MARKETS | PAGE 6 COMPANIES | PAGE 4 IPLdeal: CSK nowworth more than India Cements INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 7 DGCAdraft norms place CEOs under lens for lapses AHMEDABAD, SATURDAY, MARCH 28, 2026 Microsoft facesworst quarter since 2008 amidAI disruption FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XX 251, 20 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: 73,583.22 ▼ 1,690.23 NIFTY: 22,819.60 ▼ 486.85 NIKKEI 225: 53,373.07 ▼ 230.58 HANG SENG: 24,951.88 ▲ 95.45 `/$: 94.82 ▼ 0.84 `/€: 109.20 ▼ 0.17 BRENT: $110.63 ▲ $2.62 GOLD: `1,42,344 ▼ `2,439 SPECIALADDITIONALEXCISE SLASHED BY`10/LITRE EACH War shield: Central taxes on petrol & diesel halved Road and infra cess NIRMALA SITHARAMAN, HARDEEP SINGH PURI, Weshallbeonourtoes... keepfiscalstance carefullymanaged ...ensureburdenof risingcrudeprices doesnot fallonthe commonman Govt has taken a huge hit on its taxation revenues to ensure very high losses of oil companies... are reduced FINANCE MINISTER PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS MINISTER Continued on Page 7 Windfalltaxonfuelexportsbackatsteeprate ● Dutyreimposed at `21.5 perlitre on diesel,`29.5 onATF SAURAV ANAND New Delhi, March 27 THE CENTRE HAS slapped an export tax of `21.5 per litre on diesel and `29.5 per litre on aviation turbine fuel (ATF), as it seeks to curb exports and prioritise domestic fuel availability amid a sharp global oil shock. The move will fetch the government about `1,500 crore every fortnight. The special additional excise duty (SAED) rate has become effective March 26. ATF has been brought under the SAED framework with a statutory levy of around `50 per litre, which has been effectively reduced to `29.5 per litre post exemptions, COMMERCIAL LPG SUPPLY »INSIDE« 70% OF PRE-WAR DEMANDRAISED TO PAGE 2 IN THE NEWS ECONOMY PAGE 3 UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FALLS TO 3.1% IN 2025 JOBLESSNESS FOR PEOPLE aged 15 years and above in the usual status was 3.1% in 2025, down from 3.2% in 2024 and 3.6% in 2022, according to the PLFS 2025 released by the statistics ministry on Friday, reports fe Bureau. ECONOMY PAGE 3 GOYALCALLS FOR CONSENSUS-LED DECISIONSATWTO COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said the consensus-driven decision-making process of the WTO is nonnegotiable, describing it as the bedrock of the multilateral body, reports PTI. Jan Vishwas Bill 2.0 to decriminalise 717 offences THE CENTRE ON Friday introduced the JanVishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2026 in Lok Sabha, which seeks to amend 79 CentralActs administered by 23 ministries to promote ease of doing business and ease of living, reports Mukesh Jagota. ■ PAGE 2 making it the most impacted segment under the revised export duty structure. However, unlike earlier phases, no windfall tax has been imposed on upstream producers such as ONGC, signalling a calibrated approach focused on refining and export economics rather than crude production.ONGC share price went up after the move. UPSTREAM FIRMS SPARED 270.25 Previous close 281.95 Close 4.33% ONGC CAR SALES RESILIENT IN MARCH AMID WAR PAGE 5 Trumppostpones USlookstosend strikesonIranian 10,000more energyinfraagain groundtroops US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump said he will extend a pause on attacks against Iran’s energy plantsintoAprilandthattalkswithTehranwere going “very well”. On Thursday, Trump threatened during a cabinet meeting at the White House to increase pressure on Iran if it did not make a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, before laterposting on social media that he would pause attacks on Iranian energy plants for 10 days until April 6. Trump’s earlier five-day pause on the strikes — announced on Sunday — was set to expire tomorrow.“Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, andothers,theyaregoingverywell,” Trump said in his latest post. Iranhassaiditisnotengagedin talkswithWashington,and that it will not allow the ships of “our enemies and their allies” to pass throughtheStrait.—AGENCIES Govt pegs H1 market borrowing Bond yields at `8.2 Lcr ALL-TIME LOW CHRISTINATITUS Mumbai, March 27 Rupee vs dollar e THE RUPEE ISfastclosinginon 95againstthedollar.OnFriday, itbreached94forthefirsttime andclosedat94.82—down84 paise from previous close — as the ongoing war in West Asia continuedtohurtthecurrency. ThissharpfallonFridayhas takentheyear-to-datedepreciation of the rupee to 10.94%, the highest in 14 years. The rupeehasfallen4.2%sincethe beginning of the war. Divergentcommentsbythe US and Iran on ending the war have heightened uncertainty, further weakening sentiment and dashing initial hopes for a 94.16 (Intra-day, Mar 27) 0.90 90 % 94.82 Previous ous close: 93.97 Inverted scale Open Close ceasefire,saidforexdealersand