INDIA FIRST TO MARKET

Research evidence excerpt

INDIA FIRST TO MARKET

Asia Pacific Equity Research

India First to Market 16 July 2026

Top Stories

Concrete Insights (Sanjay Mookim)

July: Lackluster momentum - as expected

In this month’s Concrete Insights, our dealer checks highlight: 1) little to no change in pricing across the country, as 2) demand

remains weak, as is expected at this time of year due to the monsoon; and 3) in some areas, dealers reported transportation

challenges due to heavy rains. There are minimal expectations that demand could improve near term, given that 2Q is the

leanest period for the sector. The lagged impact of higher costs should also fully manifest in the Sept quarter. Profitability for

cement companies could thus be contingent on company strategy, which should include price hikes and (more so) pricing

discipline. We maintain our cautious stance on the sector given likely medium-term weakness in demand and limited pricing

power/discipline. UTCEM remains our only OW.

India EMS (Bhavik Mehta, CFA)

It’s raining schemes - Mobile PLI 2.0 and ISM 2.0 approved

The Union Cabinet approved two schemes today (15 July) - the Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme (MPMS) and the India

Semiconductor Mission (ISM) 2.0. The MPMS has an outlay of Rs625bn, higher than the Rs410bn outlay in PLI 1.0. The new

scheme will run for five years from FY27-31. There are three different incentives planned under this scheme: 1) 2.25-5% of

sales for manufacturing of mobile phones in India, 2) an additional incentive of 1.5% l inked to domestic sourcing of key

components/ sub-assemblies, and 3) an additional incentive of 3% linked to design and R&D to build Indian brands. The ISM

2.0 scheme has an outlay of Rs1275bn vs. an outlay of Rs750bn in ISM 1.0. ISM 2.0’s focus is across developing the