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Tuesday,24-June-2025
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Festive Prospects: Healthy demand to sustain despite challenges says Maruti Suzuki

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Maruti-Suzuki

Passenger vehicle (PV) demand is expected to maintain growth momentum in the coming months despite rising ownership cost as well as production challenges.

Accordingly, PV market leader Maruti Suzuki India believes the upcoming festive season will boost buying sentiments.

Lately, the sequential sales’ momentum has been subdued due to rising ownership and operating cost.

According to Shashank Srivastava, Executive Director (Marketing & Sales), Maruti Suzuki India: “Healthy sales momentum is expected to be maintained during the main festive period starting from mid-October. Till now, the festival of Onam saw a decent sales uptrend. However, there are uncertainties on the supply side.”

In India, the main tranche of the festive season commences from Navratri till Diwali.

“Factors such as shift to personal mobility from shared transport, lower interest rates, migration towards established brands as well as pent up demand are giving a push to sales momentum,” he said.

“Rural sector is also doing well because the income levels have improved.”

Presently, the auto giant’s 40 per cent sales come from the rural areas while 60 per cent is from urban India.

Last month, the auto major’s total sales rose to 130,699 units from 124,624 units sold during the corresponding period of 2020.

The total sales in the month included domestic sales of 105,775 units, off-take to other OEM of 4,305 units and exports of 20,619 units.

However, on a sequential basis, it had sold 162,462 units in July 2021.

“Production has been impacted due to electronic components shortage in August. This is critical as cost and waiting period increases due to lesser production.”

The automobile major has reported an 8 per cent fall in its vehicle production in August.

It produced a total of 113,937 units last month, compared to 123,769 units in August 2020.

Besides, vehicle acquisition cost has gone up due to rising commodity prices and high regulatory levies.

India’s auto market is considered to be highly price sensitive unlike those of Japan and the European Union.

At present, the industry is grappling with rising costs of steel, plastics and rare metals in addition to high forms of levies, insurance and road tax.

Recently, the company had to go in for a price hike due to rising commodity prices, especially those of steel, copper, rhodium and palladium amongst others.

“Earlier, we tried not to raise prices to revive demand by cost cutting and other measures. But continuously rising material cost has left us with no options.”

Notably, 70 per cent of the overall vehicle cost is of manufacturing materials.

“Till now, we had to increase prices four times, in January, April, July for CNG cars and Swift and in September. Currently, commodity prices have started to soften-up a bit, the industry believes that the material cost will plateau out on these levels and soften more in Q3FY22 and Q4FY22.”

Furthermore, this phenomenon has in some degree countered the positive effects of easy availability of finance along with low interest rates.

Additionally, vehicle operating cost has surged as a result of exponential rise in fuel prices.

“Running cost, largely depends on fuel efficiency and its price. Costs of diesel and petrol are at their peak, thereby negatively impacting car sales.

“Positive thing is that CNG running costs are now much less than before and CNG cars are gaining traction.”

Business

Peace is never free, it is earned: Gautam Adani hails ‘Operation Sindoor’

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Ahmedabad, June 24: Gautam Adani, the Chairman of the Adani Group, on Tuesday hailed the Indian Armed Forces for successfully performing ‘Operation Sindoor’, saying their courage reminded us that peace is never free and is rather earned.

Addressing the Adani Enterprises’ Annual General Meeting (AGM), the Chairman said that during ‘Operation Sindoor’, “our brave men and women in uniform stood tall, not for fame, not for medals, but for duty”.

“Their courage reminded us that peace is never free. It is earned. And the freedom to dream, to build, and to lead stands firmly on the shoulders of those who protect. Operation Sindoor showed that India knows the worth of peace. But if someone shows us an eye, we know how to respond in their language,” the billionaire industrialist said while addressing the 33rd annual general meeting of the Adani Group shareholders.

‘Operation Sindoor’ was launched last month to target terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Gautam Adani said he is “humbled by the silent sacrifices” of those who guard India’s “borders, families and dignity”, adding that the Adani Defence’s drones were part of ‘Operation Sindoor’ too.

“When it comes to Adani Defence — Operation Sindoor called, and we delivered. Our drones became the eyes in the skies as well as the swords of attack, and our anti-drone systems helped protect our forces and citizens. As I have always believed, we don’t operate in safe zones. We operate where it matters – where India needs us the most,” Gautam Adani noted.

