WORDS WORTH WELL BEING FE LINES CLEARING THE AIR ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA The Big Finance threat to Indian healthcare Playing it smart The next generation of devices is measuring not only score, but also the mind & body behind it Page 8 From gummies to oils, cannabis-derived products are flooding the market. But are they really safe? Page 9 Page 4 Vol. 19 No. 27 LIVING Follow us on Twitter & Facebook. App available on App Store & Play Store WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM SMARTTRAVEL WARDROBE FINANCIAL EXPRESS ON SUNDAY MUMBAI SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2026 34 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 , ● New models sell FUNDAMENTALS FIRST AI, but buyers still What influences buyers (%) Performance & speed pick battery, speed 87 SUGANDHA MUKHERJEE New Delhi, September 5 THE SMARTPHONE’S UPGRADE pitch may now be AI, but consumers are still starting with the processor, with 29% of buyers ranking the chip as their top consideration when choosing their next smartphone in the first quarterof 2026,up from 24% ■ SPOTLIGHT, P5 Craft, community and climate ■ LEISURE, P6 Rhymes to reels FPIs BOUGHT SHARES worth $8.2 bn across 14 sectors during the past two months — July and August — as per data sourced from NSDL. They were top buyers in consumer services, with net purchases of $2 bn, followed by healthcare ($1.4 bn), consumer durables ($1.2 bn) and financial services ($1 bn). In contrast, FPIs were sellers in nine sectors (net sold $3 bn) during the same period, with the highest outflows seen in telecom ($1.1 bn) and capital goods ($592 mn). While FPIs turned net buyers in July, purchasing shares worth $2.1 bn after four consecutive months of selling, their net purchases increased to $3.1 bn in August, marking the highest monthly buying in 23 months. Compiled by Kishor Kadam Top FPIs buying Top FPIs selling -212 Oil & gas -266 FMCG -462 Power -592 Capital goods -1,120 Telecom 782 ($ million, Jul-Aug 2026) IT 1,026 1,431 1,177 Consumer durables Financial services AI features Battery life Camera quality a year earlier, according to Counterpoint Research. The finding comes as smartphone makers are pack- 82 79 Apple Upcoming iPhones to have A20 Pro chip to optimise Apple Intelligence L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , Source: NSDL 77 OnePlus N6 offers AI editing tools such as AI Eraser, AI Reflection Eraser ingAI into devices across price segments, from flagship phones that can translate conversations and search files using natural language to more affordable models offeringAIphotoediting,transcription and generative tools. OPPO Reno16 5G brings AI into personal memory system, hardware AnAmazon India survey of more than 40,000 respondents conducted in July found that AI features influence the ● CBI FIR over `1,322-crore LIC HFL loans DEFENDING THE GDP numbers released recently by the government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said: “The 7.8% growth has enthused the country. This comes at a time when a war is on in West Asia. This shows India’s capability. But those known for pushing India into the fragile five cannot digest these figures.” Referring to the controversy over the numbers, the PM, addressing the centenary celebrations of Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) in Delhi, said the country has come a long way from policy paralysis in 2013 to policy dynamism, but those respon- FE BUREAU Mumbai, September 5 PM Narendra Modi travels by Delhi Metro en route to Shri Ram College of Commerce for its centenary celebrations PTI sible forpushing India into the ‘fragile 5’ are now unable to digest its 7.8% growth.India’s GDP growth amid global uncertainty reflects its economic strength,Modi said. Recalling an address made at the college in 2013 as Gujarat chief minister, Modi said: “In 2013,when I came to SRCC, I presented a vision. I gave the example of a glass filledwithwater.Isaidthereare people who can see the glass as fully filled,half with water and half with air.” It was a time,PM Modi said, when the country was lacking hope.“So I said,‘I see the glass as fully filled’. At that time, development was at its lowest; inflation had hit the skies, scandals were at their peak, and the corrupt roamed fearlessly,”he said. THE CENTRAL BUREAU of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday registered a case against Zee TV founder and Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra over alleged fraud involving over `1,322 crore in loans extended byLIC Housing Finance.TheCBIhasregistered a first information report (FIR) against Chandra and others in the matter. The development comes days after the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) put Chandra’s `6.25-crore repaymentplanonholdinaseparate ■ LIC HFL extended two loans — worth `500 cr and `480 cr — to borrower companies in March & Aug 2018, respectively THE BALENO FACELIFT launched on Saturdayevening was the fourth fresh product byMaruti Suzuki in less than a year.The rollout began on September 15 last year with the Victoris — an all-new nameplate that proved to be a massive hit with sales of 1,21,513 units between September 2025 and July 2026. Itwasfollowedbytheunveil- 12,23,179 30,31,901 10,16,481 25,05,557 VIKRAM CHAUDHARY New Delhi, September 5 Jan 2025- Jan 2026Jul 2025 Jul 2026 P U N E purchase decision of 82% of smartphone buyers. Contextual assistance was the most wanted AI capability, cited by 25% of respondents,followed by generative photo editing at 18% and visual search at 17%. Yet Amazon’s data also reinforces Counterpoint’s finding that the fundamentals remain important. Performance and speed were the biggest purchase drivers at 87%, followed by battery life at 79% and camera quality at 77%. Battery, in particular, remains a weakness. Continued on Page 2 HYPERVAULTAIDATACenter,a