COMPANIES | PAGE 4 ECONOMY | PAGE 11 Aimtobe1stluxurycarmaker tohit20,000units:BMW’sBrar INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 7 Festivedemandbettakes inventoriestorecordhigh NEW DELHI, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2026 Netflix lines up 850 job cuts amid restructuring FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL LII NO. 192, 28 PAGES, `12 (PATNA & RAIPUR `12, SRINAGAR `15) 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: 72,472.33 ▲ 879.09 NIFTY: 22,520.45 ▲ 288.65 NIKKEI 225: 69,030.92 ▼ 11.19 HANG SENG: 24,211.35 ▲ 425.56 `/$: 96.74 ▲ 0.05 `/€: 108.50 ▼ 0.29 BRENT: $103.84 ▼ $0.44 GOLD: `1,48,909 ▲ `1,892 IN THE NEWS BACK PAGE PAGE 22 Navanethem Pillay INDIAN-ORIGIN JURISTWINS PEACE NOBEL SOUTH AFRICAN JURIST of Indian origin Navanethem "Navi" Pillay, a former UN human rights chief whose work helped shape international law on genocide and sexual violence, won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for her efforts to promote peace and international law. She is also serving as a judge in a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in which The Gambia has accused Myanmar of violating the Genocide Convention. Jewar airport to be renamed after Modi THE UTTAR PRADESH Cabinet on Friday approved a proposal to rename the Noida International Airport in Jewar as Narendra Modi International Airport, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said, reports PTI. ■ PAGE 22 Power crunch turns into cost squeeze for discoms INDIA’S WORSENING POWER shortage is turning into a cost squeeze for electricity distribution companies, with utilities increasingly forced to buy expensive short-term power after sunset as available generation struggles to keep pace with demand, reports Saurav Anand. ■ PAGE 2 Food inflation pressures mount as prices stay up RETAIL PRICES OF key agricultural commodities are ruling at higher levels compared to last year, according to the Price Monitoring Cell of the Department of Consumer Affairs. Rise in prices is attributed to declining production and higher global prices, reports Sandip Das. ■ PAGE 11 ISSUE SIZE BELOWEXPECTATIONS,STILLINDIA’S LARGEST After a bumper 2025 festive season,retailers and lenders are betting on a repeat. Higherpricesandahighbasemaytempergrowth,butoverallspendsareestimated togrowbyaround10-15%to`12-13lakhcrore.FEtakesstockinafive-partseries Jio may price IPO Profits are in the premium play at `1,065-1,119 FESTIVE RAJESH MASCARENHAS, BAIJU KALESH, PR SANJAI & JULIA FIORETTI October 9 JIO PLATFORMS IS set to price its shares at `1,065-1,119 apieceinitsplannedinitialpublicoffering,accordingtopeople familiarwith the matter. The company is targeting a market value of as much as `10.3lakhcrore($107billion), the people said. At the upper end of the price band,Jio’s IPO would raise about `30,200 crore, according to Bloomberg calculations. That would keep it on track to become India’s largest-ever IPO. The telecom and digital servicesarmofRelianceIndustries plans to open public subscription on October 21 and close it two days later, the people said. Theanchorbookisscheduledto open on October 19, with the shares expected to begin trading on October28,theysaid. Deliberations are ongoing and details including the price range, valuation and timing could still change, the people said.AReliance Industries representative did not offer any immediate comments. The valuation falls short of some earlier expectations, though the offering is still poised to surpass Hyundai Motor India’s `27,800-crore share sale in October2024,the PULSE-I STREET SIGNAL Large IPOs Year IPO size (` cr) IPO price (`) Jio Platforms* 2026 30 30,213# Hyundai Motor India 2024 27 27,859 NSE 2026 22, 22,562 LIC 2022 20,557 One 97 Comm (Paytm) 2021 18,300 1,065-1,119 1,960 1,785 949 2,150 *Proposed, #at upper end of price band ■ Jio Platforms is targeting a market value of as much as `10.3 lakh cr, well below projections and earlier expectations country’s biggest. That will be a major test of investor appetite forlarge share sales in one of theworld’s busiest markets for equity fundraising. Jio filed its draft prospectus in June for an offering of as many as 270 million new shares, equivalent to about 2.93% of its post-issue equity capital,accordingtoBloomberg calculations.The company was earlier poised to seek a valuation of about `11 lakh crore, peoplefamiliarwiththematter have said. Valuations floated earlier were even higher, in the range of $130-170 billion at one point. A selloff in Indian stockshassincetemperedpricing expectations for several IPOs in the country. In June, Motilal Oswal Financial Services estimated Jio’s valuation at between $115-118 billion, while Dolat Capital valued the companyatabout$110billion. During global road shows spanning Hong