COMPANIES | PAGE 4 ECONOMY | PAGE 2 Iveco deal to driveTata Motors' global CVpush INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 10 Goyal:DealwithUShingeson competitiveedgeforIndia BENGALURU, FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2026 Micron pips Meta,Tesla in m-capamidbigAIdemand FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XXXIX 60, 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: 77,100.47 ▲ 109.25 NIFTY: 24,056.00 ▲ 34.35 NIKKEI 225: 72,366.34 ▲ 3,191.37 HANG SENG: 23,076.91 ▼ 335.27 `/$: 94.40 ▲ 0.26 `/€: 107.26 ▲ 0.17 BRENT: $73.90 ▲ $0.16 GOLD: `13,9843 ▼ `2,669 Tamilnad Mercantile Bank DEPOSIT SCHEME Tenor: 567 Days *T&C Apply MORE RETURNS. MORE REASONS TO SMILE. WITH TMB'S 567 DAYS DEPOSIT SCHEME 7.75%* % GOOGLE,MICROSOFTHAVEPLEDGED$32-BILLIONINVESTMENT Amazontoinvestanother $13bninIndiacloud,AI ● Total plans for www.tmb.bank.in | Toll-free: 180 0425 0426 IN THE NEWS INTERNATIONAL PAGE 10 US INFLATION IN MAY CLIMBS TO 3-YEAR HIGH CONSUMER SPENDING IN the US accelerated in May even as prices rose at the fastest pace in more than three years, suggesting Americans are powering through the fallout from the Iran war, reports Bloomberg. The personal consumption expenditures price index rose 4.1% from a year earlier, the most since April 2023, data showed on Thursday. Excluding food and energy, prices were up 3.4% from a year earlier. Inflation-adjusted consumer spending rose 0.3% last month after stalling in April. Q1 GDP revised higher to 2.1% P10 » INSIDE « STATES’ CAPEX GROWTH AT 2% IN APRIL-MAY PAGE 2 MONSOON DEFICIENCY AT41% SO FAR PAGE 3 OPINION PAGE 8 WHY FTA GAINS ELUDE INDIA, WRITES BISWAJIT DHAR 2026–2030 stand at $48 bn ANEES HUSSAIN Bengaluru, June 25 AMAZON ON THURSDAY announced an additional $13 billioninvestmenttoexpandits artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud infrastructure in India by 2030. This takes its planned investment in the country for 2026-30 to $48 billion and its cumulative commitment since entering India in 2010 to more than $88 billion. Thelatestinvestmentcomes asglobaltechnologygiantsstep up bets on India’sAI and digital infrastructure,withGoogleand Microsoft also committing multi-billion-dollar investmentsoverthepastyeartobuild hyperscale cloud and AI capacityin the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Amazon CEO Andy Jassy in New Delhi on Thursday ANI The announcement followed AmazonCEOAndyJassy’smeetingwith Prime MinisterNarendraModiinNewDelhi.Welcomingtheinvestment,Modisaidin a post on X, “A great meeting withAndyJassy.IwelcomeAmazon’s record $48 billion investment in India.This will create new opportunities for our youth. At the same time, it shows the growing interest across the world to invest in India”. JassysaidAmazon’sbusiness priorities continued to align with India’s focus on democratising access to AI, digitising small businesses, creating jobs and enabling exports.“We are investingover$48billioninthe coming five years to meet the strongdemandacrossourbusinessinIndia,”hesaid.Inanother postonX,JassysaidAmazonhad beenservingcustomers,sellers, developers,startups and enterprises in India for more than a decadeandwasstill“justgetting started”.“Excited about what’s ahead. Still early days for what we can build,” hewrote. Amazon’s latest commitment comes within six months of its earlier $35-billion India investment plan and reinforces India’s emergence as one of the world’s fastest-growing AI infrastructure markets. Continued on Page 6 SIFassets rise 7x in seven months FLOW SURGE KUSHAN SHAH Mumbai, June 25 ATATIMEwhenequitymarkets have remained volatile, assets under specialised investment funds (SIFs) have witnessed rapid growth. Since October, assets under the category have risen from `2,000 crore to `13,800 crore in May,marking nearlya seven-fold increase. Introduced in April 2025, SIFs are designed for relatively experienced investors, with a minimum investment threshold of `10 lakh. The segment currently has 16 fund houses offering active schemes, compared with more than 50 play- ■ SIF assets jump from `2,000 cr in Oct to `13,800 cr in May fund 16mutualhouses active vs over 50 in funds `10 lakh minimum investment targets affluent investors ersinthemutualfundindustry. Industryexecutives said the category is attracting investors seeking alternatives to traditional equity and debt funds. Swarup Mohanty, vice-chairman and CEO of Mirae Asset InvestmentManagers,saidthat while a flat or volatile market may have made investors cautious, SIFs allow investors to