BRANDWAGON | PAGE 9 NEWS POINT | PAGE 14 Will theAsiad success land big brand deals? BACK PAGE | PAGE 14 Acaptain’s innings ends, but the legacy lives on HYDERABAD, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2026 PhysicsNobelPrizehonours Antarctic‘ghostparticle’hunt FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL. NO. XXIII 132, 32 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: 73,067.81 ▲ 685.34 NIFTY: 22,776.10 ▲ 220.35 NIKKEI 225: 70,683.98 ▲ 737.12 HANG SENG: 24,280.56 ▲ 240.22 `/$: 96.43 ▼ 0.13 `/€: 108.40 ▼ 0.48 BRENT: $98.21 ▼ $2.11 GOLD: `1,47,756 ▲ `290 IN THE NEWS ECONOMY PAGE 2 GOVTTO SET UP NEW LOGISTICS AUTHORITY THE UNION CABINET on Tuesday approved setting up the Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority as a Special Purpose Vehicle, creating a central institutional framework for integrated planning, appraisal, monitoring and impact assessment across transport and logistics sectors, reports Prasanta Sahu. » INSIDE « JEFFREY ARCHER, BEST-SELLING BRITISH AUTHORAND POLITICIAN, DIES PAGE 7 FCNR(B) inflows may weigh on banks’ margins BANKS ARE EXPECTED to report healthy earnings and strong balance-sheet growth in the September quarter, aided by a sharp pick-up in credit and foreign currency non-resident (bank), or FCNR(B), deposits, reports Kshipra Petkar. ■ Page 6 STRONGDOMESTICDEMANDCITEDFOR50-BPSRAISE AIupskillingmoves up the stack: From freshers to leaders ● SaysAI adoption ● Learnerinterest WorldBankliftsIndia growth rate to 7.1% low but can add to productivity gains SHUBHAM RANA New Delhi, October 6 OUTLOOK UPBEAT ■ Medium-term 'potential growth' seen closer to 7% instead of 6.5% FY27 GDP growth forecast (%) World Bank OECD THEWORLDBANKonTuesday raised its forecast for India’s GDP growth in the current financialyearby50basispoints to 7.1%,citing strong domestic demand despite energy and weather-related risks. The multilateral body sees the Indian economy growing 7.2% in FY28 and 7% in FY29, with the country’s mediumtermpotentialgrowthnowseen around 7% against 6.5% earlier.In the long-term,India also standstobenefitfromplausible productivity gains from artificial intelligence (AI) adoption, which currently remains low compared to developed economies, it said in its India Economic Update. The World shifts from prompt engineering to application building S&P Global Ratings ADB Moody’s Ratings Fitch Ratings IMF RBI Bank’s growth upgrade is the latestinalineofmoreoptimistic economic activity assessments of India. Last month, several globalorganisationssuchasthe Asian Development Bank and the Organisation for Economic Co-operationandDevelopment raised India’s growth projections.TheReserveBankofIndia is also expected to raise its GDP 7.1 7.1 7.0 7.0 7.0 6.9 6.4 6.7 growth projection for FY27 on Wednesday. India’s GDP grew 7.8% in FY26 on the back of resilient domestic demand and despite heightened external headwinds,supportedbystructural reforms including labour code consolidation, and Goods andServicesTax(GST)ratecuts. Continued on Page 7 DOMESTIC GROWTH MOMENTUM BUILDS Services growth hits 3-month high in Sept INDIA’S SERVICES SECTOR activity rose to a three-month high in September on the back of improvingdomesticdemand,accordingtoS&P Global’sPurchasingManagers’Index(PMI)data released on Tuesday, reports Shubham Rana. The HSBC India services PMI increased to 55.2 in September from 54.1 inAugust. ■ PAGE 2 Car sales soar 32%, two-wheelers 33% DOMESTIC PASSENGER VEHICLE retail sales rose 32.1% year-on-year to a record 427,213 unitsinSeptember,accordingtotheFederation of Automobile Dealers Associations, reports AkbarMerchant.Two-wheelerretailsalesrose 33.08% to 1,790,188 units, making September the segment’s best-ever month. ■ PAGE 4 POULOMI CHATTERJEE & URVI MALVANIA Bengaluru/Mumbai, October 6 DEMAND FOR AI upskilling coursesisincreasinglybeingdriven by experienced professionals rather than freshers, as the technology is moving from an emergingskilltoatoolexpected tobeappliedacrossexistingjobs and business functions. Edtech platforms are seeing strong growth in enrolmentsforagenticAI,appliedAI and business-focused programmes, pointing to a shift from learning AI fundamentals to building and deploying AI in the workplace. Enrolments in AI courses have grown bymore than 40% year-on-year at Simplilearn, with courses focused on agentic AI recording over 100% growthamongworkingprofessionals, according to Krishna Kumar, founder and CEO. Nearly 50% of its learners are using AI upskilling to strengthentheirexistingroles, while another 30-35% are preparing for new AI-focused opportunities.About89%ofits AI learners are self-funded, indicatingawillingnessamong professionals to invest in skills EYE ON AI ■ AI course enrolments at Simplilearn have grown by more than 40% year-on-year ■ At upGrad, AI course learners with more than 10 years of experience has nearly doubled ■ Coursera has seen AI course enrolments rise around 37% in the first half of 2026 thatcouldimprovetheircareer prospects and productivity. Coursera has also seen AI courseenrolmentsinIndiarise around 37% in the first half of 2026 from a year earlier. The platform is nowseeing around five GenAI enrolments every minute in the country, compared with three a minute last year,while its GenAI catalogue has more than doubled since theendofthefirsthalfof2025 to over 2,650 courses. Continued on Page 10 Airlinesgetmoretime forNaviMumbaishift NITIN KUMAR New Delhi, October 6 when carriers raised concerns GOVT IN TALKS over the cost and WITH OMCs, operationalimplicaAIRLINES OVER DOMESTIC AIRtions of moving to ATF PRICES LINES WILL get NMIA within the PAGE 3 more time to shift proposed timetheir international EXPLAINER: WHY frame. Airlines operations from INTERNATIONAL pointed out that Mumbai’sChhatrap- CARRIERS WANT such a transition TO KEEP THEIR ati Shivaji Maharaj would require MUMBAI SLOTS International Airgreater planning PAGE 9 port (CSMIA) to Navi and clarity on the Mumbai Internacommercial terms tionalAirport (NMIA),with the before they could commit to government deciding against the transition.The carrierswill discontinuing their existing hold further discussions with Mumbai slots from October Adani Airport Holdings 25,sources said. (AAHL), which operates both The decision follows a airports, on the terms of the meeting between airlines, air- proposed move. port operatorand the Ministry of Civil Aviation on Tuesday, Continued on Page 7 HYDERABAD »INSIDE«