Kong, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, London and New York in the past four weeks, the proposed IPO has drawninvestorskepticismover its loftyvaluation aspirations. CONSUMER DURABLES VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO Mumbai, October 9 CONSUMER DURABLES MAKERS are off to a flying start this festive season, with brisk sales during Onam and Ganesh Chaturthi setting the tone. Undeterred by recent price hikes,manufacturers are betting on Navaratri and Diwali to keep the sales momentum going. “We expect a strong Dussehra-Diwali as sentiment remains positive,” NS Satish, chief executive officerof Haier Appliances India, told FE. “Price hikes haven’t dampened the outlook, in part because consumers are men- NS SATISH, SANJAY CHITKARA, DIRECTOR & CO-CHIEF SALES & MARKETING OFFICER, LG ELECTRONICS INDIA KAMAL NANDI, Weexpectastrong Dussehra-Diwalias sentiment remains positive.Price hikeshaven’t dampenedthe outlook Festivalsare increasinglybecoming anoccasionfor new-home purchases andhome upgrades Easyfinancingagreat enablerforpeople tomake discretionary purchases becausethey canpayovera period oftime CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, HAIER APPLIANCES INDIA tally prepared, and finance schemes and offers cushion the inflationary impact.” The mood is buoyant, he said, given the trends seen during Onam and Ganesh Chaturthi. LG Electronics India is equally optimistic. “Preinquiries during the shradh period have been encouraging and give us confidence,” said Sanjay Chitkara, director and co-chief sales and marketing officer.“Festivals are increasinglybecominganoccasionfor new-home purchases and home upgrades.” Demand is being driven by premium products, consumer financingandimprovingsentiment,with refrigerators,washing machines, televisions and ● FM CALLS ON SINGAPORE PRESIDENT Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman meets President of Singapore Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Friday. They discussed ways to strengthen bilateral ties. Sitharaman, who is on a three-day visit to Singapore, also met the country’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong as well as business leaders to attract investments into the country Continued on Page 7 rebound in last session of week STRONG RECOVERY Sensex Intra-day, Oct 9 1.23% KISHOR KADAM Mumbai, October 9 72,472.33 Close A RALLY IN information technologystocks following strong second-quarter performance by sector leader TCS drove benchmark equity indices higheron Friday,helping them recoupnearlytwo-thirdsofthe previous session’s losses. A decline in Brent crude prices to $102 per barrel also boosted investor sentiment. The Sensex jumped 879.09 points, or 1.23%, to close at 72,472.33,rebounding from a 33-month low recorded in the previous session, while the Nifty rallied 288.65 points, or 1.30%, to end the session at 22,520.45,recovering from an 18-month lowlevel.OnThursday, the Sensex and Nifty had declined 1.44% and 1.64%, respectively. With Friday’s gains,both benchmark indices ended theweek in positive territory,snapping an eight-week Top sectoral gainers 3.02 2.20 1.63 71,593.24 Previous close IT FMCG PSU banks % gain 1.42 1.33 Auto Financial services Investor wealth grows by `4.35 lakh crore to `465.32 lakh crore FPIs sell shares worth `3,568.90 crore, while DIIs buy equities worth `4,743.26 crore losing streak, their longest in 25years.On aweeklybasis,the Sensex gained 562.63 points, or 0.78%, while the Nifty rose 98.50 points, or 0.44%, to close at 72,472.33 and 22,520.45,respectively. The IT sector emerged as the top performer, with the Nifty IT Index surging 3.02%, followed by FMCG,PSU banks, auto and financial services.Oil and gas was the only sector to record a modest decline. Continued on Page 7 tioning to green cards through PERM has further cushioned the sector, even as experts flag potential pressure on costs and margins if the suspension lasts. CHRISTINATITUS Mumbai, October 9 Continued on Page 11 Move will help startup ecosystem,says Goyal THE LATEST US green card restrictions will benefit India’s startup ecosystem ratherthanhurtingthecountry’s IT majors and telant, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday,reports feBureau. Speaking at the ET Startup RBI tightens daily CRR limit to 99% from 90% Continued on Page 7 Indian IT firms shrug off US green card restrictions INDIAN IT SERVICES companies are unlikely to face any significant immediate business disruption from the Donald Trump administration’s suspension of the Permanent Labour Certification (PERM) programme formajortechnologyfirms,astheyhavereduced their dependence on foreignworker immigration routes and expanded local hiring in the US over the past fewyears. The move,which affects the processthroughwhichemployees seek employer-sponsored