New labour codes eat into I.T. profits kochi l tuesday l January 13, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l late city EDITION Modi, Merz agree to upgrade bilateral strategic relations D i l i p S i n g h K s h at r i ya @ Ahmedabad IN a big push amid rising global protectionism, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday was optimistic of sealing a landmark EU-India free trade agreement by January-end, with top EU leaders likely visiting New Delhi to sign it, following wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ahmedabad. Welcoming Merz in Ahmedabad, PM Modi framed the visit as historic, coming at a time when India and Germany have completed 25 years of strategic partnership and are commemorating 75 years of diplomatic relations. The talks, accompanied by a delegation of 23 German CEOs, resulted in the signing of 19 MoUs and several announcements across defence, trade, critical minerals and semiconductors. Both sides noted that bilateral trade in goods and services Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Germany’s Friedrich Merz on Monday | PTI Our growing trade and investment ties have infused new energy into India and Germany’s relationship — Narendra Modi crossed $50 billion in 2024, amounting to over 25% of India’s trade with EU. They signed joint declarations of intent on boosting bilateral defence industrial ties. Modi and Merz etched a bilat- eral dialogue mechanism for the Indo-Pacific, besides the establishment of Track 1.5 Foreign Policy and Security Dialogue. Germany also announced visa free transit for Indians. Further, they signed an offtake agreement for green ammonia between AM Green (India) and Uniper Global (Germany). Germany committed 1.24 billion euros for renewable energy projects. Even as AI-driven deals lifted revenues for India’s top IT firms in the December quarter, new labour codes weighed heavily on profits The country’s largest IT services company, TCS, reported a 13.91% decline in December quarter net profit to J10,657 cr, down from J12,380 cr in the year-ago period HCLTech’s net profit fell 11.2% to J4,076 cr from J4,591 cr K2,128 crore is the amount TCS set aside to meet requirements under the new labour codes, which increase payroll costs by mandating a 50% basic wage, higher employer contributions to PF and gratuity and overtime pay for extended working hours | P12 Trade talks back, India on Pax Silica: Gor ABHILA S H CHAN D RAN @Kottayam Signalling an early effort to stabilise India-US ties that have come under strain amid tariff disputes and market jitters, Washington’s new ambassador to New Delhi, Sergio Gor, on Monday said the two sides will take up the outstanding trade issues during a call on Tuesday . In a parallel strategic move, Gor said India will be invited next month to join US-led Pax Silica initiative to secure and coordinate silicon and critical technology supply chain.UK, Israel, Japan, and Australia are part of the bloc. Gor portrayed current frictions as manageable within a mature partnership. “Real friends can disagree, but always resolve their differences in the end,” he said. Stressing that talks remain active, Gor said: “The next call on trade will occur tomorrow.” He did not elaborate on the details. In a swift political move ahead of the assembly elections in the state, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has reportedly reached out to Kerala Congress (M) chairman Jose K Mani, extending an invitation to rejoin the Congress-led UDF. According to reliable sources, the overture, reportedly initiated by Congress general secretary in charge of organisation K C Venugopal, involved a recent phone conversation between Sonia and Jose. While sources close to Jose confirmed Sonia’s call, the KC(M) chief himself was unavailable for comment. The stra- ■ Sonia calls Jose, invites KC(M) to rejoin UDF J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI ■ tegic move by the Congress central and state leaderships, reportedly with the backing of the Catholic Church, aims to bolster the UDF’s position in the run-up to the assembly polls. The Indian Union Muslim League, the second largest constituent of the UDF, has also given a green signal to the move. Speculation on Jose’s favourable response to the UDF’s feelers has been fuelled by his absence from a recent LDF meeting and the government’s satyagraha against the Centre’s ‘fund blockade’ held in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday. The question now is whether he will participate in LDF’s upcoming ‘Kerala Yatra’. More on P6 PSLV mission fails 2nd straight setback in stage-3 ISRO’s PSLV-C62 rocket carrying 16 satellites failed to place them in orbit after encountering an “anomaly” in stage-3 of launch | P7 EXPRESS READ HC flays SIT for not arresting Sankar Das Kochi: A single bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday criticised the SIT probing the Sabarimala gold theft for not arresting K P Sankar Das, an accused in the case. P6 Australia puts curbs on Indian students New Delhi: Australia has put Indian students in the highest risk student visa category, along with those from Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh. Checks will become more stringent | P9 18 pages, including 4 pages of KOCHI Express