COMPANIES | PAGE 4 BRANDWAGON | PAGE 9 ECONOMY | PAGE 2 Apple's India sales top $10 bn for the first time FIFAWorld Cup viewership puts India on ad radar Quality standards can drive MSME growth: BIS’ Garg KOLKATA, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2026 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL 35 NO. 235, 44 PAGES, `12 (NORTH EAST STATES `12 & ANDAMAN `20) P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E SENSEX: 78,428.95 ▼ 210.08 NIFTY: 24,614.90 ▼ 159.40 NIKKEI 225: 63,957.53 ▲ 202.63 HANG SENG: 25,852.92 ▼ 156.48 `/$: 95.39 ▼ 0.05 `/€: 109.76 ▲ 0.09 BRENT: $79.70 ▼ $3.87 GOLD: `142,148 ▼ `109 IN THE NEWS INTERNATIONAL PAGE 10 OIL SLIPS BELOW $80 ON US-IRAN TRUCE HOPES OIL PRICES FELL as much as 5% on Tuesday to a three-week low after comments by Qatar and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent raised hopes for a diplomatic resolution to West Asia conflict and improved oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude fell $3.95, or 4.72%, to $79.82 a barrel by 1340 GMT, after touching $79.73, while WTI dropped $4.32, or 5.38%, to $76.02. Both benchmarks hit their lowest levels since July 13. Qatar said diplomatic efforts were continuing, while Bessent said a deal to reopen Hormuz could come as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday. The waterway handles about one-fifth of global oil and LNG supplies. Reuters OPINION PAGE 8 HORMUZ TO AI: BUILD IMMUNITY, WRITES SAUMITRA BHADURI New closing auction fuels Nifty volatility BENCHMARK INDICES Sensex and Nifty ended lower on Tuesday, snapping a four-day winning streak, as investors remained cautious amid the second day ofthe new auction mechanism for shares with futures & options (F&O) contracts. Volatility in the Nifty50 and a sharp late-session spike added to market uncertainty, reports Kishor Kadam. ■ PAGE 6 IndiGo stays the course amid headwinds DESPITE AIRSPACE disruptions, aircraft delivery delays and global uncertainty, IndiGo will continue its international expansion and fleet induction plans, CEO Willie Walsh said on Tuesday. In his first employee address, Walsh said the challenges would not derail the airline’s long-term strategy, reports Akbar Merchant. ■ PAGE 5 MERCHANTS WITH TURNOVER OFUPTO `1.5 CRORE TO BE EXEMPT Govt mulls 25-35 bps fee on high-value UPI payments PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, August 4 WITH LEGISLATIVE CHANGES introduced in Parliament, the Centre may reintroduce a merchant discount rate (MDR) of 0.25-0.35% on UPI transactions over`2,000 forlarge merchants to compensate banks and payment service providers for rising operational costs and technology investments, sources said, citing ongoing deliberations. However, merchants and businesses with an annual turnover up to `1.5 crore are likely to be exempt from the levy,irrespective of the transaction amount. MDR is a fee paid by businesses to payment processors for accepting digital payments. The Centre onTuesdayintroduced a Bill in Parliament to DIGITAL PAYMENTS ■ Transactions ■ Current Continued on Page 10 Continued on Page 10 account for just 4% of personto-merchant UPI volumes ■ Industry estimates suggest a lower MDR structure of 5-7 bps for UPI and 15-20 bps for RuPay debit cards 0.15% UPI incentive scheme covers only about 11% of industry costs, according to DFS data amend the Payment and Settlement Systems Act,2007,paving the way for levying a merchant discount rate (MDR) on UPI and RuPay debit card transactions. The government had scrapped MDR on UPI and RuPay debit below`2,000.However,the Payments Council of India argued that the subsidy is inadequate given the growing costs of the digital payments infrastructure. `2,000 scrapped UPI and RuPay MDR in January 2020 to accelerate digital payment adoption card transactions starting January 2020 to encourage digital payments and expand merchant acceptance. To offset the loss of MDR revenue,the government has been providing an incentive of 0.15% on UPI transactions PRESS TRUST OF INDIA New Delhi, August 4 OBSERVING THAT MECHANISMS to tackle cyber crimes needed “wideradoption,faster implementation and continued follow-up”, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Reserve Bank of India to prepare and circulate a standard operating procedure in four weeks to deal with bank accounts linked to cyberfrauds, including mule accounts. