ECONOMY | PAGE 3 NEWS POINT | PAGE 22 INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 7 PM nudges private sector to shore up investment in infra The sky is no longer the limit for Skye Air founder Pakistan says it is in ‘open war’ with Afghanistan MUMBAI, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2026 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL LXVI NO. 50, 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: 81,287.19 ▼ 961.42 NIFTY: 25,178.65 ▼ 317.90 NIKKEI 225: 58,850.27 ▲ 96.88 HANG SENG: 26,630.54 ▲ 249.52 `/$: 90.98 ▼ 0.06 `/€: 107.31 ▼ 0.05 BRENT: $72.78 ▲ $2.03 GOLD: `158,585 ▲ `990 IN THE NEWS ECONOMY PAGE 3 FISCAL DEFICIT AT 63% OF FULL YEAR TARGET AT JAN-END THE CENTRE'S FISCAL deficit at the end of January stood at `9.8 lakh crore, or 63% of the annual budget target for 2025-26, compared to 74.5% in the year-ago period, government data released on Friday showed, reports PTI. MARKETS PAGE 6 BANK LENDING TO NBFC S AT RECORD HIGH IN JANUARY BANK LENDING TO non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) touched an all-time high of `19.05 lakh crore in January, up 18% on-year, data released by the Reserve Bank of India on Friday showed, reports fe Bureau. » INSIDE « DII SPLURGE FAILS TO STOP MARKET SLIDE PAGE 6 MAIDEN GIFT CITY IPO TO OPEN ON MARCH 6 PAGE 6 ECONOMY PAGE 5 CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER MARK CARNEY ARRIVES IN INDIA TO BOOST TRADE, RESET TIES NOMINALECONOMYSIZE REVISED DOWNWARDS Economy resilient, grows 7.8% in December quarter ● NSO sees GDP expansion for FY26 at 7.6% STEADY MOVE INDIA'S ECONOMY EXPANDED a robust 7.8% in the October-December quarter, thanks to double-digit growth in manufacturing upon a base nearly as strong, steady momentum in key services,and a jump in consumption caused bytax cuts and festive-season, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said on Friday.This still represented a sequential decline in growth from an upwardly revised 8.4% estimated for the JulySeptember quarter. The NSO revised the GDP growth projection for FY26 to 7.6% in the second advance estimates (SAE),compared with 7.4% forecast earlier. The newGDPseries with the base year 2022-23 revised the growth figures for FY24 and FY25 to 7.2% and 7.1% respectivelyfrom 9.2% and 6.5% registered in the old series (201112 base year).The revised series, with improved deflation methods and significant change in sectoral weightings, underscored the economy's resilience even amid extraordinaryexternal headwinds like the heftyUS tariffs on Indian merchandise. According to SAE, private final consumption expenditure (PFCE) could grow 7.7% in FY26 compared with 5.8% each in FY24 and FY25. In Q3FY26, PFCE grew 8.7% compared with 6% in the year ago quarterand 8% in Q2FY26. Double-digit rise in manufacturing, robust consumption key drivers Improved price deflator scales up real GDP levels for four yours through FY26 CEA raises growth forecast for FY27 to 7.2–7.4% PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, February 27 IMPLEMENTINGTRADE DEALS with large economies like the European Union and the United States will likely boost capital inflows and support consumption demand,helping the Indian economy to expand at a higher pace of 7.2–7.4% in FY27,comparedwith the earlierestimate of 6.8–7.2%, Chief Economic AdviserVAnantha Nageswaran said on Friday. » INSIDE « This signalled growing confidence in the country’s medium-term growth trajectory. The upward revision follows the release of a new national accounts data series, under which the Second Advance Estimate for FY26 pegs growth at a robust 7.6%—higher than the 7.4% calculated using the previous series and well above FY25’s 7.1%. EDITORIAL: GROWTH WITH CAVEATS PAGE 8 FARM SECTOR GROWTH TO DECLINE TO 2.4% IN FY26 PAGE 2 DEBT-TO-GDP MAY GO UP 140 BPS IN FY27 PAGE 2 SECTORAL COVERAGE WIDENS, DOUBLE DEFLATION METHOD BROUGHT IN PAGE 2 Continued on Page 5 CURRENT INVESTMENT RATE IS INSUFFICIENT FOR HIGH GROWTH, SAYS PRONAB SEN PAGE 2 V ANANTHA NAGESWARAN, CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISER Improved policy certainty resulting from successful trade agreements, including India-US will support exports and capital flows The CBI has failed to establish a prima-facie case of manipulation against former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, a Delhi court said on Friday, while discharging the AAP leader in the politicallycharged matter. The court also granted relief to his deputy Manish Sisodia and 21 others in the case. ■ PAGE 4 Norway’s sovereign wealth fund pulls out of Adani Green FE S P EC I A L Review: Smaller Hero for a greater Destini Hero is trying to crack scooter market. Can the new 110cc help? ■ MOTOBAHN, P9 FinoPayments BankCEO RishiGupta arrested FE BUREAU Mumbai, February 27 l Kejriwal breaks down after clean chit from special CBI court MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA on Friday said it plans to expand its Nexa Studio network to 600–700 outlets by 2030–31, stepping up its presence in smaller towns and semiurban markets where a fullsized premium showroom may not be commercially viable, reports Nitin Kumar. NORWAY'S $1.2-TRILLION sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, has decided to exclude Adani Green Energy from its portfolio due to concern about its alleged links to financial crime, reports PTI. Norges Bank, which manages the fund, had excluded Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone in May 2024. ■ PAGE 6 The Sensex and the Nifty ended the week lower by 1.84% and 1.54%, respectively, marking their worst weekly decline in a month. The benchmarks were weighed down by renewed tariff uncertainties and concerns over AI-driven disruption. Realty, IT & telecom emerged as the top sectoral laggards, declining by up to 4.86%. — Kishor Kadam KULDEEP SINGH New Delhi, February 27 Continued on Pg 5 Maruti aims to raise Nexa Studio count to 700 outlets D-St’s worst week in a month PTI FINO PAYMENTS BANK MD and CEO Rishi Gupta has been