BACK PAGE | PAGE 16 BRANDWAGON | PAGE 9 Turn investments in MFunits into a gift THE RIPPLE EFFECT–III | PAGE 16 KidZ leans on safety in YouTube-led market AHMEDABAD, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2026 Gas shortage & freight shock bite metal units FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL NO. XX 248, 30 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: 74,068.45 ▲ 1,372.06 NIFTY: 22,912.40 ▲ 399.75 NIKKEI 225: 52,252.28 ▲ 736.79 HANG SENG: 25,063.71 ▲ 681.24 `/$: 93.88 ▲ 0.10 `/€: 108.85 ▼ 0.84 BRENT: $103.59 ▲ $3.65 GOLD: `1,40,309 ▲ `4,463 IN THE NEWS COMPANIES PAGE 7 RCB, RR DEALSTO LIFTIPLFRANCHISE VALUATIONS IPL FRANCHISE VALUATIONS have surged, with Royal Challengers Bengaluru set for a $1.78 billion sale to a Birla-led consortium, while Rajasthan Royals is poised to be sold for $1.63 billion to a USbased Kal Somani-led group, reports fe Bureau. Maruti Suzuki to invest `10,189 cr in new Gujarat plant MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA on Tuesday approved an investment of `10,189 crore to set up a 250,000-unitper-annum production capacity in the first phase of its upcoming manufacturing facility in Gujarat, reports fe Bureau. ■ PAGE 4 Govt cracks down on illegal sale of weight-loss drugs INDIA'S DRUG REGULATOR has launched full-scale surveillance against the unauthorised sale and promotion of GLP-1 class weight-loss drugs, reports Manu Kaushik. ■ PAGE 2 Centre fast-tracks gas pipelines as war rages Modi &Trump hold Strait talks in first call since war KEY FACETS ■ Transparent and predictable regulatory framework ■ Accelerated pipeline infra development flexibility and certainty ■ Consumer- centric service delivery SAURAVANAND New Delhi, March 24 TRACKING GAINS IN Asian peers, domestic equity benchmarks rose by up to 1.89% on Tuesday as investor sentiment improved after US President Donald Trump announced a five-day pause in striking Iranian energy infrastructure, a day after sliding more than 2%, reports Kishor Kadam. Sensex (Intra-day, March 24) 74,068.45 (Close, March 24) 1,372.06 points 1.89% SHUBHAJIT ROY New Delhi, March 24 ■ Major boost to ease of doing business ■ Operational Cautious relief on Street ■ Establishment of transparent dispute resolution mechanism Order, 2026, said the move addresses delays in approvals and access to land, while THE CENTRE ON Tuesday enabling faster rollout of gas issued an order under the infrastructure, including in Essential CommoditiesAct for residential areas. The order a streamlined and seeks to remove »INSIDE« time-bound structural bottleframework forlaynecks that have EDIT: A PAUSE, NOT PEACE P 8 ing and expanding slowed pipeline pipelinesacrossthe expansion.It noted IRAN RAINS country and that impediments MISSILES ONTO enables faster include “approvals ISRAEL; BRENT development of from various EDGES UP P10 natural gas infraauthorities, impostructure.Theorder UNUSUAL SPIKE IN sition of very high FUTURES TRADING comes at a time feeandchargesand MINUTES BEFORE when the country at times denial of TRUMP POST P6 faces a shortage of access to land or LPG amid the ragresidential areas,” ing war in West Asia. including by resident welfare The ministry,notifying the associations. Natural Gas and Petroleum The notification underProducts Distribution lined the need to strengthen (Through Laying, Building, energy supply resilience. Operation and Expansion of Pipelines and Other Facilities) Continued on Page 10 ADAYAFTERhepausedforfive dayshisthreatofstrikingIran’s energy sites and announced initiation of talks behind the scenes with Tehran, US President Donald Trump called up PrimeMinisterNarendraModi on Tuesday and discussed the situation in West Asia “including the importance of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open”. Thiswastheirfirstcallsince the start of the war. Modi, in a post on X,said,“Received a call fromPresidentTrumpandhad a useful exchange of views on thesituationinWestAsia.India supports de-escalation and Performance of Asian equity indices % change on March 24 Hong Kong South Korea China Japan Indonesia restoration of peace at the earliest.EnsuringthattheStraitof Hormuz remains open, secure and accessible is essential for the whole world.We agreed to stay in touch regarding efforts towards peace and stability.” Continued on Page 10 Aheadforaneye:Iranleader saystimerunningoutforUS HARDENING ITS STANCE, Iran on Tuesday threatened that if its energy infrastructure is attacked,the country’s“responsewill no longer be an eye for an eye,but rathera head for an eye.” In a televised interview on Tuesday, Iran’s new military adviser Mohsen Rezaei reportedlysaid there is not “much time left to rescue the United States from this quagmire.”“Thefinaldeadlines for saving America are approaching... We will paralyse you and drown you in the Gulf,”he said, according to reports.The warning came a day after US President Donald Trump postponed his threatened strikesonIranianpowerplants by five days. —FE BUREAU 72,696.39 (Previous close) Thailand 2.79 2.74 1.78 1.43 1.20 Source: 0.93 Bloomberg REPORT ON PAGE 6 Strategicoilreservesforjust sixdays;fundsunderspent SAURAVANAND New Delhi, March 24 AS THE WEST Asia conflict disrupts critical energy flows, India’s strategic petroleum reserves (SPR) have just six days of crude stockpiles. Budget data show that againstanallocationof`5,876 crore in the current financial yearto fill and expand the SPR, the government is likely to spend only`1,039 crore,while provisioning forthe next fiscal hasbeencuttojust`200crore. The underspending comes at a time when the Strait of Hormuz — through which nearly 40% of India’s crude imports are routed — has been severelyimpacted bygeopolitical tensions. In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha,Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Suresh Gopi said, “Currently,ISPRL(Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited) has around 3.372 million tonne of crude stock available which is around 64% of the total storage capacity.” Continued on Page 10 Ahmedabad
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