India Financial News

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Fintech unicorn-turned-bank Slice is preparing to enter wealth management with an AI-powered “personal CFO” embedded in its banking app, according to twopeople familiar with the matter.The company has begun beta-testing the tool, which can track balances, flag idle funds, monitor maturing deposits, build savings prompts around user goals and warn users about potential cash crunches before they happen, the people said.Slice plans to eventually add investment offerings to the platform, though it could not be ascertained when those products would be launched.Many Indians still find investing intimidating because they are overwhelmed by product choices and are unaware of how to build their wealth and assess their risk appetite, the people said. The company believes the move could help it better understand customer behaviour and eventually sharpen the design and distribution of wealth products within the app, according to one of the people cited above.The move signals Slice’s aim to evolve beyond banking, payments and credit into full-stack financial distribution at a time when wealth-tech remains one of the few fintech segments continuing to attract investor interest.The company is pitching the tool as more than a generic chatbot for personal finance, the first person close to the project said.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Creating a successful and resilient stock portfolio requires a series of thoughtful steps.It begins with setting well-defined investment objectives, selecting a strategy that aligns with your preferences, and maintaining active involvement with both the market and your investments.Gaining insights from seasoned investors and implementing their time-tested approaches can provide meaningful direction.For instance, Vijay Kedia, a celebrated investor, is a notable example, with his market strategies frequently garnering attention and respect.Vijay Kedia is a stalwart in the Indian equity markets. Regarded as a market maestro, he has built a reputation for selecting winning mid-cap stocks, making his portfolio a guidepost for retail investors.Having begun his stock market journey at 19, Kedia's fascination with the financial world stems from his family's roots in the stockbroking business.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.India’s food regulator has issued a show-cause notice to Fitshit Health Solutions-owned The Whole Truth over labelling that its chocolate products contained “no added sugar,” a move that could have a broader impact on how companies make and consumers perceive such claims.The notice issued by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) followed a complaint filed by rival chocolate maker Paul & Mike that The Whole Truth was using dates as sweeteners while claiming that no sugar was added to its cocoa products.Under FSSAI’s “non-addition of sugars” rules, such claims are not permitted if ingredients containing sugars are used as substitutes for added sugars. Following a Right to Information petition filed by the complainant in December, the Maharashtra FSSAI issued the notice to The Whole Truth.This tighter regulatory scrutiny could set a precedent how food companies make “no added sugar” claims while using dates, date paste and similar ingredients as sweeteners.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.New Delhi: The US-Iran war has crimped energy supplies, raised fuel prices, threatens to spike India’s import bill and thus strain its foreign exchange reserves. It was in this context that Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to citizens on Sunday to cut fuel use, avoid unnecessary overseas travel and explore domestic destinations instead.For some affluent Indian travellers, that shift is already underway—India's premium domestic destinations are seeing stronger demand, higher occupancies and rising room tariffs this summer.A Delhi-based family of nine abandoned their usual summer plan of a European holiday as business class tickets surged past ₹5 lakh a seat on some key routes, nearly double the typical fares.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Early investors in Billionbrains Garage Ventures Ltd, the parent company of Groww, are set to offload shares worth up to ₹4,750 crore ($498 million) through a block deal on Tuesday, according to a term sheet reviewed by Mint.The proposed transaction involves the sale of up to 268.4 million shares, representing around 4.3% of Groww’s existing total outstanding shares, through one or more on-market transactions on Indian stock exchanges.The floor price for the sale has been set at ₹177 per share, reflecting an 8.5% discount to Groww’s closing price of ₹193.52 on the National Stock Exchange on Monday.The sellers in the transaction include Peak XV Partners Investments VI-1, Sequoia Capital Global Growth Fund III – U.S./India Annex Fund LP, Y Combinator's YC Holdings II LLC, Ribbit Capital V LP, Ribbit Cayman GW Holdings V Ltd, and GW-E Ribbit Opportunity V LLC.The proposed stake sale comes months after Groww’s strong stock market debut and sharp post-listing rally. The issue comprised a fresh equity issue worth ₹1,060 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of 55.72 crore equity shares by existing shareholders.Shares of the company, which listed at ₹100 apiece in November last year, opened at premiums of 12-14% on the NSE and BSE.