MARKETS | PAGE 7 COMPANIES | PAGE 11 BACK PAGE | PAGE 20 RBIcapsbankdividend payoutat75%ofPAT OneinfouriPhones nowmadeinIndia AHMEDABAD, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2026 GoogleembedsGeminiAI acrossWorkspaceapps FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XX 236, 28 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: 78,205.98 ▲ 639.82 NIFTY: 24,261.60 ▲ 233.55 NIKKEI 225: 54,248.39 ▲ 1,519.67 HANG SENG: 25,959.90 ▲ 551.44 `/$: 91.81 ▲ 0.53 `/€: 106.98 ▼ 0.31 BRENT: $91.61 ▼ $7.35 GOLD: `1,59,691 ▲ `653 Elbersquitsas IndiGoCEO, Bhatiatohold thefortfornow FASTERNODFORPROPOSALSIN HIGH-TECHSECTORS Govteasesnorms forFDIfromChina ● Automatic route Pieter Elbers (left); IndiGo’s MD Rahul Bhatia AKBAR MERCHANT Mumbai, March 10 PIETER ELBERS ON Tuesday steppeddownasthechiefexecutive officer of IndiGo, the airlinesaid,withtheboardaccepting his resignation and relievinghimfromservicewith immediate effect. Elbers’ departure comes a few months after the airline faced widespread operational disruptions in December,when delays and cancellations affected thousands of flights across the country.IndiGo later apologised to passengers and attributed the disruptions to delays in adjusting crew rosters to comply with stricter government ruleson pilot fatigue. In a statement, IndiGo said itsboardofdirectorstooknoteof Elbers’resignation at a meeting held on Tuesday and agreed to waivehisnoticeperiod.Elbers,in his resignation letter to the board,citedpersonalreasonsfor stepping down and requested thatthenoticeperiodbewaived. Continued on Page 5 IN THE NEWS ECONOMY PAGE 4 CABINET CLEARS IBC TWEAKS CPSEdividends exceedtarget THE CENTRE’S DIVIDEND receipts from central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) have exceeded the budget target of `71,000 crore by collecting `73,204 crore as on Tuesday, reports Prasanta Sahu. PAGE 4 CAPITAL GAINS a significant easing of curbs introduced under Press Note 3 in April 2020 ■ Cabinet has cleared relaxed guidelines for FDI from countries sharing a land border with India MUKESH JAGOTA New Delhi, March 10 CHINESE INVESTMENTS IN themanufacturingsectorsmay get a boost,with the Cabinet on Tuesdayclearingrelaxedguidelines for approving investment from countries sharing a land borderwith India. Fast-track clearance for companies in high-tech manufacturingisakeyelementofthe new policy. In addition, the “automatic route” for foreign direct investment (FDI) approval will be available for companies where persons or entities from these neighbouring countries have up to 10% beneficialownershipanddonot exercise control. The decision marks a significant relaxation of Press Note 3, whichintroducedanextralayer of security scrutiny for investment proposals from immediate neighbours inApril 2020. The move comes at a time when capital flows into the country have weakened—FDI inflowsrecordedanetoutflowof $3.7 billion in the third quarter thisfiscal,higherthan the $2.8billion net outflow in Q3FY25. ■ Majority ownership must remain with resident Indian citizens or Indiancontrolled entities ■ FDI inflows have weakened recently, with net outflows of $3.7 billion in third quarter ■ Global uncertainty has slowed capital inflows The war in West Asia and other geopoliticalfactorshaveclouded theprospectsofcapitalinflows. Accordingtothenewnorms, proposals for investments in manufacturingincapitalgoods, electronic capital goods, electronic components,polysilicon and ingot-wafer, will be processed and decided within 60days.Thelistofsectorscanbe revised by the Committee of Secretaries under the Cabinet Secretary.This relaxation will, however,be subject to the condition that the majorityownershipoftheinvestingcompanies remains with resident Indian citizens or entities owned and controlled by resident Indian citizensat all times. A government statement said the new guidelines are expected to provide clarity and ease of doing business in India. They should also facilitate investments that contribute to greater FDI inflows, access to new technologies, domestic value addition, expansion of domesticfirmsandintegration with the globalsupplychain. Continued on Page 10 ● Govt increases buffer asWestAsia conflict continues PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, March 10 THE CENTRE ON Tuesday sought Parliament’s nod to create a `1-lakh-crore Economic Stabilisation Fund (ESF) as part of the second supplementary demand for grants for gross additional spending of `2.81 lakh crore in FY26. Forthe ESF,the Centre initially provided a `50,000-crore outlay in the revised estimate for FY26 on February 1. The allocation for the contingencybufferhas doubled in the wake of the West Asia conflict. Besides revenue shocks, the ongoing crisis could inflate subsidies on fertilisers and cooking gas next year if the war between the US-Israel alliance and Iran continues for months. A stabilisation fund is a WAR CHEST ■ The Centre has sought Parliament nod to create ■ Fund will act as fiscal buffer to handle economic shocks such as geopolitical conflicts Economic Stabilisation Fund or revenue volatility `1-lakh-cr ■ Earlier, `50,000 crore was allocated in FY26 revised estimates Major additional allocations include: Food subsidy: `23,641 crore Fertiliser subsidy: `19,230 crore Transfers to states: `30,117 crore reserve fund set aside by governments to maintain fiscal stabilityandreducetheimpact of sudden economic shocks. Of the gross outgo from the second supplementary demand, the net cash outgo aggregates to `2.1 lakh crore and the rest would be through savings in expenditure. The outgo also involves an addi- tional allocation of `23,641 crore for food and `19,230 crore for fertiliser subsidies. The extra spending is unlikely to exceed the revised estimate