BACK PAGE | PAGE 24 ECONOMY | PAGE 2 Manufacturing PMI slips to 5-yr low onweak demands INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 9 Lutyens’ Delhi homes enter $100-mn club MUMBAI, TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2026 Alibaba unveilsAI model challengingAnthropic FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL LXVI NO. 183 28 PAGES, `12 P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E SENSEX: 78,639.03 ▲ 544.39 NIFTY: 24,774.30 ▲ 390.70 NIKKEI 225: 63,754.90 ▼ 607.12 HANG SENG: 26,009.40 ▲ 124.97 `/$: 95.34 ▲ 0.05 `/€: 109.85 ▼ 0.10 BRENT: $83.35 ▼ $4.58 GOLD: `142,257 ▼ `38 IN THE NEWS ECONOMY PAGE 2 CENTRE RAISES FUEL EXPORTTAX AMID IRAN WAR THE CENTRE has raised the windfall tax on diesel exports to `25.5 per litre and on aviation turbine fuel to `22 per litre, effective August 3, to discourage exports and safeguard domestic fuel availability, reports Saurav Anand. MARKETS PAGE 6 NIFTY SURGES 200 POINTS IN FINAL MINUTE SEBI'S FIRST closing auction session began Monday, triggering a rare divergence between the Sensex and Nifty,with the latter jumping nearly 200 points in the final two minutes ofthe auction, reports Kushan Shah. OPINION PAGE 8 INDIANEEDSAN MMS MOMENT,WRITE ASHOK GANGULY, R GOPALAKRISHNAN & RAKESH MOHAN MORE RELIEFFOR INDIA-BASED FOREIGN FUNDS,REITINVESTORS Govtoffersnewtaxbreaks inbidtolureforeigncapital ● Big Tech to gain from tax holiday till FY41 SHUBHAM RANA New Delhi, August 3 IN A MOVE that will help boost foreign capital inflows,the government has proposed a slew of taxconcessionsunderanewBill. The Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, expectedtobepresentedinParliament this week, offers longterm tax holidays for a clutch of sectors,andextendsthewaivers forsome others.It also eases the conditions for India-domiciled foreignfundstoavailtaxexemptionontheirglobalincome. The existing tax break for foreign companies providing capital goods and machineryto INVESTMENT BOOSTER ■ Lease model to lure foreign capital, offering long-term exemptions across electronics, data centres for data centres allowed, easing entry for foreign firms partnering with Indian firms ■ Apple, Google ■ Tax exemption ■ Government pitches tax overhaul suppliers stand to benefit as India seeks to deepen its role in global electronics supply chains Foreign companies providing services to specified data centres get tax exemption till March 2047 ■ contract manufacturers and warehouses in the electronics sector has been extended by 10 yearsthroughMarch,2041.The movewillcomeinhandyforBig Tech companies including Apple and Google who plan to scaleupmanufacturinginIndia overthe next fewyears. The sectors to benefit from the latest set of tax reliefs and relaxationsincludedatacentres and rough diamond trading. The draft Bill reviewed byFE also restores tax neutrality by statingthatthatdividenddistribution through real estate investment trusts (REITs) and proposed for sale of rough diamonds by foreign mining companies till March 2041 infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) will remain exempt in the hands of unit holders,even if the special purpose vehicles through which they manage properties opted forconcessional tax regime. Continued on Page 10 Bill for MDR on UPI likelyto be tabled today PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, August 3 THE CENTRE IS likely to introduce a Bill in Parliament on TuesdaytoamendthePayment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, paving the way for the levy of merchant discount rate (MDR) on UPI and RuPay debit card transactions,sources said. The government had scrapped MDR on UPI and RuPay debit card transactions from January 2020 to encourage digital payments and expand merchant acceptance. Before that,merchants paid an MDRoflessthan1%onUPIand RuPaydebit card transactions. Sources said the proposed amendment is likely to restore the pre-2020 provisions of the Payment and Settlement Sys- temsAct,2007 (PSSA). TheFinance(No.2)Act,2019 inserted Section 10A into the Act,barringbanksandpayment system providers from levying anychargeoneitherthepayeror the recipient for transactions made through UPI, UPI QR codes and RuPay debit cards. The proposed amendment is expected to remove these payment instruments from the ambit of the section, allowing MDR to be levied. FE had recently reported that the Centre may reintroduce MDR on UPI transactions of `2,000 and above for large merchants to compensate banks and paymentserviceprovidersforrising operational costs and technologyinvestments. Continued on Page 10 Govttosellup to6.5%stake inLICtoraise `31,000crore FE BUREAU New Delhi, August 3 THE CENTRE WILL sell up to a 6.5% stake in state-run insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) on TuesdayWednesday to raise around `31,400 crore at a floorprice of `382 pershare. "Offer for Sale in LIC opens tomorrow for non-retail investors. Retail investors can bid onWednesday,"the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) said in a post onX.