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New Delhi: A clear picture regarding new GST rates at the earliest will help the overall auto industry, including the luxury car segment, to regain momentum in the ongoing quarter, which generally sees enhanced sales on account of the festive season. The high-powered GST Council, chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, will meet on September 3-4 to discuss moving to a two-slab taxation. In an interaction with PTI, BMW Group India President and CEO Hardeep Singh Brar said the recent speculation about the change in GST rates has caused uncertainty in the minds of consumers. Consumer interest and demand is strong, but they (prospective buyers) have adopted a wait-and-watch approach, and this delayed decision-making is impacting new vehicle sales at a certain level, he noted. "Expediting clarity on GST rates is essential to get back to speed and ensure the auto sector's contribution to economic growth during this quarter is robust," Brar stated. He also hoped that the sustainable push towards electric cars will continue to be encouraged as a priority and will reflect in the GST strategy by retaining the existing 5 per cent GST on all passenger electric vehicles. An adverse impact from GST rates can derail the vision of high electric adoption and local production in India, he added. Brar noted that the company is geared to introduce several model trims during the festival season. Audi India Head Balbir Singh Dhillon stated that the luxury carmaker is entering the festive season with steady momentum and a positive outlook. "Post the GST clarification expected in the first week of September, we expect consumer confidence to grow and demand to increase across our product range -- particularly for our SUVs, which continue to attract customers," he noted. With an exciting product portfolio and strong customer engagement, the automaker is confident of sustained growth throughout this festival period, Dhillon said. Mercedes-Benz India MD & CEO Santosh Iyer said the festive seasonality is highly anticipated by customers and the company will roll out an integrated campaign next week, addressing customers' aspirations. "We expect this festive season to bring in impetus and drive sales as this is the right time, owing to positive customer sentiment and a refreshing new portfolio on offer," he added. Commenting on the overall business scenario in the luxury car segment, Icra Senior Vice President & Group Head, Corporate Ratings Jitin Makkar said the sales during the festive season this year is expected to grow only in the mid-single digits, as trade headwinds emanating from the impact of high US tariffs are likely to dampen business sentiment. Between FY22 and FY25, the luxury car segment outpaced the broader passenger vehicle market, driven by strong aspirational demand across diverse demographics, including younger and first-time buyers, he added. "However, this trend is poised to reverse in FY26. A potential GST rate cut on smaller cars could stimulate demand in the mass-market segment, while the luxury segment may face a more subdued environment," Makkar said. Already, in the first half of CY2025, growth in luxury car sales has been tepid, weighed down by geopolitical tensions and stock market volatility, he said. "Although festive season buying may lift volumes sequentially, overall growth for the full year is likely to remain muted," he added. The festive season usually commences with Onam and ends with Diwali every year.

Electric two-wheeler penetration could rise to about 40 per cent by FY31 in an 'optimistic scenario' when the overall two-wheeler industry in India touch 3-3.1 crore units annually growing at 8 per cent CAGR, according to Ather Energy Ltd. The growth is expected to be driven by increased EV launches, strong government support, rapid infrastructure development, reduced battery prices, and a faster consumer shift, the company said in its annual report for 2024-25. In its management discussion and analysis, Ather Energy said the rapidly expanding EV market, propelled by legacy players increasing their EV portfolios and new entrants expanding capacity, is accelerating growth. The entry of established brands into the EV market is expected to provide significant momentum. The expansion of distribution in the E2W (electric two-wheeler) market is also expected to fuel the sector's growth, it said. "Overall, two-wheeler sales are projected to grow at 7 per cent CAGR, reaching 29-30 million units by FY31," the company said. The electric two-wheeler (E2W) market is expected to grow at 41 per cent CAGR, while the internal combustion engine (ICE) market will see a moderate growth of 2 per cent CAGR. By FY31, E2Ws are anticipated to account for 35 per cent of overall two-wheeler sales, it added. "In an optimistic scenario, driven by increased EV launches, strong government support, rapid infrastructure development, reduced battery prices, and a faster consumer shift toward electrification, industry sales could grow at 8 per cent CAGR, reaching 30-31 million units by FY31," Ather Energy said. In this scenario, the company said,"EV penetration may rise to 40 per cent, compared to the 35 per cent projected in the base case." Citing VAHAN and SIAM data, the company said,"India has established itself as one of the largest motorised two-wheeler markets