India Financial News

Electric two-wheeler maker Simple Energy plans to raise $30-40 million in fresh capital, largely from international backers and existing investors, in what could be its first round with institutional participation, chief executive Suhas Rajkumar told Mint. So far, the company has raised capital mainly from family offices and high net-worth individuals rather than venture capital funds.The fresh funds will be used to increase production capacity and support a second manufacturing plant as the Bengaluru-based company rolls out its Gen 2 Simple One range of scooters and the long-range Simple Ultra scooter, which according to the company has clocked 400 km in the Indian Driving Cycle (IDC), a standardized lab test by the Automotive Research Association of India.“We plan to close a fresh round of $30-40 million this year, which will have a mix of equity and debt, and have been talking to institutional investors, mostly international ones,” Rajkumar said.Simple Energy has also held discussions with domestic private equity and venture capital investors, but has so far struggled to convert that interest into large cheques, Rajkumar said.

Mumbai: Public markets-bound Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL), the largest producer of coking coal in India, is pinning its growth story on rising demand from the steel sector, for which the commodity is a key input, the company's management said on Monday.Coking coal is used to make coke, a key input for steel production. This coal sells at a premium to thermal coal, which is burned for heat in power plants and other industries."The real value of coking coal is not getting reflected properly in the Coal India valuation.

₹10,900-crore PM E-Drive scheme, two people aware of the development said.This comes less than a fortnight after CESL concluded the country’s largest electric bus tender of 10,900 units under the PM E-Drive scheme, which seeks to accelerate adoption of electric mobility and focuses on public transport, freight, and ambulances to reduce carbon emissions.CESL’s plan involves reducing the upfront cost of these e-trucks and setting up electric vehicle (EV) chargers by building scale through demand aggregation. CESL, the subsidiary of Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), has started talks with Indian ports that are big users of trucks to ferry goods, said the first of the two persons cited earlier, both of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity.This focus on e-trucks comes at a time when the incentives for two- and three-wheelers under the PM E-Drive scheme are set to lapse in March 2026.“CESL is looking to become the nodal agency for e-trucks also, now that the e-bus tender is done,” said the person cited above, referring to the recently-concluded tender for 10,900 e-buses.“There have been talks for becoming the nodal agency, and some talks with 1-2 ports also.

As gig workers’ unions organized a strike on New Year’s Eve demanding better working conditions, several people took to X and other social media platforms to debate the value of gig work in India’s economy.Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal and InfoEdge founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani (also a Zomato investor) argued that gig work was valuable, pointing out that the strike had clearly failed. Others including Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha met gig workers on strike in Delhi, supporting their demands for better working conditions.Zomato's food delivery partners workforce grew 18% CAGR (compound annual growth rate) from FY22 to FY25.

private sector banks including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and YES Bank are set to kickstart the third-quarter earnings season from 17 January.Non-food credit for the banking sector grew almost 12% on year as on 15 December, according to latest data from the Reserve Bank of India, driven by a consumption-led recovery and supportive regulatory measures. This was up from around 9% in May.“Growth momentum has strengthened over the past few months and credit cycle has seen a meaningful pickup after GST cuts…with the full 100 bps CRR (cash reserve ratio) cut now in place and recent supportive regulatory measures, further support to credit expansion expected ahead,” Motilal Oswal Financial Services said in a pre-earnings note.Pre-quarterly updates from lenders suggest this momentum has sustained into the December quarter, even as deposit growth has lagged, at a little over 9% on year.Macquarie Research flagged that the loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR) for the banking system has climbed to over 81%, the highest level on record.

I’m a OCI cardholder and graphic designer by occupation. I came to India in July 2025 for taking up several regional film projects as a consultant and I plan to stay through the financial year. I’m continuing to do consulting work right now even for outside India clients. Whatever fees that I earn from those clients, I take it in my foreign bank account. Would those fees become taxable in India even if I don’t remit them to my Indian bank account?- Name withheld on requestAt the outset, it is necessary to determine your residential status in India for the financial year 2025–26 under the provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (ITA).If your stay in India during the relevant financial year aggregates to 182 days or more, you would be regarded as a resident in India for tax purposes.

OTT content piracy results in losses of ₹8,000– ₹11,000 crore annually, indicating that 10–25% of the potential revenue generated by original content creators and funders never reaches the platforms.In the past, OTT originals such as Scam 1992- The Harshad Mehta Story, The Legend of Hanuman and Ek Badnaam Aashram, among others, have fallen prey to piracy.“Piracy is honestly the single biggest plague hurting the entire content ecosystem—from production houses to OTT platforms to theatrical businesses,” said Ujjwal Mahajan, co-founder of Chaupal, a platform specializing in Punjabi, Haryanvi and Bhojpuri content.When a piece of content leaks, the entire commercial cycle collapses—subscriptions drop, advertising value decreases, and the ripple effect extends across the supply chain, Mahajan added. “It is responsible for multi-billion-dollar losses globally, and in India, it also means hundreds of millions of dollars of lost tax revenue for the government.