arrested under the CGST and SGST Act, 2017, the lender informed the exchanges on Friday. The bank convened a special board meeting following Gupta’s arrest and appointed Ketan Merchant,chief financial officerof the bank,as the head of the organisation to oversee the day-to-day operations in absence of Gupta."The bank is Gupta has been actively held under the taking CGST & SGSTAct appropriate measures to address and overcome the above situation,"the filing said. The bank also said that none of its officials are involved and that the investigation is relating to business partner(s) of the bank and not relating to their GST compliance.The payment bank said it has made necessary disclosures to the Reserve Bank of India. Presently there is no impact on the bank, the filing added. Auto Inc seeks review of only EV sales plan NITIN KUMAR New Delhi, February 27 AUTOMOBILE MANUFACTURERS INCLUDING Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, Honda Cars India and Kia India on Friday opposed the Commission for Air Quality Management’s (CAQM) proposal to mandate onlyelectric vehicle (EV) sales in the Delhi-NCRregion afterApril 1, 2030, calling for a scientific assessment before such a move is taken forward. According to people familiar with the discussions, the issue was raised at a meeting convened by the CAQM, where industry representatives sought clarity on the basis for an EV-only mandate. The meeting was chaired by Ashok Jhunjhunwala of IIT Madras, who, sources said, indicated that a fresh scientific study was not necessary to proceed with the proposal. An industry executive present at the meeting told FE that manufacturers unanimously asked for an updated assessment of the contribution of vehicles to airpollution FRICTION POINT ■ Commission for Air Quality Management has proposed only EV sales in the Delhi-NCR region after April 1, 2030 ■ Automakers raised the issue at a CAQM meeting, seeking clarity on the basis for an electric vehicles only mandate ■ A senior executive said the committee’s approach focused largely on electric vehicles in the region. The executive pointed to a 2018 study by The Energy and Resources Institute (Teri) and the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), which estimated that cars accounted for 3.4% of transport-related pollution at the time. Continued on Page 7 Temple’s recruitment post asks candidates to bring not just neural skills, but lean body mass Wanted: Engineers with abs strongerthan yourcode ANEES HUSSAIN Bengaluru, February 27 A HIRING POST from Deepinder Goyal on Friday achieved what most early-stage startup announcements can only dream of: it broke the Internet before anyone quite figured out what the startup actually does. The triggerwas not a breakthrough in neuroscience.It was a line in the eligibility criteria that read less like a job requirement and more like a fitness challenge. Applicants to Temple, Goyal’s new health-tech venture, were told they must have body fat below 16% for men and 26% forwomen — or commit to reaching it within three months while on proba- tion. In other words: update yourrésumé,and perhaps your gym membership. Unsurprisingly, that single line became the most discussed part of the post. Netizens oscillated between admiration, disbelief and cardio-induced panic. One commenter quipped that getting below16% might require “quitting the Zomato app”— a sacrifice many engineers may consider career-limiting. Another wondered what body fat percentage has to do with building great products, noting that some of the best sports technology in the world has been designed by people whose primary athletic activity is refreshing GitHub. Still,others saw the logic.If NEW VENTURE ■ Applicants to Temple, Deepinder ■ The post Goyal’s health-tech venture, were told they must have body fat below described Temple as a company building the “ultimate wearable for elite performance athletes” 16% 26% & for men for women ■ The hiring call landed against the backdrop of Goyal’s recent shift away from operational leadership at Eternal Temple is building tools for people who push their bodies to extremes, perhaps it wants builders who do the same. Afterall,“dogfooding”is a standard tech principle. This is just…leaner. On X,Goyal described Tem- ple as a company building the “ultimate wearable for elite performance athletes” and said it was hiring across roles ranging from analogue systems engineering and computational neuroscience to embedded AI and neural ■ Goyal also disclosed that Temple has raised $54 mn in a friends-andfamily funding round at a postmoney valuation of about $190 mn decoding. The subtext was clear: Temple does not merely want to serve high-performance individuals; it wants to be built by them. The hiring post also landed at a moment of transition for Goyal. Recently, he stepped down as managing director and group CEO of Eternal, the parent entity of Zomato and Blinkit,citing a desire to pursue ideas involving significantly higher-risk exploration and experimentation. He moved into the role of vice chairman, effectively freeing himself to chase moonshots. Temple appears to be the moon. Interest in the company had already been simmering. In November 2025, photographs surfaced of Goyal wearing a small clip-like device near his temple at a public event, sparking speculation online.Was it a futuristic hearing aid? A secret communication device? A new-age Bluetooth accessory? The mystery deepened in early January when he appeared on a popularpodcast wearing the device and introduced it as an experimental wearable designed to measure cerebral blood flow in real time.The idea,he said,is rooted in what he calls the “gravity ageing hypothesis” — the theory that prolonged upright posture mayreduce blood flow to the brain over time. Medical professionals,predictably, have been cautious. Some have questioned whether a skin-mounted sensorcan meaningfullymeasure deep cerebral circulation.Others have called the idea interesting but in need of serious clinical validation. Continued on Page 7