in the world by volume, with domestic sales reaching 20 million units in FY25." In their message to the shareholders, Ather Energy Founders Tarun Sanjay Mehta Swapnil Babanlal Jain said electric vehicle penetration in scooters touched 16 per cent in FY25. "We anticipate this growth to continue, and scooters to power this growth. By FY31, an estimated 70- 75 per cent of scooters will be electric, and we are well-positioned to capitalise on this growth," they said. In FY25, the company said EV penetration in two-wheelers reached 5.8 per cent up from 5.1 per cent in FY24. Scooters continued to lead electrification with approximately 15.7 per cent of scooters in FY25 being electric. Scooters are expected to lead electrification in 2W. E2W penetration in scooters is expected to be as high as 70 per cent in FY31 and in motorcycles it is projected to be 10 per cent by FY31, it added. Sharing an update on its third plant at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (formerly Aurangabad) in Maharashtra, Ather Energy said,"The first phase of the facility, work for which has already begun, is planned to commence production in phases during FY27." It will add 5 lakh E2Ws of installed annual production capacity and upon completion of construction for both phases the company's total installed capacity, including from the Hosur Factory, is expected to reach a total of 14.2 lakh E2Ws per year.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has revised the quantity freeze limit for Bank Nifty derivatives contracts, increasing it from 600 to 900, effective September 1.According to the updated framework, freeze limits for other key indices—Nifty (1,800), Finnifty (1,800), Nifty Midcap Select (2,800), and Nifty Next 50 (600)—remain unchanged.NSE has advised its members to update their trading applications by loading the revised contract file before the effective date.The change was announced via a circular issued on August 29.In the Futures & Options (F&O) segment, the quantity freeze limit refers to the maximum number of contracts (lots) that can be placed in a single order.Exchanges set quantity freeze limits to ensure liquidity, promote fair play, and reduce the risk of market distortion from large, unintended trades. These limits help prevent "fat finger" errors, accidentally placed large orders that can disrupt price discovery.As per NSE’s previous circular dated June 30, 2025, the quantity freeze limit for Bank Nifty per single order was set at 600 contracts. This has now been raised to 900, effective September 1.Expiry Day Shift for DerivativesStarting this week, the expiry days for NSE and BSE indices will interchange. NSE has revised the expiry day for all index and stock derivatives contracts from Thursdays to Tuesdays. However, monthly, quarterly, and half-yearly contracts will continue to expire on the last Thursday of the respective expiry month.The Nifty and stock derivative monthly contracts expired for the last time on Thursday, August 28. Revised contract files reflecting the new expiry dates are now available on the NSE website.Market RecapIndian benchmark indices traded within a narrow range on Friday but ended in the red, weighed down by losses in Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, and Infosys.The Nifty fell 74.05 points, or 0.3%, to close at 24,426.85, while the S&P BSE Sensex declined by 270.92 points, or 0.34%, to finish at 79,809.65.Also Read: 360 BSE 500 stocks bleed in August, 65 lose in double-digits; Maruti & KIOCL shine with up to 28% jump(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

Tennis features a fiendish scoring system and at-times ambiguous rules. It feels designed to cause irritation and aggravation like few other sports. The handshake at the end of a match is its apex. Two elite athletes who have spent the previous few hours on a rectangular battlefield with tensions gradually ratcheting up are then provided with the perfect incubator for all of those simmering resentments, in the name of politely saying "well done." Wednesday at the U.S. Open, Jelena Ostapenko, the tennis player most synonymous with fractious handshakes, furiously confronted Taylor Townsend at the end of their second-round match. Ostapenko, who had just been beaten, 7-5, 6-1, told Townsend she should have apologized for a shot that clipped the top of the net but stayed in play, known as a net cord. Townsend said she did not have to apologize before Ostapenko appeared to repeat the phrase "you have no education" three times. Townsend walked away, shook hands with the chair umpire and asked the crowd to make some noise for her win. Ostapenko's behavior with Townsend went far beyond her usual handshake protocol, which had until Wednesday become a harmless meme in the tennis world. Eight years ago at this venue, Ostapenko -- at the time the French Open champion -- introduced herself to the U.S. Open crowd by pointedly looking away from Daria Kasatkina when they shook hands at the end of their second-round match. "Notice the frost on the fingers," broadcaster and former player Mary Carillo quipped on the Tennis Channel. Despite being an outlier, the handshake altercation Wednesday exposed the theater of politeness at the heart of one of tennis's fundamental traditions. After engaging in the sporting equivalent of hand-to-hand combat, players show respect to each other for their