analysts. Consequently, crude prices have risen too. Continued on Page 12 surge post excise cut BONDYIELDSSURGEDon Friday after the Centre cut excise duty on auto fuels, sparking fiscal worries, reports Christina Titus. The yield on 10-year benchmark ended at 6.94%, up 7 basis points, thehighestsinceJuly2024. Record state bond supply during the week also pressured the market. ■ PAGE 6 Intra-day on BSE (`), Mar 27 Continued on Page 7 EXPLAINER: SHIELDING OIL MARKETERS FROM RISING CRUDE PRICES PAGE 2 Rupee nears 95/$; FY26 fall steepest in 14 years THE US ISlookingatsendingupto10,000additional ground troops to West Asia to give President President Donald Trump more military options even as he weighs peace talks with Tehran, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing Department of Defense officials with knowledge of the planning. Meanwhile,IsraelwarnedonFridayitwill expanditsattacksonIranasTehrankeptfiring missiles at Israel andArab nations.The US military also continued striking Iran. Iran state media said its nuclear facilities were attacked on Friday, just hours after Israel threatened to“escalate and expand” its campaign against Tehran.A heavy-water plant and a yellowcake production plant were struck, it reported.The strikes did not causeanycasualtiesandthere was no risk of contamination, it said. —AGENCIES Markets’worst month in 6 yrs BENCHMARK EQUITY INDICES recorded their worst monthly loss in six years as the West Asia conflict rattled investor sentiment globally, reports Kishor Kadam. Since the war began on February 28, the Sensex and the Nifty have declined 9.48% and 9.37% respectively. REPORT ON PAGE 6 Sensex 82,000 80,000 Sensex returns (in %) 81,287.19 % chg 9.48 78,000 76,000 74,000 72,000 73,583.22 Feb 27, 2026 Oct Nov ‘25 ‘25 Dec Jan ‘25 ‘26 Mar 27, 2026 Net equity investments (in ` crore) (till Mar 27, ‘26) India VIX Index FPIs DIIs Mar 23 ‘2026 Mar 24 ‘2026 Mar 25 ‘2026 Mar 27 ‘2026 % chg M-cap -9.48 Special additional excise duty (*down from `13) -1.19 9 5 Feb Mar ‘26 ‘26 Gain/loss (` cr) 17.5 2026 -886,384 Basic excise duty 2.5 -3.46 Mar 27, 2026 Agri infra & development cess 3* 823,522 2 11.9 1.4 -0.57 7 Central tax components 756,683 3 7.8 2.11 11.9 4.57 Mar 27, 2026 RENUKA PURI Winners of the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards for 2024 with Vice President C P Radhakrishnan, who was the chief guest, The Indian Express Group Chairman Viveck Goenka and Executive Director Anant Goenka, in New Delhi on Friday LIST OF WINNERS, PAGE 20 -1,389,858 17.8 26.8 21.9 Mar 27 Nov 1, 2025 THE CENTRE’S EXCISE duty cuts on petrol and diesel by `10 a litre each may cost the exchequer a staggering `1.7 lakh crore if the duties remain atthecurrentlevelthroughout FY27, report Prasanta Sahu and Kuldeep Singh. Thegovernmentmaypartly offset the impact from levies announced to tax windfall gains on the export of diesel andaviationturbinefuel(ATF), whichmayfetch`36,000crore if it remained unchanged for the full year.However,officials said the revenue loss and gains willdependontheevolvingsituation and the energy price movements. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman asserted the government remains committed to prudent fiscal management. ■ PAGE 2 24.6 15.8 Mar 25 19.9 24.7 April 8, 2025 Mar 24 21.8 26.7 27.9 Mar 23 Nov 2, 2021 « 31.8 22.8 31.83 32.9 Mar 20 32.98 Feb 2, 2021 -4,367 3,566 May 6, 2020 -1,566 5,430 Effective date Petrol (` per litre) Diesel (` per litre) Central taxes on petrol, diesel since 2020 20 -7,215 5,867 THE CENTRE ONFridayhalved excisedutyonpetrolanddiesel, slashing levies by `10 per litre each, as global crude prices surgedpastthe$100-per-barrel mark amid the escalating West Asia conflict, triggering one of thesharpestfueltaxcorrections in recentyears. »INSIDE« The move brings total cenEDIT: tral taxes on BUYING TIME ON petrol down FUEL from `21.90 per litre to `11.90, PAGE 8 and on diesel from `17.80 to `7.80 (see chart). Immediate beneficiaries of the move to cut the special additional excise duty are state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs), which started making losses in marketing auto fuels since Brent crude crossed the 80/barrel mark earlythis month.However,the tax cuts are not sufficient to fully offset the OMCs’losses. Revenue loss estimated at `1.7 lakh cr for full FY27 RELIEF FOR OIL FIRMS -11,299 12,034 SAURAVANAND New Delhi, March 27 VICE PRESIDENTGIVESAWAYRAMNATH GOENKAAWARDS Mar 23 Mar 24 Mar 25 Mar 27 ‘2026 ‘2026 ‘2026 ‘2026 PRASANTA SAHU & CHRISTINATITUS New Delhi/Mumbai, March 27 THE CENTRE WILL raise `8.2 lakh crore, or 51% of the revised annual gross borrowingtargetof`16.09lakhcrore, from the market in the first half of 2026-27, including `15,000 crore through sovereign green bonds.The H1FY27 share in annual borrowings is lower than in recent years — it was 54% in H1FY26. “The GMB programme for H1FY27 is less front-loaded than that seen in recent years, whichmayhelpcooltherecent spike inyields (on government securities),” Icra Chief Economist Aditi Nayar said, adding that this is accompanied by a higher ways and means advances (WMA) limit. To manage temporarymismatches, the RBI has set the WMAlimit forH1FY27 at `2.5 lakh crore, up from `1.5 lakh crore a year ago. The yield on 10-year government securities rose to 6.92%onFriday,thehighestin nearlytwoyears.