manageriskmoreactivelycompared with linear, long-only products such as mutual funds. While fund houses have introduced both equity-ori- ented and hybrid strategies, investor interest has been highest in hybrid long-short schemes. These schemes account for `9,709 crore, or 70% of total SIF assets. Unlike mutual funds, SIFs can take both long and short positions,enabling investors to potentially benefit in rising as well as falling markets. Hybrid long-short funds are required to invest at least 25% each in equity and debt instruments and can take additional short exposure of up to 25% through unhedged derivative positions. Continued on Page 10 ● THOUSANDS FEARED DEADAS QUAKES HITVENEZUELA Jio DRHP: Sebi seeks routine clarifications SEBI HAS SOUGHT clarifications from Jio Platforms on its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP), a routine step in the regulatory review process before issuing final observations for an IPO. Jio Platforms had filed draft papers for an entirely fresh issue of up to 270 million equity shares, with no offerfor-sale component. The issue is expected to raise around `35,000 crore, making it one of India’s biggest IPOs, reports fe Bureau. People search for casualties amid the rubble of collapsed buildings, in the aftermath of earthquakes in La Guaira, Venezuela, on Thursday REPORT ON PAGE 10 REUTERS India’scrudebasketback at pre-Iran war levels ● `13,000-crore import bill relief per each $10 fall INDIA'S CRUDE OILbaskethas returned to the level before the West Asia conflict started,with warpremiumsfastevaporating afterthe US-Iran peace deal. According to Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), the basket price crashed a steep 55% from a record high of $157.04 per barrel on March 23 to $70.71 on June 24,completely reversing the oil shock. The latest price is exactly the same as the THE RESERVE BANK of India's final framework for identifying upper-layer non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) may have simplified the rules, but it has left the biggest unresolved question untouched: can Tata Sons avoid a public listing after seeking to surrender its core investment company (CIC) licence? The revised framework replaces the earlier composite scoring model with a simple asset-size threshold of `1 lakh crore to identify upper-layer ■ RBI replaces scoring model with `1 lakh crore asset threshold for upper-layer NBFCs ■ Tata Sons remains in the upper layer with estimated standalone assets of `1.75 lakh crore ■ The central bank dropped “indirect public funds” clause seen as potential opening for de-registration NBFCs. For Tata Sons, whose standaloneassetsareestimated at around `1.75 lakh crore,the change makes little practical difference.What has rekindled the debate is the RBI's decision ■ Tata Sons’ 2022 classification set a listing deadline that expired in September 2025 todropadraftprovisiondealing with the “indirect receipt of public funds”—a clause that many viewed as a hurdle for companies seeking to deregisteras CICs. Some experts see the omission as a possible opening for Tata Sons.Former RBI Deputy GovernorRGandhi said listing requirements are based on the classification as NBFC-UL.This basket as on Feb 19, 2026 was $70.70/bbl Feb 69.01 01 Mar 49 113.49 Apr 48 114.48 May .23 106.23 June 31 86.31 (so far) ■ The Indian crude ■ The Indian basket as on June 24, 2026 is $70.71/bbl ■ As of March 23, the Indian crude basket stood at a record $157.04 per barrel Source: PPAC pre-war level on February 19. The conflict began on February 28 when the US launched missile strikes on Iran,raising concerns over oil supplies from the region and sending crude prices soaring. The oil price spike had pushed the country’s AprilMay crude import bill to $35.5 billion from $20.9 billion a year earlier. Continued on Page 6 CentreliftscommercialLPGcurbs SAURAVANAND New Delhi, June 25 THEGOVERNMENTONThursday restored non-domestic packedLPGsuppliestopre-West Asia crisis levels and resumed bulkLPGsuppliesat50%ofprecrisisconsumption,markingthe rollback of emergency restric- tions imposed to safeguard household cooking gas supplies during the recent US-Iran conflict.