for FY26 because there will be savings in other spending areas,such as the Jal Jeevan Mission. Continued on Page 5 Govt looking Household, transport gas to cover risk supply priority of exporters SBI shuns Russian oil payments FACING TIGHTENING NATURAL gas supplies after disruptionstoLNGshipmentsthrough theStraitofHormuz,theCentre has invoked emergency powers under the Essential CommoditiesActtodivertgasto“prioritysectors”,placinghousehold cookinggasandtransportfuelat top of the allocation ladder, reportsSauravAnand. PAGE 2 STATE BANK OF India is not willing to process payments for Russian oil even after the US government issued a temporary waiver for India’s imports, as the country’s largest lenderis uncertain how long the concession will last, according to people familiar with the matter, reports Bloomberg. PAGE 2 TO PROVIDE A cushion to exporters facing the fallout of the conflict in West Asia due to the US-Iran war, the government is looking at formulating schemes that would mitigate the risks they might face, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said Tuesday, reports Mukesh Jagota. PAGE 4 Eateriesin thesoupas LPGrunsout ANEES HUSSAIN Bengaluru, March 10 THE MASALA DOSA tawa at Bengaluru’s iconic Vidyarthi Bhavan is still hot, but only just. Two of the restaurant’s fourtawas have been switched off,menus are being trimmed, and kitchens across the country are rationing cooking gas as a sudden disruption in commercial LPG supplies threatens to force restaurants to shut within days. Commercial LPG supply to restaurants across major cities hasground toahaltafteragovernment order directed oil marketing companies to prioritise domestic households amidtheclosureoftheStraitof Hormuz. Industry representatives said that if supplies are not restored quickly, thousands of kitchens could fall silent across the country. Supply has already been disrupted in Bengaluru,Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Pune and Kolkata, while Hyderabad is close to running out,according to the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI). “Tier 2 and smaller cities still have somesupply,but they could also soon run out,” Pranav Rungta,vice-president of the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), told FE. Continued on Page 10 Oil slips 11% as Trump says Iranwaralmost over STEPHANIE KELLY London, March 10 OIL PRICES PLUMMETED by morethan$10abarrelonTuesday after soaring to an almost four-year high in the previous sessionafterUSPresidentDonald Trump predicted the war in West Asia could end soon, loweringexpectationsofprolonged disruptions to oil supply. Brent futures were down $10.45, or 10.6%, at $88.51 a barrel during the day, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crudewas down $10.61, or 11.2%,at $84.16. Oil surged to more than $119 a barrel on Mondayto its highest since mid-2022 as supply cuts by Saudi Arabia and other producers stoked fears of major disruptions to global supplies. Continued on Page 10 TAKING A BREATHER Brent crude prices ($ per barrel) 100 98.96 Sensex Intraday, March 10 78,500 ,3 78,375.73 78,400 78,205.98 78,300 0.82 % 78,200 78,100 78,000 77,900 77,800 Previous close: 77,700 77,566.16 77,600 Open Close « THE UNION CABINET approved changes in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2015, that will significantly reduce the resolution timelines, and pave the way for structural reforms, reports Manu Kaushik. for firms with less than 10% Chinese stake ■ This marks Stabilisationfunddoubledto`1Lcr 95 88.50 90 85 Open Source: Bloomberg Previous close: 98.96 Close* *at 9:30 pm IST Relief for markets,rupee THE STOCK MARKETS rebounded on Tuesday, recovering part of the previous day’s losses after a drop in Brent crude prices. The Sensex and the Nifty had declined 1.71% and 1.73%, respec- tively,on Mondayaftera sharp jump in oil prices. Therupeealsoroseto91.80 against the dollar during the day,recovering from its record low of 92.33. ■ REPORTS ON PAGE 7 Quickeradoption,morewillingnesstopaymakethesemarketsattractive Healthtech startups ramp up US,UAEopsasdemandsoars S SHANTHI Bengaluru, March 10 NEW AVENUES THE US AND the UAE are emerging as key overseas markets for local healthtech startups, with several companies moving from pilot launches to commercial expansion,as demand for digital healthcare solutions accelerates in both regions. Founders and investors say the two markets offer faster adoptioncyclesandgreaterwillingness to pay for technologyled healthcare products compared with many emerging markets.The trend is also being supported by Indian startups building globally competitive products and tapping diaspora networks forearlyadoption. HealthtechplatformPracto in January launched its care ■ US,UAEmarkets ■ Dozee started US commercial operations in FY26 offer fasteradoption, higher willingnessto pay ■ Docstribe AI entered US in late 2025, is piloting solutions in UAE ■ Expansion also supported by Indian diaspora networks ■ Respyr entered US in early 2026, planning UAE expansion next year ■ Practo expanded to US in Apr 2025 after entering UAE earlier navigation platform in the US after establishing operations in the UAE last year. The company said the expansion reflects rising demand for online doctor discovery and care coordination tools. Practo entered the US mar- ket in April 2025 and has since seen rapid adoption.The platform now lists more than 200,000 doctors in the country andreportsanannualisedgross merchandise value run-rate of over $75 million. Monthly active users crossed 300,000 within six months,with traffic risingnearlysixfoldduringthat period. The company also reported its first full-yearprofit in FY25,with its core business growing 25-30%year-on-year. Continued on Page 10 Ahmedabad