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Potential competition from the National Stock Exchange (NSE), India’s largest bourse, hasn’t perturbed the country’s largest commodity derivatives exchange, MCX, though it is keeping a close eye on NSE’s activity in the commodity derivatives segment (CDS), Praveena Rai, managing director & CEO of MCX indicated on Monday.MCX dominated the commodity options market in FY26 with a 99.9% share, leaving rival NSE with just 0.1%."We are watching the space very closely… it is a large competitor and they have made their intention felt in the market with the focus they are placing on the commodity segment," Rai said in response to an analyst’s query on evolving challenges during the company's Q4 earnings call.Rai didn't name NSE, but the reference was unmistakable as it is the second-largest non-agri commodity contender in CDS, ahead of BSE.Though NSE entered the CDS in 2018, it began working at increasing its market share in earnest only since late last year. Starting last November, it revised the expiry of its WTI crude oil options contracts to seven days before the underlying futures expire—a significant shift from its previous two-day window and the current schedule followed by MCX.In March 2026, it launched a 10-gram gold contract to compete with MCX’s benchmark gold contract, followed last month by a dated Brent Platts futures contract to gain a foothold in the energy derivatives market.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.India's top business leaders, including billionaires Gautam Adani and Sunil Bharti Mittal, on Monday endorsed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to reduce consumption of import-dependent commodities like fuel and gold to conserve precious foreign exchange as a protracted West Asia war fuels price rise.They also called for strengthening domestic investments, accelerating energy transition, and ensuring self-sufficiency in compute for artificial intelligence (AI) to help insulate the economy from future global shocks.The industry leaders were speaking at the Annual Business Summit 2026 of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).“We need to get away from this obsession of gold. We need to lower our energy cost.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) tighter gold loan rules are likely to slow growth in one of South Indian Bank’s fastest-growing businesses, with the lender saying the new rules could constrain how much demand it can meet.“The revised RBI guidelines will have a certain amount of impact on how much business we can do,” managing director and chief executive officer P. R.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.NEW DELHI: The few seconds of music you hear while waiting for someone to answer a phone call is copyrighted intellectual property, and telecom operators offering caller tunes may now need separate licences and royalty payments to lyricists and composers after a recent Calcutta High Court ruling.On 8 May, the Calcutta High Court ruled against Vodafone Idea in its long-running dispute with the Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS), holding that telecom operators cannot offer caller tunes and ringtones solely on the basis of licences obtained from music labels.Mint explains the ruling and what it could mean for telecom operators and digital platforms.The dispute centres on whether telecom operators offering caller tunes and ringtones require separate licences from lyricists and composers, apart from licences obtained from music labels such as Saregama.Telecom companies treat caller tunes as a value-added service, a paid add-on beyond regular calling and SMS facilities that generates additional revenue and improves user engagement.Vodafone Idea signed agreements with Saregama in 2014 to use songs for caller tune services. However, IPRS argued that while music labels may own sound recordings, lyricists and composers retain separate rights over the underlying literary and musical works under the Copyright Act, particularly after the 2012 amendments that strengthened creators’ royalty rights.In 2018, Vodafone Idea approached the Calcutta High Court challenging IPRS’s claim that telecom operators required separate licences and royalty payments for using songs as caller tunes and ringtones.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Mumbai: For Mumbai-based tech professional Ketan Madhav, weekends are reserved for a subject he pursues with almost religious zeal—food. Every Saturday, he and his friends pick a newly opened restaurant and work their way through a smorgasbord of options, ranging from coastal Indian fare to exotic cuisines from faraway lands.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.In April, the Chinese government issued a notification—Decree 834, which imposed restrictions on multinational companies operating in the country. Mint examines what this decree is all about, its motivation, its implications for India, and what the Indian government should do to counter it.Decree 834 is China’s first comprehensive regulation on industrial and supply chain security. While not entirely new, it creates a unified national security-driven regulatory framework for supply chain oversight.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.New Delhi: The Centre has amended rules to allow private, government-approved testing centres (GATCs) to inspect and certify petrol, diesel, and gaseous fuel dispensing machines, as it aims to reduce delays, ease compliance, and protect consumers, according to an official order reviewed by Mint.The calibration and verification certificate, which must be obtained every year, has become a massive exercise.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The Britannia Industries stock is down about 7% in the past two days after its March quarter (Q4FY26) volume growth came in at a subdued 5.5%. The biscuit maker’s total consolidated operating revenue growth stood at 6.5% year-on-year to ₹4,719 crore. Growth moderated in March compared with January-February, mainly due to supply disruptions in international business following the West Asia war.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Recent months have tested investor confidence. Indian equity markets have seen noticeable corrections amid global uncertainties, with broader indices declining sharply due to tightening liquidity, rising oil prices, and geopolitical tensions.Most indices declined by over 10% in March, while crude oil prices surged by more than 33% (before cooling off in April).

