India Financial News

The International Financial Services Authority (IFSCA), which regulates GIFT City, has proposed a reduction in the minimum ticket size for portfolio management services (PMS) from $150,000 to $75,000, or about ₹64 lakh at current exchange rates, according to a consultation paper released on Monday. This brings the minimum ticket size for PMS closer to the ₹50 lakh stipulated by markets regulator Sebi for onshore PMS schemes.

Even as newspaper headlines celebrate equity mutual fund inflows surpassing ₹45,000 crore in June, with systematic investment plans (SIPs) exceeding ₹21,000 crore (growing 9x in the last 10 years), we should remain cognizant that like any true market, equities have two sides to the equation–demand and supply. 

Bharti Airtel initially jumped almost 2% in early morning trade on BSE a day after its consolidated net profit for the June quarter rose more than two-and-a-half times from a year earlier and doubled sequentially, helped by an exceptional gain, along with an improvement in average revenue per user (ARPU) and lower finance costs. Airtel shares were eventually trading 0.61% higher at Rs 1474.95 on the exchange.

India's gold industry, with the support of the World Gold Council (WGC), has established a self-regulatory organisation in a bid to increase consumer confidence and restore trust, the WGC said on Tuesday. The newly-formed Indian Association for Gold Excellence and Standards (IAGES) aims to promote fair, transparent and sustainable practices in the bullion industry, along with regulatory compliance, a code of conduct, and an audit framework, said Sachin Jain, CEO of WGC's Indian operations.

Middle class’ is a term used rather loosely by individuals wanting to project that they are not as well-off as others think they are. And it has been used extensively on social media since the Narendra Modi government decided to remove indexation benefits available on long-term capital gains made on the sale of property. We have been told by rich mutual fund agents, chartered accountants and registered investment advisors in the business of managing other people’s money that this is an anti-middle class move.

foundit’s recent report on skills assessment trends in India shows that the top-paying skills today are artificial intelligence, machine learning and product management. Here is a look at the specific skills in each vertical and the salary for these roles, according to foundit: AI&ML

Prakash Padukone observed that shooter Manu Bhaker excelled in the Paris Olympics partly due to the absence of intense pressure. He noted that Bhaker's success in shooting stemmed from not being among the favorites, a factor which often shields athletes from the debilitating pressure experienced by frontrunners. Padukone highlighted that many of India's past Olympic medals have come from athletes who were not expected to perform at such a high level, benefiting from the lack of pressure on their performances. «One of the reasons why Manu Bhaker has done well in shooting because she was not among the favorites. People who are favorites are always under pressure and have not done so well as expected. Most of our medals even in the earlier Olympics have come from people whom we have not expected anything because there is no pressure,» he said. «Olympics is all about handling pressure. All the more important it is more to pay attention to the mind...to train your mind...to do yoga..to do mediation,» he said.

Bajaj Consumer Care Ltd.(up 5.38%), Patanjali Foods Ltd.(up 4.42%), Jyothy Labs Ltd.(up 3.85%), Nakoda Group Of Industries Ltd.(up 3.57%), Vadilal Industries Ltd.(up 2.70%), Tasty Bite Eatables Ltd.(up 2.42%), Sheetal Cool Products Ltd.(up 2.13%), Emami Ltd.(up 1.97%), Umang Dairies Ltd.(up 1.93%) and Britannia Industries Ltd.(up 1.90%) were among the top gainers.

food services group K Hospitality Corp plans to list the business on Indian stock exchanges with a Rs 2,500-3,000 crore initial public offering, said people aware of the development. The operator of restaurants and cafes, food courts, and airports stores with brands such as Copper Chimney, Bombay Brasserie, Cafeccino, and The Irish House has hired Kotak Mahindra Capital and ICICI Securities to manage the IPO process, they said.

Gland Pharma Ltd.(up 3.65 per cent), Natco Pharma Ltd.(up 2.57 per cent), Sanofi India Ltd.(up 2.06 per cent), Ipca Laboratories Ltd.(up 2.02 per cent) and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd.(up 2.01 per cent) were among the top gainers.

Vinod Kambli was reportedly seen in a disoriented state, requiring assistance from passersby to maintain his balance. A video circulating on social media shows Kambli struggling to walk, with bystanders helping him reach his destination. However, ET could not verify the video's authenticity, time and place of the video.

Olympics 2024 and they have inched a step closer to an Olympic medal, with an eye on the gold. Having beaten Great Britain in a thrilling quarterfinal clash, Harmanpreet and Co have dodged a bullet and will face 2023 World Champions, Germany on Tuesday. But the field is not clear for the Indian men as they do not have defender Amit Rohidas on their side for the penultimate clash as he has a one match ban in place by the International Hockey Federation.

