosystem PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA Modi on Saturday said India’s contribution in the growth of the world will be 20% very soon and this growth and resilience in the Indian economy is due to macroeconomic stability of the past one decade. “We all know that when fundamentals of economy are strong, the ripples are felt far and wide. India is emerging as a ray of hope for the rest of the world,”he said,speaking at the Economic Times World Leaders Forum in Delhi. Claiming that previous governments did not make SUMITOMO MITSUI BANKING Corporation (SMBC) on Friday received approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to acquire up to 24.99% of the paid-up share capital of YES Bank, the bank informed the exchanges.InMay,thebankhad said SMBC would acquire 20% stakethroughasecondarystake purchase of 13.19% from the State Bank of India and 6.81% stake from Axis Bank,Bandhan Bank,FederalBank,HDFCBank, ICICI Bank, IDFC FIRST Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank. Thisapprovalisvalidforone year from the date of the letter. RBI has further clarified that pursuanttothesaidacquisition, SMBCwould not be treated as a living & doing business to improve ■ India planning its own space station PM Narendra Modi speaking at the ETWorld Leaders Forum good use of opportunities for technology and growth, the PM said, “We all know that semiconductors could have started in India 50-60 years ago, but we missed that bus. By the end of this year, the first made-in-India semiconductor chip will hit the market.” He added that similarly, when the world started catching up with internet, our country stayed behind in the communication sector. “India changed its approach after 2014 and we decided we would not miss any more buses. Rather, we would take the driver’s seat and move forward. This is why, we launched our own made-in-India 5G connectivity, and made sure it reached everyone swiftly. Now we are working on made-in-India 6G,” said the PM. SMBC gets RBI approval for 24.99% stake inYES Bank FE BUREAU Mumbai, August 23 ■ Ease of IT'S A DEAL ■ SMBC will acquire 20% stake via secondary stake purchase of 13.19% from SBI 6.81% stake to be obtained from seven different banks that include HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank Continued on Page 2 AnilAmbani deniescharges afterCBIraid onpremises PRESS TRUST OF INDIA New Delhi/Mumbai, August 23 panies dated January 16,2023; provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999,andotherlawsandterms, including lock-in and subsequenttransactionsbeingsubject toconditionsandRBI’sdecisions. THE CBI SEARCHED the Mumbai residence of Reliance Communication(RCom)director Anil Ambani on Saturday afterrecentlyregisteringacase over the alleged defrauding of State Bank of India of `2,929.05 crore,officials said. CBI teams conducted searches at two locations in MumbaionSaturday—theofficial premises of Reliance Communication, and residential premises of Anil Ambani, the agency said in a statement. Continued on Page 2 Continued on Page 2 ■ RBI has clarified that SMBC will not be treated as a promoter of Yes Bank promoterof the bank. The approval is subject to conditions, including compliance with the relevant provisionsoftheBankingRegulation Act, 1949; RBI’s Master Direction and Guidelines onAcquisition and Holding of Shares or Voting Rights in Banking Com- The Prime Minister said India is not interested in incremental change, but wants a quantum jump. “Reforms are not a compulsion,it is not crisis driven,it is our commitment and conviction. We are diving deep into every sector with a holistic approach and then pursuing reforms,” he said. last year, in-app purchases continue to be the fastestgrowing revenue segment with a 41% year-on-year IN A HISTORIC shift, Mahindra & Mahindra has unseated Hyundai India to become the country’s second-largest carmaker, ending the latter’s reign that lasted for a quarter of a century. The January-July 2025 sales data analysed by FE shows that the Indian carmaker has gained a healthy lead of 21,283 units over the Korean. Mahindra has sold 351,065 units this year, more than Hyundai’s 329,782 units —and with a strong product pipeline planned, this lead is only expected to widen. Duringthesameperiodlast year, Mahindra (with sales of 291,971 units), significantly trailed Hyundai (358,785 units), but this year, while Mahindra grew 20.2% (from 291,971 units to 351,065 units), sales of Hyundai dropped 8.1% (from 358,785 units to 329,782 units). Automotiveanalystsattributed Hyundai’s slowdown to product fatigue and overreliance on the Creta, and Mahindra’s success to the growing demand for its ICE models (XUV 3XO, Thar and Thar Roxx, Scorpio and Scorpio-N), and its new EVs (BE 6 D E L H I , P U N E HISTORIC SHIFT 999 units sold out in 135 secs New Delhi: The Mahindra BE 6 Batman Edition created history on Saturday when bookings opened at 11 am, with all 999 units, according to the carmaker, sold out in just 135 seconds. —ANI and XEV 9e). “In FY25,according to data shared bythe Societyof Indian Automotive Manufacturers (SIAM), sales of Creta grew 20% (from 162,773 units in FY24 to 194,871 units in FY25), but sales of all other Hyundai models combined (i10 Nios, i20, Aura, Exter, Venue,Verna,Alcazar,Tucson, and Ioniq 5) dropped 10%— from 451,948 units to 403,795 units,” an analyst said, adding: “The launch of the all-new Venue in October growth.