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Just as online brokers have made stock investing possible with a click, several applications now allow users to invest in fixed deposits (FDs) from multiple banks online without needing savings accounts with those banks.In April, low-cost broker Zerodha joined the bandwagon by launching such digital FDs on its investment platform Coin. Other apps that facilitate digital FD investments include Stable Money, SuperMoney, Jiraaf, and GoldenPiThe main advertising pitch for digital FDs is higher interest rates than those offered by traditional banks and the convenience of a one-stop shop.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Even though Indian gold retailers sold less jewellery in the March quarter as soaring prices forced shoppers to cut back on purchases, higher rates helped prop up their revenues.Jewellery buyers typically stick to fixed budgets, buying smaller quantities when prices are high, executives said. “When prices are low, the volume will be higher.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: Earlier in May, the Lakshmi Mittal family and vaccine-maker Adar Poonawalla successfully bid for Indian Premier League team Rajasthan Royals at a valuation of $1.65 billion, or over ₹15,600 crore. In March, the Birla family, along with Blackstone PE, Bolt Ventures and The Times of India Group, acquired rival IPL team Royal Challengers Bengaluru for a $1.78 billion valuation, or more than ₹16,000 crore.At these valuations, cricket teams are selling for 30x their last reported annual revenue from operations.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Indian business rarely does exactly what the government wants it to. For the past decade or so, for example, it has obdurately refused to invest as much as officials think it should.Last week, chief economic advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran said that profits for the 500 largest publicly traded companies had grown by over 30% a year since the pandemic, “but still, our overall capital formation rates from the private sector have been disappointing.”Nageswaran is not the only one complaining.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) stocks are staging a recovery after months of underperformance, with the Nifty FMCG index rising 7% over the past month as early signs of stabilizing consumption and selective earnings upgrades revive investor interest in the sector.Most frontline names, including Bajaj Consumer Care Ltd (-3%), CCL Products (India) Ltd (-1%), Marico Ltd (-1%), Nestlé India Ltd (-1%) and Tata Consumer Products Ltd (-8%), are now within striking distance of their lifetime highs, leaving room for potential catch-up if demand improvement sustains.Recent management commentary across companies points to early signs of improving consumption trends, prompting investors to revisit the sector for its earnings visibility, defensive positioning and steady compounding potential, said market participants.Marico Ltd management expects double-digit revenue growth in FY27, driven by high single-digit volume growth in the domestic business, while the international business is projected to grow in the mid-teens on a constant currency basis.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.State Bank of India’s (SBI) shares have fallen nearly 10% in the past two trading sessions to around ₹980, with most of the decline coming after its March quarter (Q4FY26) results announced late Friday.The trigger: net interest income (NII) growth lagged loan growth. While interest-earning assets, mainly loans and investments, rose 14% year-on-year, NII grew just 4% as asset yields declined sharply.On advances, management clarified that external benchmark lending rate (EBLR—repo and treasury bill-linked) loans, which account for roughly 50% of total loans, were repriced lower following the RBI’s 25 basis points (bps) repo rate cut in December.The marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) was also reduced by 5 bps, weighing on loan yields.As a result, domestic net interest margin (NIM) fell 19 bps sequentially to 2.93% in Q4FY26.On the investment side, interest income declined 3% year-on-year as the bank sold higher-yielding securities.This move likely helped offset a mark-to-market (MTM) loss of ₹4,522 crore on its bond portfolio due to hardening yields.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.India’s unemployment debate is missing a crucial dimension: time. Time spent waiting is a loss at any age, but especially so in one’s youth. For both the individual and the country, it is a loss of prime productive years.Last year, 11.6 million Indians in their 20s were unemployed and about 6.8 million of them had been job hunting for over a year.