endeavors. They also put aside any emotions they are feeling in a moment of artificial grace broadcast to the world. An important moment of respect between competitors has morphed into a moment analyzed almost as much as any tennis match, with the coldness of the exchange monitored and any possibility for drama teased out. At the start of 2024, Ostapenko lost to two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus three times in seven weeks. The first two post-match handshakes were no-look, while on the third occasion, Ostapenko held out her racket rather than her hand, prompting an eye roll from her opponent. "I can't speak for how she feels and why she does it," Azarenka said at the time. "Some of her line callings, I mean, it can be a bit comical that's just how she is. I don't necessarily judge. I'm just there to play a match." At the time of the Azarenka triptych, Ostapenko's frostiness appeared partly geopolitical. Ostapenko has Ukrainian family and, at the time, had a Ukrainian doubles partner; Belarus is a supporter of Russia and its ongoing war in Ukraine. No sport pits Russian and Belarusian athletes against Ukrainians and their allies as regularly as tennis, and no other sport has a designated moment of coming together like tennis does. After the invasion in February 2022, players from the warring nations stopped shaking each other's hands. Fans booed players who refused to shake hands because of this gap, before they slowly became acquainted with what was going on. That policy continues to this day. "There is a reason behind it," Ostapenko said of her snubs of Azarenka in an interview last May, before demurring to elaborate on those reasons and evading a direct question about whether it related to Ukraine. The Russia-Ukraine situation underscores the quandary at the heart of the handshake. It is on one level a cursory gesture; on another, it is freighted with meaning beyond the scope of two tennis players saying "good match" to each other. While Ostapenko may be the face -- or palm -- of the handshake's cultural relevance in tennis, the idiosyncrasies go beyond one player. This year has had a steady stream of handshake controversies, most of them in the usual realm of disputes: gloriously petty. Yulia Putintseva, also known for her at-times tense nature on the court, was involved in a scrap with Maria Sakkari in June after losing to the Greek player at the Bad Homburg Open in Germany. Sakkari took exception to Putintseva's no-look handshake and said during their subsequent exchange, "Nobody likes you." On the men's side, Alexander Zverev could barely look at rising French star Arthur Fils after the Hamburg Open final. Zverev, who lost the match, said at the Australian Open: "I think Hamburg, against Arthur, the handshake wasn't great from my side. I didn't like some of the things that, yeah, happened in the match." A couple of months later, Fils and Stefanos Tsitsipas had a testy handshake after an incident in which Tsitsipas smashed a passing shot at Fils' body from close range -- a legal tactic, but frowned upon. A common denominator in these confrontations is the way in which a small incident can build up in players' minds over the course of a match before spilling over at the handshake, often inflated far beyond its actual significance. At the Madrid Open in April, there was the odd sight of Damir Dzhumur going to shake Mattia Belucci's hand, Belucci refusing it then going back in for the handshake, which was in turn refused by Dzhumur. "When he moved his hand, there is no way I would give you another hand because I'm not a fool," Dzhumur said in an interview afterward.Some players simply refuse to follow the forced niceties of handshake convention. Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, who is missing the U.S. Open with an injury, has developed a reputation for unfriendly handshakes but is straightforward about why. "If I lost, I will give you just a basic respect and that's it," she said at a news conference in January. "That's why you will not see me lose one match with a happy face to the opponent." She added, with a laugh: "If you saw that on me, that is very strange, which means I don't care about that match on that day." This is another of the fundamentals of the handshake: It is an accord of respect that has been pushed beyond its basic requirement of acknowledging that a tennis match has taken place. Zheng even forgot to shake hands with Aryna Sabalenka at the WTA Tour Finals in November, something Tsitsipas also did after beating Jan-Lennard Struff at the Madrid Open in April. Daniil Medvedev, himself no stranger to controversy, including being given a $42,500 fine this week for his antics against Benjamin Bonzi on Sunday, said in January that he thinks tennis players should be "a bit more open" to cold handshakes. "I can understand some people when they lose, you're frustrated, you don't want to smile at your opponent that just beat you."For Townsend, the Ostapenko incident plays out along a binary of its own. It was disrespectful and unpleasant. But it was also something, she said, that she could put on her TikTok and leave in the past. The spectacle of the handshake, this piece of tennis stagecraft that distills hours of intense competition into two hands clasped together, is likely to endure far longer. This article originally appeared in The New York Times.