BEST IN CLASS | PAGE 22 MARKETS | PAGE 6 PhonePe plays the long game; Perfios makes a quiet ascent; Go Digitwinswith simplicity INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 10 India should stop selling itselfshort, says Citi CEO HYDERABAD, FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2026 Hezbollah rejection clouds Lebanon truce, US-Iran deal FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL. NO. XXIII 29, 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: 74,360.01 ▲ 13.84 NIFTY: 23,416.55 ▲ 10.95 NIKKEI 225: 67470.69 ▼ 931.44 HANG SENG: 25,253.40 ▼ 379.81 `/$: 95.79 ▼ 0.08 `/€: 111.36 ▼ 0.21 BRENT: $95.24 ▼ $2.57 GOLD: `1,55,392 ▲ `863 INDIA-USWRAPUP4-DAYTRADETALKS IN THE NEWS Pragmatism rules but no clarity yet on Special 301 ECONOMY MONSOON HITS KERALAAFTER THREE-DAY DELAY THE SOUTHWEST MONSOON set in over Kerala on Thursday, three days later than its normal onset date of June 1, reports Sandip Das. The agency had previously forecast the monsoon to arrive on May 26, but that prediction failed to materialise. MUKESH JAGOTA New Delhi, June 4 TRADE CROSSROADS INDIAANDTHEUSonThursday wrapped up another round of discussions on an interim trade deal, as both sides sought to bridge gaps in their respective positions.Astatementissuedby the government after the conclusion of the talks that began on Monday was,however,noncommittal on whether India’s demandforatariffadvantagein the US market in relation to its key Asian competitors was accepted bythe US side. On Wednesday, even as the talkswereon,Washingtonproposed additional duties of 12.5% on 44 countries, including India,underSection 301 of its Trade Act for their alleged failure to enforce a ban on forced labour.The Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement: “During the visit, the teams held constructive and positive discussions across a wide range of issues covering trade in goods, non-tariff measures, Customs and trade facilitation, economic security alignment and otherareasofmutualinterest.” Apart from finalising the detailsoftheinterimtradepact, the agenda of the talks was also to take forward negotiations FPI transaction lapses: ICICI Bank gets Sebi warning THE SECURITIES AND Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has issued a warning letter to ICICI Bank over a violation regarding FPI transaction, the bank notified the exchanges onThursday, reports fe bureau. ■ PAGE 6 Tata Sons infuses `5,166 crore into teleservices arm TATASONS INFUSED an additional `5,166 crore into lossmakingTataTeleservices during FY26, thus increasing its stake in the unlisted company to 94.3%, reports Dev Chatterjee. ■ PAGE 4 ■ No clarity on New Delhi’s push for preferential tariff treatment over Asian rivals ■ Discussions covered goods trade, non-tariff barriers, & customs facilitation ■ US officials remain upbeat, with Ambassador Gor and Secretary of State Rubio signalling that negotiations are nearing completion Britainplaysdownconcern overIndiatrade agreement TALKS BETWEEN BRITAIN and India on implementing a free trade deal are moving quickly and going well, UK Trade Minister Peter Kyle said, suggesting the deal would not be reopened but under the broader Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA). “The engagementsweremarkedbya spirit of cooperation and pragmatism, with both sides reaffirming their commitment to could come into effect later than expected after a dispute over steel. Kyle played down the disagreement,citing comments by Piyush Goyal that discussions had gone well. ■ PAGE 2 FE BEST BANKS AWARDS ON JUNE 7 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT SANJIV BAJAJ Thequietcompounding ● FROMAPPRENTICE ENGINEERTOARCHITECTOFONE OF INDIA'S MOSTADMIRED FINANCIAL-SERVICES FRANCHISE, SANJIVBAJAJ HAS BUILTSCALEWITHOUTSPECTACLE SHOBHANA SUBRAMANIAN EQUANIMITY IS HIS middle name—oritwould be,if Sanjiv Bajajwere the sort of person who drewattention to such things.Hype and hoopla are not his style.He’d ratherlet the fabulous financial services franchise he’s built do all the talking,and talk it does:with assets of over`5 lakh crore and close to 120 million customers,Bajaj Finance has left the competition so farbehind they'd need a loan to catch up. In the stock market too, Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv—the Bajaj twins,as they are known—rub shoulders comfortablywith the country’s biggest banks. Not many know that Rahul Bajaj's younger son began his career as an apprentice on the shop floors of Tata Motors— not Bajaj Auto,which must have made for some interesting family dinners.He put his engineering skills to good use,and when the time came to build the financial services business,he took it in his stride. As he tells it,he never really missed being at Bajaj Auto, because all he had wanted since his days at Harvard was to be an entrepreneur.That’s Bajaj foryou — taking life as concluding a mutually beneficialagreementthatstrengthens bilateral