“The government offers to disinvest a 2.5% equitystake,with an additional 4% as a greenshoe option.The floor price has been fixed at `382 per share. This will help achieveminimumpublicshareholding(MPS)milestonesahead of schedule,” DIPAM said. In total, the government is offering to sell 82.22 crore shares including greenshoe option.TheOFSfloorpriceisata 10% discount to LIC's closing price of `424.35 on the BSE on Monday.The OFS follows LIC's recent issuance of bonus shares in a 1:1 ratio, which made the offermoreaffordableforalarger section of investors bylowering the per-share price. Over120itemsoff qualityorders:BIS PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, August 3 THE CENTRE HAS expedited implementingsomeoftheRajiv Gauba-led deregulation committee’s recommendations to rationalise India’s quality control regime, while preserving consumer safety.The move follows concerns expressed by expertsandindustrycirclesthat a proliferation of mandatory Quality Control Orders (QCOs) in recent years might have stifled domestic manufacturing. One of the most visible outcomes has been a reduction in thenumberofproductscovered under mandatory QCOs, droppingfromapeakofaround750 to 624. Different central ministries have withdrawn 50 mandatory QCOs covering 54 products and deferred or suspended seven such orders covering many other products, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Director General Sanjay Garg told FE. Following the committee’s recommendations,the cabinet secretary and the Department of Consumer Affairs wrote to key ministries overseeing QCO implementation to review the existing ordersandassesswhetherproductsthatdonotposemajorrisks could be shifted to a less burdensome certification route. Continued on Page 10 ● CONVERSATIONWITH RAJANANANDAN, PRATYUSH KUMAR Rajan Anandan (right), MD, Peak XV Partners, and Pratyush Kumar (second from right), co-founder and CEO, Sarvam AI, in conversation with Anant Goenka, Executive Director, Indian Express Group, and Soumyarendra Barik, Assistant Editor, The Indian Express, in Mumbai, on Monday. DEEPAK JOSHI GCCs REIMAGINED: In this occasional series, we explore how global companies are transforming their India-based global capability centres Their dreams won't wait. Why not start today? Start small. Stay consistent. Har kal ke liye, aaj se. India powers SAP’sAI push POULOMI CHATTERJEE Bengaluru, August 3 WHEN SAP NEEDED software tohelpenterprisescomplywith India's GST e-invoicing and eway bill mandates, it turned to itsengineersinBengaluru.What began as a fix for the country's fast-evolvingtaxreportingrules hassincetravelledfarbeyondit: the technologyfirst engineered in India is now part of SAP's global Document and ReportingCompliance(DRC)platform, helping the German software giant's customers meet local regulatoryrequirementsacross multiple markets. This built forIndia,shipped to the world trajectory captures how SAP Labs India has evolved from a development centre into one of the company’s biggest innovation hubs—and the role has only grown in the AI era, with Bengaluruemergingasakeydriver of SAP’s enterpriseAI strategy. The numbers underline the transformation.Around40%of SAP's global R&D workforce is nowbasedinIndia,andnearlya quarterofthecompany'sworld- TECH EXPANSION ■ Nearly a quarter of SAP's worldwide patents originate from India Around 40% More than 80% of SAP's global R&D workforce is now based in India ■ Established in 1998, SAP Labs India has become the company's largest R&D hub outside Germany of SAP's AI agents are being developed here ■ SAP's Bengaluru centre now houses AI leaders helping shape the firm's global technology road map widepatentsoriginatefromthe country. More than 80% of SAP's AI agents — the software assistants it is betting on to automate enterprise workflows—are being built here. Established in 1998, SAP Labs India has grown into the company's largest R&D hub outside Germany, with about ■ India's role has expanded from embeddingAI into existing products to building SAP's next generation ofAI agents 18,000 employees—bigger than its centres in China, Brazil and even the US.Beyond engineering, the Bengaluru centre today houses global product managers, chief architects and AI leaders who help shape SAP’s worldwide technology roadmap. The clearest test of that standing came after SAP CEO Christian Klein announced at Sapphire 2024 that the company's generative AI assistant, Joule, would become the primary interface for 80% of repetitivebusinesstasksacross its applications. Delivering on that commitment fell to Bengaluru. Under the Joule Content Acceleration Programme (JCAP),SAPLabs India brought togetherteamsacrossbusiness lines to identify the most frequentlyused enterprise transactions and redesign them for AI-driven interactions. The programme was completed withintheyear,helpingembed Joule across SAP’s software portfolio. “India was chosen as the countrytoleadthisprogramme foradoptionfortwosimplereasons,” Milesh J,head of strategy & operations at SAP Labs India, said.“Firstly,we have the length and breadth of different applications, from sales order creation to customer and vendor creation, with those development teams sitting here. Continued on Page 10 Start with a small amount Invest regularly Reduce the dependencies on timing the market Build wealth over the long term through compounding Make consistency your advantage with SIP SIP (Systematic Investment Plan) facility is available in Daily, Weekly, Monthly and Quarterly frequency. SEBI Reg: LIC Mutual Fund | Reg No: MF/012/94/5
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