AI startups in the United States received $27 billion in funding in the April-June quarter, accounting for nearly half of all startup funding in the country during that period. Funding for AI startups in India on the contrary stood at $8.2 million in the April-June quarter, declining about 91% sequentially and by 82% year on year. Even as year-to-date in 2024, Indian AI startupshave raised nearly $96 million, which is a 61% increase over the same period in 2023, there is a reset of sorts happening in the Indian AI space. The initial euphoria is settling down and investors are looking beyond large language models (LLMs) and are now trying to zero in on companies which could build applications and services on top of LLMs. The greatest value for Indian startups could perhaps accrue from building cost-effective applications and services since LLMs and GPU chips are highly capital-intensive, investors and executives told ET.

Marico Ltd said during the company’s post-earnings call on Monday. The Parachute hair oil maker on Monday reported a 4% increase in domestic volumes, as consolidated revenue rose 7% year-on-year. For the quarter ended 31 March, the company had alluded to a “visible uptick" in rural demand albeit towards the end of the quarter.

From Wipro to LTIMindtree, IT employees irked by another delay in salary hikes Subcontractor costs for Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, India’s largest IT services company, dropped to 4% of its operational revenue of ₹62,613 crore in the June quarter, its lowest since October-December 2019, when its temporary worker costs accounted for 7.9% of revenue. For HCL Technologies Ltd, this figure dropped to 12.6% from 14.8% in the same period, and for Wipro Ltd, to 11.3% from 14.7%.

Dating app Juleo which aims to solve the matchmaking crisis has raised $2.5 million in a funding round from Livspace founder Ramakant Sharma, Cred founder Kunal Shah, Acko cofounder Ruchi Deepak, and Groww founders Harsh Jain and Lalit Keshre, among others. The funds will be used for building the team as well as for growth and marketing efforts. “Dating app burnout and mental health issues sadly affect singles globally today. We intend to build a trusted club for singles that provides them with a safe, trustworthy, and responsible service to find real love,” said founder and chief executive Varun Sud.

₹15.4 trillion. Domestic institutions stepped up to counter sales by foreign investors; however, profit-taking by investors who route money directly into markets worsened Monday's fall. How retail investors behave from now—through mutual funds and direct investments—will be key to ascertaining whether Indian markets can outperform global peers, market experts said.

Sheikh Hasina fled Bangladesh for India on Monday seemingly just ahead of protesters storming their way into the Prime Minister's residence in Dhaka as month-long protests led by students over job quotas boiled over into an uprising. As many as 300 people have been killed since the protest began in July. A plane carrying Hasina, 76, landed at the Hindon Indian Air Force base just outside the capital as New Delhi worked out a safe passage for its long-standing ally in the region. Her final destination isn't clear. While some reports said she may go into exile in London, there is a possibility that she might depart for a destination in eastern or southern Europe. Belarus may be one of the possible destinations. Back in Dhaka, the country's army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman said on state television that, with Sheikh Hasina having resigned, the military would form a caretaker government, following meetings with political parties.

₹5 crore of borrowing remaining through non-convertible debentures (NCDs). According to disclosures filed on its website, Tata Sons had no loans from banks and other financial institutions as of 30 June, as against ₹18,809 crore or 44% of its total liabilities in the same period last year. The move towards becoming debt-free is being seen as a step towards avoiding getting listed under a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guideline, because loans from financial institutions is one of the metrics assessed by the regulator when it looks at classifying upper-layer NBFCs such as Tata Sons.

Tax Intelligence (DGGI) has sent showcause notices to 10 foreign airlines operating in the country, for alleged non-payment of tax amounting to ₹10,000 crore, officials said. They include British Airways, Lufthansa, Oman Air, Emirates and Singapore Airlines, they said. The notices, sent over the past three days, deal with unpaid tax dues on the import of services by Indian branches from head offices, officials said. Airlines are not covered by a June 26 circular on valuation of supply of import of services by a related person, where the recipient is eligible for full input tax credit, an official said. DGGI sought segregated list This is the circular cited by Infosys following a recent integrated GST demand amounting to Rs 32,000 crore.

digital payment mode in the country at the cost of mobile wallets that are losing relevance with their monthly transactions in steep decline. Around 403 million mobile wallet payments were recorded in June this year, 24% lower compared with 530 million such transactions a year earlier, data from the Reserve Bank of India show. The number has also been falling sequentially every month since January, when it was more than 576 million. Throughout this year, these prepaid payment instruments have shown a decline in transactions with January recording more than 57 million wallet payments, compared to the next six months when it kept declining to the 40 million range.