permanent residency,does not cancel existing H-1B visas or directlydisruptongoingproject staffing.The relatively limited number of employees transi- Continued on Page 7 The industry and market reactions on Friday reflected this limited near-term exposure. ■ PAGE 2 POULOMI CHATTERJEE & URVI MALVANIA Bengaluru/Mumbai, October 9 air-conditionersamongthekey growth categories. Entry-level products,which depend more on the weather and rural incomes, are lagging. At LG, large-screen televisions, fourdoorrefrigerators,largewashing machines and air-conditioners are seeing strong traction. THE RESERVE BANK of India (RBI) has raised the minimum daily cash reserve ratio (CRR) maintenance requirement to 99%from90%,effectivefrom the fortnight beginning October 16. The move will reduce banks’ flexibility in managing their daily reserve requirements and could push up overnight borrowing rates, market participants said. “The operational flexibility was that a »INSIDE« bank could maintain the FOREX CRR at a miniRESERVES DROP TO mum of 90% $735 BN on any given day, provided PAGE 6 the fortnightly average remained 100%.That flexibilityhas now been withdrawn. Under the new notification, banks must maintain at least 99% of the required CRR every day, eliminating much of the ability to average daily balances across the fortnight,” said Gopal Tripathi, head of treasury, Jana Small Finance Bank. The revision does not change the headline CRR ratio ortherequirementtomaintain the prescribed average CRR over the reporting fortnight. Market participants said the move was aimed at bringing the weighted average call rate (WACR) closer to the repo rate of 5.5%. Stocksendlongestweekly losingstreakin25years ● IT shares lead BUSINESS HEAD (APPLIANCES), GODREJ ENTERPRISES GROUP AwardsadayaftertheUS suspended the permanent labour certification programme for major tech firms, Goyal saidalotofUS companies nowrunglobalcapability centres in India and added that denial of green cards would give India’s startup ecosystem a fillip. ■ PAGE 2 WILLGOAHEADWITH DEMONSTRATION SEEKING CEC RESIGNATION, SAYORGANISERS PRAGYNESH, MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL, ALOK SINGH & SAKSHI CHAND New Delhi, October 9 AT 9 PM ON Friday night, 57 Metro stations — a quarter of all stations on the Delhi Metro network — were shut down indefinitely, and at 10 pm, mobile internet was cut off across large parts of central Delhi. Thirty-eight trains scheduled to arrive at New Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin stations were cancelled,and at several places student protestersweretakenoffDelhi-bound trains and detained. Layers of barricades were erected across Delhi and on its borders,andmorethan25,000 Delhi Police and paramilitary Securityblankets Delhi as CJPprotests loom 221 FOOLPROOF 57 Metro stations shut from 9 pm on Friday until further notice Liquor stores in Delhi shut on Friday and Saturday companies of CAPF and including five all-women paramilitary companies, will assist Delhi Police from October 8-12 38 trains, including Rajdhanis, due to arrive at New Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin from 4 am to 2 pm on Saturday cancelled personnel threw an unprecedented multi-level security blanket overthe national capital as the government sought toturn the cityintoan impregnablefortressfortheprotestby the Cockroach Janta Party and the All India Students’Associ- Hotels, guest houses and OYO rooms in and around Central Delhi as well as in parts of South and North Delhi asked to shut or restrict fresh bookings ABHINAV SAHA ation to demand the resignationofChiefElectionCommissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan wrote to all states and Union Territories saying that the proposed assembly on Saturday had Internet restrictions in central Delhi and areas where detainees will be housed been prohibited, and directed them to coordinate with the Delhi Police to “pre-empt any breach of public tranquility Can’t use hammer to kill a fly,SC tells govt EXPRESSING CONCERN OVERtheclosureof57Metro stations and cancellation of some Delhi-bound trains as part of security measures ahead of the Cockroach Janta Party protest, the Supreme Court on Friday reminded authorities about the“principle of proportionality” and saidwhile theycan take steps and to safeguard critical infrastructure”.The extensive curbs followwhat seniorDelhi Police officers described as two“seri- New Delhi “itdoesnotmeanthatyouwill use a hammer to kill a fly”.A benchofChiefJusticeofIndia Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana directed the Centre to ensure thatthereis“nocompleteprohibition on movement of Metro /trains”, and “no inconvenienceiscausedtothe citizenryof Delhi”. ous lapses” during the CJP’s NEET agitation in July. 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