trade and economic ties,” the ministrysaid. Continued on Page 10 Zeeeyesgoldrushwithbigadratepush ● Zee Ent pitches CAPTURING EYEBALLS bundled ad plans for football’s marquee event unified ad rate of about `15,000 `16,600 ZEE ENTERTAINMENT — THE official broadcasterof the 2026 FIFAWorld Cup — is offering a unifiedadrateofabout`16,600 per10secondsforspotadvertisers, combining TV and digital, media buyers and planners who’ve been approached bythe company told FE.This rate is an increaseofalittleover10%over the 2022 edition price. The Reliance-backed Viacom18 (now part of JioStar) SERIES--II -backed Viacom18 charged about ■ Zee is offering a VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO Mumbai, June 4 DRY RUN ■ The Reliance unified ad rate during the last World Cup four years ago per 10 seconds, combining TV and digital charged about `15,000 offering bundled unified ad rate four packages, ranging years ago, industry from `15.6 crore sourcessaid.ThePrefor associate sponmier League, which sors to `17.55 also has a sizeable crore for co-powWORLD CUP ered sponsors and viewer base in India, draws ad rates of `25 crore for coabout `10,000 per10 seconds, presenting sponsors, sources experts said. in the know said. For sponsorships too,Zee is Zee said in a statement that itwaslookingtounlockthe“full value”oftheWorldCupthrough an integrated ecosystem spanning TV, digital, OTT, social media, influencers and onground experiences.“This unified offering allows brands to maximise reach, engagement, and impact through a single, cohesive partnership,” the media firm said. While negotiations may see advertising rates put out by the firm reduce by about 20-25%, Zeeishopingtoclosemostofits deals before the tournament begins on June 11,sources said. Zee said that it was in advanced stages of engagementwith several brands across categories and that advertiser interest remained strong. Continued on Page 7 Monsoon 2026 is shaping up to be one ofweakest in over a decade, but farmers in India's crop-critical heartland are preparing for kharifwith cautious confidence Calmfields,nervousskiesahead Rice 2009-10 2014-15 Oilseeds 2015-16 2023-24 0.79 -0.69 -6.98 -5.15 -0.19 4.08 Pulses -6.87 -10.24 -8.73 -8.21 -4.83 -6.94 -3.68 0.54 -10.95 -1.96 1.51 Food foodgrains production (% change, y-o-y) -1.09 -1.01 THE FORECASTS ARE worrying,butwalkthroughthecropcritical regions of India and you find something unexpected: farmers are not panicking. Two successive good monsoons have left water tables relatively healthy and reservoirs reasonably stocked. Kharif sowing is expected to proceed largely on schedule. The anxiety, when it surfaces, is more targeted—not about whether crops will go in the ground, but whether the rains will show up when the plants actually need them. “Kharif acreage sentiment remains broadly resilient, supported byadequatewateravailability,irrigationinfrastructure andfavourablepre-sowingconditions,” says Pushan Sharma, director at Crisil Intelligence. "Thelargerconcernisnotabout crop establishment, but about productivity during the critical July–Septemberperiod.” BAD MONSOON YEARS -10 SANDIP DAS New Delhi, June 4 Total foodgrains 2026-27* Source: Agriculture ministry, ‘deficient’ rainfall: 2009, 2014, 2015, ‘below normal’ :2023, *target That window—July to September—is when everything could tilt. The mostworrying element of this year’s forecast is not the all-India average but where the deficit is expected to hit. The India Meteorological Departmenthasflaggedbelow-normal rains specifically in the monsooncorezone—abeltspanning parts of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Odisha and surrounding areas. This is smallholder country, where paddy,maize and cotton dominate.Around150districts inthisgeographyareconsidered critically vulnerable, and the cropsgrownhereareamongthe least protected by irrigation. Only about 21% of the normal pulses area has any irrigation facility; roughly 40% of paddy cultivation is entirelyrainfed. In Maharashtra’s Marathwada region, farmers are watching the skies closely. Ramesh Keshrao Survase from Sikanderpur village in Latur district is waiting to see if the monsoon arrives by June 20— the ideal window to start sowing tur, a kharif pulse that is amongthemoreremunerative crops forfarmers in the region. “Inadequate rainfall in July could reduce the area under pulses and cause significant yield loss,”he said. Continued on Page 10 HYDERABAD it comes,the living embodiment of sthithapragya,a man unbothered by the road not taken. The vision was clear: cash in on India's consumption boom by making it simple and affordable for households to fulfil their aspirations.Convinced that cheap smartphones and low-cost highspeed data would turn financial services on its head, Bajaj Finance went all out—venturing into places banks had never set foot,cross-selling products with a tenacity that earned it wallet shares of anywhere between 14 and 53%. Continued on Page 10