subsidiary of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS),has secured 264 acres in Hyderabad to develop a large-scaleartificialintelligence datacentrecampuswithcapacityof up to 1 gigawatt. HyperVault and its partners are expected to invest upto`70,000croretobuildand manage the campus,whichwill be purpose-built to serve frontier AI companies and hyperscalers.Thecampuswillsupport high-densityGPUdeployments for AI training, inference and advanced computing workloads.The development will be ■ Both loan facilities subsequently went into default personal insolvency case. LIC Housing Finance has allegedthatChandra,alongwith borrower companies and their directors,usedfalseandinflated net-worthdocumentstosecure loans from the home financier. The CBI has registered the case for criminal conspiracy, BLOOMBERG September 5 Telangana CM A Revanth Reddy with TCS CEO and MD K Krithivasan (both in centre) on Saturday carriedoutinphases,depending on customerdemand and technologyrequirements. When fully built, the campus is expected to rank among the most advanced and largestAI infrastructure campuses in India. Continued on Page 2 THE SINGAPORE GOVERNMENT said on Saturday it will not interfere in any decision that Singapore Airlines makes in Air India, which is said to be seeking financial aid from its shareholders. Singapore Air has the responsibility to “assess its investments in Air India in relation to the resources it has for the long-term growth and profitability of the company,” Senior Minister K Shanmugam told reporters. It’s the Singapore government’s principle to not intervene in individual Total PV sales investment decisions, or put political pressure, he said. “Once governments or politicians start directing individual investment decisions, commercial discipline will be compromised,” according to a transcript of his comments. Continued on Page 2 Maruti Suzuki market share (%) Jan 2025Jul 2025 Jan 2026Jul 2026 40.6 40.3 ing of the all-electric eVitara in December last year,which saw deliveries start in February and quicklycrossedthe10,000-unit sales mark. Then came the facelifted Brezza on July 24, which garnered over 55,000 bookings within 35 days of launch. With the updated Fronx expected shortly,Maruti New Baleno debuts at `6.09 lakh Suzuki is on an unprecedented launch blitz. And yet, despite these successes, the market leader’s share has failed to move. The January-July 2026 sales data collated fromtheSocietyof IndianAutomobileManufacturers(SIAM)showsthatthe carmakerhadamarketshareof 40.3% during January-July 2026, down from 40.6% during the same period last year. MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA has launched the new Baleno at a starting price of `6.09 lakh, positioning its premium hatchback to take on the likes of the Hyundai i20, Tata Altroz, Toyota Glanza and its own Swift. However, the headline price comes with a festive season caveat, with the company indicating that prices could be revised after the festive period. Continued on Page 2 Continued on Page 2 secured by Chandra’s personal guarantee of net-worth certificates submitted by Chandra stating his net worth at `59,113 crore and `40,562 crore, respectively Continued on Page 2 URVI MALVANIA Mumbai, September 5 ■ Both loans ■ Loans sanctioned partly on basis Singapore govt won’t interfere TCS to set up `70,000-cr data centre in Telangana in Air India issue STATIC NUMBERS Maruti Suzuki sales D E L H I , MORE TROUBLE Maruti’s launch blitz fails to move market share ● At 40% share, carmaker finds growth stagnant N E W Google: Pixel 11 Pro offers deeper Gemini integration Samsung Galaxy AI integrated across latest Galaxy Z Fold8, Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra models AGENCIES New Delhi, September 5 FPIs top buyers in consumer services Healthcare K O L K A T A , Going big on AI ● Defends 7.8% figure, says has enthused nation India’s poetry ecosystem has quietly migrated onto social media, where recitations and spoken-word clips are creating a new generation of literary audiences 1,945 K O C H I , Naysayers can't digest Fresh loan fraud case GDPgrowth, says PM against Zee’s Chandra While craft & artisan communities face disruptions from climate crisis, their low-carbon, sustainable practices also offer vital models for climate action Consumer services READ TO LEAD AI big smartphone pitch,but basics remain prime WHAT'S INSIDE ($ million, Jul-Aug 2026) Functionality is supreme as travelwear becomes a distinct category Page 7 cheating and criminal breach of trust,among otheroffences. LIC Housing Finance extended a `500-crore loan to VasantSagarPropertiesandPan India Infraprojects in March 2018 forbusiness expansion. Continued on Page 2 Meta restores FB posts removed from Keralam CMO's page KERALAM chief Minister VD Satheesan on Saturday said Meta has restored two official posts that were removed from the CMO Keralam’s Facebook page following his office's intervention. The posts related to the announcement of Onam allowance for ASHA workers and greetings on the occasion of Nabi Day. ■ PAGE 3 Jaguar Land Rover to cut 4,000 jobs as sales slide: Report JAGUAR Land Rover (JLR) is set to cut 4,000 jobs over the next two years as the UK’s largest carmaker confronts soaring costs, plummeting sales and the effects of US tariffs, The Times reported. Staff were warned late on Friday to expect the announcement of the redundancy programme, due to take place on Monday. ■ PAGE 22 Russia, Ukraine pause strikes as US envoys arrive for talks NITIN KUMAR New Delhi, September 5 The new Baleno launched on Saturday RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin ordered a 72hour pause in strikes on Kyiv, the Kremlin said on Saturday, as US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow to try to revive a stalled push to end Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. ■ PAGE 22