“In-app purchase and ad monetisation alreadymake up 34% of the overall gaming revenue pie and are expected to contribute 60% of overall revenuebyFY29onthebasisof 5-yearCAGRrates,”saidSalone Sehgal,founderand managing partner of Lumikai. Indian gamers today are making in-app purchases on vanity items such as in-game skins, emotes, and cosmetics because they see them as extensions of their identity. Continued on Page 2 US talks on,but red lines exist, says Jaishankar PRESS TRUST OF INDIA New Delhi, August 23 INDIAHAS CERTAIN‘redlines’ in its trade negotiations with the US, and New Delhi will not compromise on protectingtheinterestsoffarmers and small producers, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday. Jaishankar said negotiations for a trade deal between the two sides are underway. Speaking at the Economic Times World Leaders Forum, Jaishankar said US President DonaldTrump’swayof dealing with the world is a very major departure from the traditional way of doing so and the entire worldisfacingthisissue.“We’ve not had a US presidentwho has conducted foreign policy as publicly as the current one. That itself is a departure that’s not limited to India,”he said. The relations between New Delhi and Washington are on a downturnafterTrumpdoubled tariffs on Indian goods to a whopping50%,including25% additional duties for India’s purchase of Russian crude oil. The external affairs minister said trade is “really the major issue” between the two countries. “The negotiations are still going on and the bot- S JAISHANKAR, EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTER It’sfunnytohave peoplewhoworkfor apro-business American admn accusing others of doing business tomline is we have some red lines.The red lines are primarily the interest of our farmers and to some extent small producers. So when people pronounced thatwe succeeded or failed, my answer to this is—we as a government are committed to defend the interests of our farmers and small producers. We are very determined on that.That’s not something we can compromise on,”he said. ContinuedonPage2 Temporary halt in postal services to US As per an US administraNew Delhi: Postal services to the US have been tem- tionorder,goodsvaluedabove porarily suspended as US- $100 will be subject to customs duties in the US bound air carriers »INSIDE« with effect from have denied carrying shipments due SERGIO GOR August 29.Transport delivering to lack of clarity in NOMINATED carriers new norms issued AS US ENVOY shipmentsthroughthe TO INDIA international postal by the American PAGE 18 network,orother“qualcustoms departified parties”approved ment, the ministry of communications said. bytheUSCustomsandBorder However, services will con- Protection,arerequiredtocoltinue for letters, documents lectandremitdutiesonpostal shipments. — FE BUREAU and gift items up to $100. Mahindra ends Hyundai’s 25-year reign to claim No. 2 spot VIKRAM CHAUDHARY New Delhi, August 23 N E W Amidban,gaminghasanotherrevenuecardtoplay ● In-app buys likely ENHANCED GAMEPLAY to be alternative ■ In casual gaming, in-app ■ In real-money purchases, advertising, cash cow for sector gaming, users to subscription models are pay entry fees ■ SPOTLIGHT, P5 M U M B A I , is expected to give a push to sales, but it seems highly unlikely that Hyundai will be able to catch up with Mahindra in 2025.” Mahindra, on the other hand,is riding high on the success of both its ICE and EV models, and has at least two new car launches planned in the next few months, which will give its sales a further boost. As far as monthly sales of 2025areconcerned,Mahindra has beaten Hyundai for five months—February,April,May, June,and July. Continued on Page 2 India negotiating FTAs with EU, US INDIA IS negotiating free trade agreements (FTAs) with several countries, including the EU, the US, Chile, and Peru, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said. ■ PAGE 2 Trade secret leak: Apple sues Oppo APPLE ACCUSED Oppo in a lawsuit of poaching a highly paid member of the Apple Watch team and encouraging him to steal trade secrets for his new job with the Chinese firm. ■ PAGE 18 Kolkata