The Adani Group Chairman also paid tributes to the victims of the crash of Air India’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner in Ahmedabad on June 12, which crashed shortly after takeoff to London.

“We bow our heads in grief for the lives lost in the tragic crash of Air India flight,” he said. “So many dreams were silenced in an instant,” Gautam Adani added.

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International

Operation Sindhu: 219 Indian nationals from Iran, 161 from Israel arrive in Delhi

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New Delhi, June 24: A total of 380 Indian nationals — 219 from Iran and 161 from Israel — arrived safely in New Delhi on Tuesday as part of the government’s ongoing Operation Sindhu, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed.

With the latest arrival, India has now brought back 2,295 of its citizens from Iran amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

The Israel leg of the operation, which began on Monday via Jordan, marked its first successful repatriation flight, with 161 citizens landing in New Delhi from Amman on Tuesday morning.

The MEA posted on X, “292 Indian nationals were evacuated from Iran on a special flight that arrived in New Delhi from Mashhad at 0330 hrs on June 24. 2295 Indian nationals have now been brought home from Iran.”

In another post, the ministry added, “The Israel leg of Operation Sindhu began on June 23, 2025, bringing home the first group of 161 Indian nationals from Israel. They safely arrived in New Delhi today at 0820 hrs from Amman, Jordan.”

Union Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita personally received the group at the airport.

Speaking to media, he said, “I am very happy to welcome the first batch of 161 Indian nationals evacuated from Israel. This group has safely arrived just a short while ago at New Delhi airport.”

“We are closely monitoring the situation and are committed to providing all possible and necessary assistance to our citizens in Iran and Israel. Under Operation Sindhu, all the nationals are arriving safely,” the MoS added.

Many of the evacuees expressed gratitude to the Indian government for ensuring their safe return under dangerous circumstances.

“The situation was very bad in Haifa, especially after the US strikes. However, we are thankful that the Indian government did everything to bring us back safe,” said one evacuee from Israel.

“The MEA has done a great job. The transition was very smooth, and I express my gratitude to the ministry for making our transportation very comfortable,” another added.

An elderly passenger shared his traumatic experience: “I went to Israel a month ago. One day, while I was driving, attacks began. I panicked and hid behind a bush. The attacks were almost continuous. I couldn’t sleep. I thank the MEA for bringing us back.”

From Iran, similar voices of appreciation were heard.

“Despite everything going on, the Indian Embassy made every possible effort to keep us safe and comfortable. I thank the Government of India and the MEA for what they have done for us,” said one returnee.

“I was among the few Indian nationals who were able to get out of there so easily. The Mashhad Airport opened only for Indian nationals. This shows the stance of our country and the diplomacy of the Modi government,” another said.

“The embassy officials were taking care of us, ensuring we had water, food, and accommodation. We are thankful for making everything safe and comfortable,” another Indian national who was evacuated from Iran said.

Operation Sindhu continues to be a crucial mission aimed at evacuating Indian nationals from conflict-hit regions, reaffirming the government’s priority to safeguard its citizens abroad.

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National

Maharashtra govt signs MoU with CEGIS to boost social governance

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Mumbai, June 23: A five-year MoU was signed on Monday between the Maharashtra government, Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) and CEGIS (Centre for Effective Governance of Indian States) to enhance data-driven governance and policy delivery across the state.

This was done at the meeting chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on strengthening the ‘CMO Social Sector War Room’. During the signing ceremony, CEGIS Chief Executive Officer Dr. Vijay Pingle and other senior officials were present.

“This partnership will enable stronger governance systems, Data-driven decision-making, technical and policy support state government and more effective decisions & implementation across departments,” said the chief Ministers office in its post on X.

“The MOU will provide technical, analytical, and strategic support to effectively implement schemes, initiatives, and measures in the social sector. A ‘Decision Support System’ (DSS) will be developed for the Chief Minister’s Office, which will promote data-driven decision-making processes. The system will be integrated with the War Room mechanism, enabling the measurement of scheme progress based on national and international benchmarks. These systems will be utilized to reduce discrepancies in information and enhance the quality of citizen feedback through efficient monitoring,” said the chief Ministers office.

CM Fadnavis stated that a tracking system for the implementation of social schemes will prove extremely beneficial. “The MoU will enhance strategic capacity and make transparency and accountability in service delivery more effective,” he added.

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