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana directed all states,Union Territories (UTs) and law enforcement agencies to ensure the expeditious adoption and operationalisation of the grievance redressal and money restoration modules developed forvictims of such frauds. above ■ Government had SC issues directions to tackle digital frauds Sebi maygive The lesson Zepto forgot: offshore funds Get off your high horse more leeway ● Markets have JAYSHREE P UPADHYAY Mumbai, August 4 MARKETS REGULATOR SEBI plans to relax disclosure requirements for offshore funds considered high risk,three sources with knowledge of the matter said,afterrules introduced during its scrutiny of Adani led to complaints and legal challenges. The proposed changes would address what investors say were unintended consequences of the 2023 rules that were meant to prevent funds from holding concentrated investments in Indian companies. The sources said the expanded exemptions will give funds more time to disclose investors, making it easier for thematic funds to invest in India at a time when foreign portfolio investors have sold a record $26.88 billion so farin 2026. “There is concentrated effort to ease pain points and attract long-term foreign capital,”one of the sources said. The category of “high risk” was defined as funds that hold more than 50% of theirIndian assets in a single group of companies.The threshold triggered appeals from investor associations in Asia and the US and legal challenges from a fewoffshore funds, prompting a review by the regulator, the sources said. The sources declined to be identified as they are not authorised to speak to the media.An email query sent to the Securities and Exchange DISCLOSURE EASING ■ Offshore funds may get more time to disclose their underlying investors after making initial investments ■ The markets ■ ‘High-risk’ regulator is considering expanding disclosure exemptions to cover funds regulated in more jurisdictions funds are those with more than 50% of their Indian assets invested in a single group of companies Board of India (Sebi) on Mondaywas not answered. According to two sources, the regulator is examining three proposals: exempting funds that have only recently begun investing in India from disclosure requirements forsix months to a year; raising the threshold at which investor details must be reported; and expanding the list of countries and regulators eligible for exemptions. Continued on Page 10 l 12 HURTIN AIR INDIAMID-AIR TURBULENCE Medical personnel attend to injured passengers after Air India flight AI2379 from Phuket to Delhi encountered brief in-flight turbulence, leaving at least 12 people injured, in New Delhi on Tuesday. The aircraft, carrying around 125 passengers, experienced a momentary change in altitude during cruise before landing safely at Delhi’s T3. Report on Page 20 (ANI VIDEO GRAB) appetite forstartup IPOs, but not at anyvaluation NEARLY 63% OF LISTED STARTUPS TRADE ABOVE THEIR ISSUE PRICE ANEES HUSSAIN & KISHOR KADAM Bengaluru/Mumbai, August 4 PUBLIC MARKETS HAVEa clear message for startup founders: climb down from lofty valuations and investors may back you. Zepto learnt this the hard way, shelving its initial public offering (IPO) after domestic institutional investors balked at its pricing expectations.Yet the record of listed startups suggests there is no shortage of appetite forthe sector. An FE analysis finds that nearly two-thirds trade above theirissue price.The catch is that investors are becoming increasingly selective,rewarding companies that demonstrate execution and a credible path to profitability rather than those anchored to their last private funding round. Of the 38 listed startups analysed, 24, or 63%, closed above their issue price on July 31.The finding challenges the narrative that took hold after the first wave of startup listings, led by Paytm,when steep postlisting declines raised doubts about public-market appetite LIC OFS gets over `36,000 crore institutional bids ● The offeropens for retail investors today FE BUREAU New Delhi, August 4 THE CENTRE ON Tuesday exercised the greenshoe option to sell a 6.5% stake in Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) after institutional investors put in bids worth more than `36,000 crore on the first dayof the offerforsale (OFS), paving the way for the government to raise about `31,000 crore. The OFS comprises a base issue of 2.5% and a greenshoe option for an additional 4% stake.The offeropens forretail investors on Wednesday. “Offer for Sale in the LIC received an overwhelming response from institutional investors and was oversubscribed 3.32 times its base size,” the department of investment and public asset management (Dipam) said in a post on ‘X’.