“In a major relief to industrial and commercial LPG consumers, government has removedallsectoralrestrictions on the supply of non-domestic packed LPG and restored suppliestothelevelsprevailingprior totheWestAsiacrisis,”thepetroleumministrysaid. It added that“the supply of bulk LPG has been relaxed by 50%ofthepre-crisisconsumptionlevels,providingsignificant relief to commercial and industrial consumers.” Continued on Page 10 SBI'sABIGWINNER Indiasetto clear$370mn Chinaauto investment BANKING STOCKS HAVE done well over the past year with the exception of HDFC Bank which has lost 19% of its value. State Bank of India has been an outperformer, gaining as much as 35%.The markets seem to to be backing Chairman CS Setty’s view his bank deserves a better valuation. BLOOMBERG June 25 15.18 12.26 HDFCBank INDIA IS SET to approve a roughly $370 million investment from Horse Powertrain,a hybrid-engine venture backed byChina’s Zhejiang GeelyHoldingGroup,thatwouldmarkone of the biggest manufacturing investments from a Chineselinked companyinyears. The deal would enable Horse Powertrain,whose other major shareholder is Renault SA, to invest in the French carmaker’s manufacturing operations in India, according to people familiar with the matter. Horse intends to build advanced hybrid powertrains and engines in the country, said the people,who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations. The clearancewould be one of the first since India relaxed rules in March forinvestments from bordering countries to support local manufacturing—a move aimed primarily at China.The last time a major Chinese automaker invested in India was in 2017, when state-owned SAIC Motor bought General Motors’ plant to launch the MG Motorbrand in the country. That business was subsequently restructured and is now majority owned byIndian shareholders, led by JSW Group. Continued on Page 10 RBI’sfinalrulesleaveTataSonsquestionopen REGULATORY PUZZLE Indian Basket Crude Oil Price ($/bbl) SAURAVANAND New Delhi, June 25 Experts say the holding company's listing fate still hinges on the decision on its pending CIC deregistration plea URVI MALVANIA, CHRISTINATITUS & KSHIPRA PETKAR Mumbai, June 25 MAJOR RECOVERY is applicable to registered should not operate like a reguNBFCs. NBFC-CICs, he said, do latory trapdoor. If the listing not need registration as such obligation has already crysif they do not access public tallised, a later deregistration funds. “If Tata Sons does not should not automaticallywipe hold funds raised from public, the slate clean," said Rishabh theywill be exempted Gandhi, founder of from registration and Rishabh Gandhi and »EDIT« so from listing REGULATION Advocates. requirements”, Tushar Agarwal, NEEDS Gandhi said. founder and managing CLARITY Others, however, partner at C.L.A.P. Juris, PAGE 8 said the more imporAdvocates & Solicitors, tant question is whether agreed that surrender of a CIC deregistration can erase a list- licence is far from automatic. ing obligation that has already “An application for surrenarisen. “The sharper issue is der of an NBFC or Core Investwhether deregistration can be ment Company registration is used to avoid an already-trig- not an automatic exit route. gered listing obligation.In law, surrender of registration Continued on Page 10 10.17 9.96 ICICIBank 7.14 SBI AxisBank 3.76 4.28 KotakMahindraBank 4.37 4.07 BankofBaroda June 25, 2025 June 25, 2026 (` lakh crore) 1.10 1.33 PNB Market capitalisation 1.24 1.44 UnionBankofIndia 9.65 1.22 1.24 CanaraBank 1.00 1.17 IndianBank 0.84 1.12 Source: Bloomberg NO IMPACT ON iPHONE PRICES SelectMacBooks, iPadscostlierby upto`70,000 FE BUREAU New Delhi, June 25 INDIAN CONSUMERS WILL havetopayupto`70,000more for select Apple MacBook and iPad models after the company passed on a global surge in memory and storage chip costs driven by the AI data centre boom. The price increase, however, does not extend to the iPhone, which is assembled in India, while the affected MacBooks and iPads continue to be imported. Apple has raised the price of the MacBook Air to `1.49 lakh from`1.29lakh,whiletheMacBook Pro now starts at `2.39 lakh against `1.69 lakh earlier. The iPadAir(128 GB) nowcosts `74,900, up from `59,900. Prices of the HomePod smart BENGALURU speaker and Apple TV have also been revised upward.The companysaidithadabsorbedhigher component costs for months but could no longer shield customersfromanunprecedented increase in memoryprices. The increase comes as AI infrastructure spending by technology companies has tightened supplies of DRAM and NAND memory chips used inconsumer electronics. Memory manufacturers have increasingly allocated production to AI servers, where demand has surged, leaving lower supplies for PCs, tablets and other devices. Industry tracker TrendForce estimates DRAMpricesalmostdoubledin thefirstquarterof2026andare expected to rise sharply again this quarter,forcing electronics makers to reassess pricing.