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 ■ ■ File photo hyderabad l friday l march 28, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 36 l late city EDITION Putin accepts Modi’s invitation to visit India; work underway | p7 Auto sector safe TG Assembly resolves against delimitation but parts to feel US tariff heat What it means for India No big impact on Indian auto sector, but Tata Motors’ luxury car subsidiary JLR to be hit India’s auto parts exports to US stand at around $2 bn, attracting just 2.5% duty. This will increase 10 times on April 3 Imports of automobiles and certain automobile parts threaten to impair national security Donald Trump D i pa k M o nd a l @ New Delhi THE Trump administration on Wednesday announced a 25% import duty on completely builtup automobiles and auto parts, effective April 3. While the decision has sent shockwaves through the global auto industry, the reaction in India has been mixed. The broader Indian auto industry seems largely insulated, but the auto component sector, which currently attracts just 2.5% duty will feel the tariff heat in the short term. , India exported $2.6 billion worth of automobiles and auto components to the US in FY24 — 13% of total auto and auto ancillary exports of $21 billion. Of this, passenger car exports to the US stood at just $8.9 million, compared to $6.98 billion in global car exports, meaning only 0.13% of India’s car exports are US-bound. Moreover, the 25% duty is still lower than the 70-100% tariffs that could result from reciprocal tariff measures. Trade analysts say India need not be concerned, given the relatively small volume of its car and bike exports to the US. Saurabh Agarwal, tax partner at EY India, says the limited implications for India’s auto industry mean the Indian government may not aggressively seek exemptions from the tariff. Ajay Srivastava, founder of the Global Trade Research Initiative, even discourages India from reducing its own import duties in response. He warns that lowering tariffs on passenger cars could be counterproductive, citing Australia’s experience—where import duties were slashed from 45% to 5% in the late 1980s, leading to the collapse of its domestic auto manufacturing industry. With the auto sector contributing one-third of India’s manufacturing GDP policymakers will tread cautiously , . Mrunmayee Jogalekar, an analyst at Asit C Mehta Investment Intermediates, said Tata Motors could face challenges as its subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover sells a significant number of cars in the US. P9 Fireworks in the House E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad The Telangana Legislative Assembly on Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution expressing its “deep concern” over the impending delimitation exercise “without any transparent consultations” with the stakeholders. The resolution urged the Union government to introduce necessary Constitutional amendments for enhancing Assembly constituencies from 119 to 153 pursuant to the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014. Moving the resolution in the Assembly, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said that “delimitation is a limitation for the South”. Describing it as a “planned attack” against the South, the chief minister said that if the Centre carries out delimitation on the basis of population, the representation of South India in the 453-member Lok Sabha E x p r e s s Re a d CAG report on spending of borrowed funds out Hyderabad: The Telangana state government utilised only a portion of `50,528 crore borrowed in 2023–24 for capital expenditure, with some of the funds redirected towards loan repayments, according to a CAG report | P2 Devadula LIS phase-III pumping station switched on|P2 @revanth_ anumula garu has walked the talk by tabling and passing a landmark resolution in the Telangana Assembly. This is just the beginning. With the 2nd JAC to take place in Hyd, more states will follow MK Stalin, TN Chief Minister Wasn’t it Congress leaders who abused our children? Wasn’t it the chief minister who used filthy language against our minor children? Do not indulge in revenge politics KT Rama Rao, BRS working president will come down to 19% against the current 24%. The AP Reorganisation Act mandates delimitation of Assembly constituencies in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, Revanth pointed out, adding: “The Union government is discriminating against us. The If this govt had resorted to vindictive politics, BRS leaders would not have an opportunity to speak freely... You would have been in Cherlapally jail. My govt hasn’t done any vendetta politics A Revanth Reddy, chief minister Centre, in reply to my question in Parliament, said that delimitation of Assembly constituencies will be done only after the 2026 census. However, the Centre amended the Constitution and increased the number of Assembly constituencies from 83 to 90 as per the 2011 Census in Jammu and Kashmir. In Sikkim, a resolution was passed in the Cabinet in 2018 and the process of delimitation of constituencies is being continued,” Revanth stated. “The Centre’s claims on delimitation are half-truths,” he added.  Continued on P4 Bar leaders urge SC collegium to withdraw transfer of judge Varma S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi Leaders of Bar associations from six high courts met Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna and four other Supreme Court collegium members on Thursday urging , them to withdraw the recommendation to transfer Delhi HC judge Yashwant Varma amid a ‘cash burn’ controversy . After the meeting with the CJI and justices BR Gavai, Surya Kant, Abhay S Oka and Vikram Nath, Allahabad High Court Bar Association president Anil Tiwari said, “The CJI assured [us] that he would consider our demands...” Bar associations of Allahabad, Gujarat, Kerala, Jabalpur, Karnataka and Lucknow had sought the meeting. Tiwari said the collegium assured that each and every point raised will be considered within the premises of law. “This is a big statement...,” he added. The collegium’s recommendation to transfer Justice Varma to Allahabad HC triggered an indefinite strike by the state bar association. A fire at Justice Varma’s official residence on March 14 led to the alleged detection of wads of burnt cash. Justice Varma has denied the charges. Subsequently, CJI Khanna formed a three-member panel to probe the allegations. The Supreme Court is slated to hear on Friday a plea seeking a direction to the Delhi Police to lodge an FIR over the incident. Shastri ‘betting’ ad may attract MIB censure S w a r o o p S w a m i n at h a n @ Chennai A Ravi Shastri advertisement where the cricketer-turnedpundit seemingly endorses a betting company could come under the scanner of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB). Over the last 11 months or so, Shastri has used X (formerly Twitter) to promote Stake, a betting company . He did the same on March 21, one day before the start of the IPL’s 18th edition. “Witness the Ultimate Cricket Extravaganza,” he posted to his 2m followers. “Early six? Early wicket? W h a t ’s yo u r stake? @Stake” There was also a video message to his followers. He also added a disclaimer: “This content is not intended for the Indian region. Visitors must be 18+ of age to proceed.” This daily has learned that the disclaimer may not be applicable for the purposes of legality as the commentator may still be liable. “This specific advertiser appears to be a betting platform,” Manisha Kapoor, secretary-general of the Advertising Standards Council of India, told this daily “Betting is a violation of . law, hence adding any disclaimer does not make it okay to advertise. ASCI is reporting such cases to the MIB.” Shastri didn’t respond to queries raised by this daily .