“In viewof the exceptional demand, the Government has decided to exercise the green shoe option.” Institutional investors bid for more than 944.5 million STAKE DILUTION ■ The Centre ■ Institutional exercised the greenshoe option, taking the offer size to a 6.5% stake sale investors bid for over 94.45 cr shares worth about `36,255 crore ■ The OFS includes a 2.5% base issue and an additional 4% greenshoe portion for investors shares at an indicative price of `383.84 apiece on Tuesday,taking the total value of bids to about `36,255 crore.Shares of LIC ended 7.86% lowerat `391 on the BSE on Tuesday.The government listed LIC in May2022 after diluting a 3.5% stake, which fetched `20,516 crore.In May 2024, Sebi granted LIC a three-yearextension to achieve the minimum public shareholding of 10%. RESULTS CORNER Airtel net up 11% in Q1 for loss-making technology companies. Investors, it is now clear,no longertreat startups as a single asset class; they distinguish among them on the basis of business fundamentals,execution and valuation.That distinction was at the heart of Zepto’s discussions with investors. Domestic mutual Continued on Page 7 BHARTI AIRTEL ON Tuesday reported an 11.2% sequential rise in consolidated net profit for the April-June quarter, although earnings missed Bloomberg estimates, while revenue and operating profit exceeded Street expectations, reports Ojasvi Gupta. MARICO REPORTED A betterthan-expected performance for the June quarter (Q1FY27) on Tuesday,with net profit rising 25% year-on-yearto `630 crore, driven by healthy volume growth and improved operating margins, reports Viveat Susan Pinto. ■ PAGE 4 funds,sources said,were unwilling to value the quick-commerce firm at the level it sought, questioning both its continuing cash burn and its comparisons with listed peers Eternal and Swiggy. Marico Q1 net profit rises25% ■ PAGE 4 INDIAHAS ENTERED THE AI RACE IN 2026, SAYS RAJAN ANANDAN AI frontierpossible in a year: Sarvam CEO ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU Mumbai, August 4 INDIA CAN CATCH up with frontier artificial intelligence models developed in the West within a year, with the country’s AI ecosystem currently only a $10-billion investment away from competing with global players, according to Pratyush Kumar, co-founder and CEO of Indian AI unicorn Sarvam AI. Speaking at the Express Adda on Monday, Kumar said, “The gap (between Indian and global AI) is actually not as big as it looks.It’s actually$10 billion. If we were to invest $10 billion today, we could reach the frontier by Independence Day next year.” Sarvam AI has emerged as a key player in India’s push to build indigenous AI capabilities, developing homegrown models and deploying them across private enterprises as well as the country’s strategic sector. Pratyush Kumar, co-founder and CEO of Sarvam AI, and Rajan Anandan, MD at Peak XV Partners, in Mumbai, Monday. AKASH PATIL Rajan Anandan, managing directorat venture capital firm Peak XV Partners, said 2026 is the yearIndia formallyentered the global AI race, pointing to new investments in computing capacity, the launch of domestic models and growing demand forenterprise applications such as voice AI. “The way that we think about it is that India is early in the AI game, and 2026 is the yearthat India has entered the AI race,”Anandan said.“Compute was a big constraint, but starting at the AI summit in February in Delhi, we've had over $400 billion of AI capex that has been announced.” The India AI Impact Summit, held in New Delhi in February, had seen big names like the Reliance Group, Adani Group and the Tata Group, among others, commit to investments in the country's AI ecosystem. At the Express Adda,Kumar and Anandan were in conversation with Anant Goenka, Executive Director, Indian Express Group, and Soumyarendra Barik, Assistant Editor,The Indian Express. Anandan said voice AI, in particular,will be the “first billion dollar revenue category” forIndian enterprises in the AI space, with the overall market projected at around $10 billion.Voice AI,which uses artifi- cial intelligence to conduct and respond to spoken conversations, is emerging as one of India's earliest large-scale enterprise AI opportunities, particularly in customer service and call centres. Asked why India had defined its AI goals in the context of having “sovereign” models,a narrative Sarvam has also leaned on, Kumar said India should focus on deploying “whatever are the best”AI models on “price and accuracy” tradeoffs. He added that India “needs to have its own story, which we rely on and continue to compound”. Addressing anxieties around AI's impact on jobs, which has alreadyseen some of India's largest employers in the ITservices sectorsignal a slowdown in headcount addition, Anandan said, “The largest companies have never been the source of employment growth,ever...” Continued on Page 10