“Yieldswould likely ease once the West Asia conflict resolves, and it would be prudent to defer some borrowings until then, although the timelines for the same remain uncertain,”Nayar said. Government borrowing figures came in better than expected, said Gopal Tripathi, treasury head at Jana Small Finance Bank. “The market had anticipated around `8.59 lakh crore. This would provide a slight relief to the market in the current environment,”Tripathi said. The government also announced Treasury Bill issuancesof`2.88lakhcrorefor the quarterending June 2026. Continued on Page 7 Offers aim to reduce depreciation risks and enable seamless upgrades as brands battle for market share Luxurycarmakers offerbuybacks to drive demand AKBAR MERCHANT Mumbai, March 27 BUYING A LUXURY car in India is becoming less daunting for consumers, as automakers roll out assured buybackandflexiblefinancing schemesthatreducetheriskof ownership. BMW, MercedesBenz, Audi and Volvo Cars are increasingly offering programmes that lock in future value, lower monthly outgo, and give buyers the option to upgrade or exit with ease. BMW India’s ‘Assured Buyback’ — part of its BMW 360 programme—offersupto70% of the ex-showroom price on models such as the X1,3 Series and 5 Series. The offer — dependingonmodelandtenure ranging from 24 to 60 months — is among the highest in the segment,accordingtothecompany. The scheme allows customers to lock in future value, lowering loan exposure and EMIs,while offering flexibility on tenure and mileage. At the end of the term,a customercan return, retain or upgrade the vehicle. “The programme has seenstrongtractioninEVs,with over 90% of BMW Financial Services customers opting for it,” said Hardeep Singh Brar, president and chief executive officer,BMWGroup India. Mercedes-BenzIndia’s‘Star Agility+’followsasimilarstructure but focuses on affordability.The company says that this programme offers up to 40% lower EMIs compared to con- STEP UP A GEAR BMW offers assured buyback at up to ■ 70% ■ Brand of exshowroom price on ■ Audi models such as X1, 3 Series and Volvo assured ■ Mercedes-Benz Cars offer and 5 Series offers up to 60% 40% value after three years on various models ventionalloans,supportedbya pre-defined residual value. Customers can choose tenures between 12 and 60 months and mileage options of 10,000-20,000 km annually. End-of-term options include lower EMIs compared to conventional loans return, retain, refinance or upgrade, driving financing penetration across both ICE andEVportfolios.SantoshIyer, MD & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India,saidfinancialservicesare a “strong catalyst” for growth, strategy: BMW leads on higher residual value guarantees and EV uptake, Mercedes-Benz emphasises affordability, and Volvo targets EV resale concerns with StarAgility offering flexibility and lower EMIs. Volvo Cars India has taken a more targeted approach, offering a 60% assured buyback after three years on the all-electric EX30, aimed at addressing EVresale concerns. Audi India is also seeing traction in similar programmes. Balbir Singh Dhillon, brand director, Audi India, said the company offers up to 60% residualvalue afterthreeyears across models such as the A4, Q3, Q5 and Q7, along with low-EMI balloon financing. “These programmes are gaining traction,driven byassured residual value and easier upgrade cycles,”Dhillon said. Industry observers say such schemes are becoming central to luxury car sales strategies, reducingdepreciationrisksand enabling seamless upgrades. “Residual value is a key consideration for Indian buyers,especially in the premium segment where it rivals fuel efficiency. WithconcernsaroundEVresale and battery life, structured financingandbuybackschemes are becoming critical tools for OEMs to drive sales among value-conscious, financially savvy customers,” said V G Ramakrishnan,MD,Avanteum. While BMWleads on higher residual value guarantees and EV uptake, Mercedes-Benz emphasises affordability, and Volvo targets EV-specific concerns,reflecting a broader shift towardsflexible,usage-ledownership as the brands look to increase theirmarket share. In terms of sales,MercedesBenzIndianarrowlyretainedits leadwith19,007unitsin2025, while BMW India closed in at 18,001 units. Audi India reported sales of 4,510 units. Ahmedabad