New Delhi: IPO-bound Inox Clean Energy Ltd announced on Monday that its renewables independent power producer (IPP) arm Inox Neo Energies Ltd has acquired 250 megawatt-peak (MWp) of operational solar projects from SunSource Energy Private Ltd and is in the process of acquiring another 50 MWp.Although the company did not disclose the transaction value, two people in the know of the developments said the acquisition was done for about ₹1,000 crore. It will be funded through pre-IPO fundraises, internal accruals, and capital from the promoters, one these people said.MWp denotes the maximum direct-current power a system can produce under ideal laboratory conditions, representing its theoretical peak capacity, unlike MW, which indicates actual, real-world power output that fluctuates with weather and time.The acquisition is a strategic move in India’s rapidly expanding commercial & industrial (C&I) power market.

Generative AI is trained on vast amounts of information to “understand” and generate human-like language. In simple terms, it functions like a super-intelligent research assistant for tax departments.One of its most immediate applications is document summarization.

The Indian Railways increased fares twice in this financial year—first in July and then in December, marking its most concerted effort in years to narrow losses from passenger services and ease the burden on freight users who have cross-subsidised passenger travel.While the hikes have triggered political criticism, the railways argues that the increases are modest, progressive and fiscally unavoidable, especially when passenger fares recover barely 55% of costs, implying a subsidy element of about 45%, as railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw highlighted in the Lok Sabha during the recent winter session of Parliament.The twin fare revisions were part of a rationalization strategy aimed at improving the financial sustainability of passenger services without imposing a sudden shock on travellers.The railways has been absorbing the rising costs of employees, pensions, safety investments and network expansion even as passenger fares remained structurally underpriced.

First, trade pacts serve as instruments of political signalling, allowing India to deepen strategic partnerships while preserving strategic autonomy.Second, they function as tools for hedging risks in an uncertain global trade environment, helping diversify economic relationships and reduce over-dependence on China.Third, deeper engagements provide greater protection for investors by clarifying rules on investment, dispute settlement and regulation.Finally, bilateral agreements help pre-empt exclusion amid the formation of trade blocs that increasingly mirror geopolitical alignments.Our agreements with Oman and New Zealand illustrate this shift. Neither is a major merchandise trade partner.

India’s economy is at an inflection point. On one hand, we aspire to become a $5 trillion economy soon and project a bold vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047. On the other, our economic reality tells a humbling story—just as we did not achieve the $5 trillion mark in 2025, as originally envisaged, the vision of ‘developed’ status by 2047 will not be realized if our GDP grows at its current rate.

₹500 crore in revenue and forming the backbone of its sales—such as Dabur Red Paste, Dabur Amla hair oil, Dabur Honey and Chyawanprash, are widely perceived as “boomer brands,” Mahasuar said.“Gen Z is very particular about ingredients, and look and feel—and most importantly they want visible results,” he told Mint. “Companies in skin care and hair care have been struggling over the last three to four years.

Puneet Kumar Arora is an assistant professor of economics at Delhi Technological University.Catch all the Industry News, Banking News and Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.

There is no contradiction between paying gig workers a living wage and the claim that gig work provides job opportunities to many who would otherwise struggle to earn anything. Delivery workers for food delivery and quick-commerce platforms like Zomato, Swiggy, Zepto and Blinkit went on strike recently, demanding better wages and work conditions.This has triggered a bizarre debate online, as if asking for better wages amounts to socialism and charges of gig worker exploitation go against entrepreneurship. The obvious gainers from low-paid gig work are consumers who get doorstep deliveries both extra-cheap and ultra-fast.

The US security plan’s focus on the Western hemisphere burst into the global spotlight with America’s “capture” from Caracas of its president Nicolás Maduro, who might be charged with support for drug-trafficking and terrorism. Washington, said US President Donald Trump, would run Venezuela till it’s deemed ready for self-rule.

Stock market recap: Indian equities ended Friday, 2 January, on a strong note, led by broad-based buying amid rising optimism ahead of the Q3 earnings season.The Nifty 50 scaled a fresh intraday high of 26,340 and went on to settle at a record closing high of 26,328.55, up 182 points, or 0.70%. The Sensex rose 573 points, or 0.67%, to close at 85,762.01.

The equity sales of company promoters in India reached a record in 2025, and their purchases fell to the lowest level since 2022, as valuation-driven monetization efforts drove sell calls throughout the year.The year 2025 saw promoter exits worth ₹1.38 trillion through secondary market deals alone, according to data from market intelligence firm PRIME Database. This figure represents a 22% increase from the ₹1.12 trillion figure recorded in 2024.

₹4,500 crore in 2025, a startling subculture of ‘digital beggars’ has emerged. These are not street performers or skilled influencers but ordinary individuals who go live on YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook for hours, sitting in drab rooms with a QR code plastered on screen, waiting for UPI notifications like "Received ₹10 on Paytm".No dances, no skits, no aesthetic backdrops—just raw pleas for micro-donations from thousands of viewers.

₹1,000 crore ($111 million), said two people in the know of the developments.An announcement is expected on Monday."The deal value for the acquisition is around ₹1,000 crore. With the slew of fresh acquisitions, Inox Clean may soon file a fresh DRHP (draft red herring prospectus) for its public listing," said one of the two people mentioned above.Mint had earlier reported that SHV Energy has appointed BNP Paribas to sell the solar energy assets of SunSource Energy in a deal having an equity value of around $100 million.

₹1.77 trillion, surpassing the 2024 high of ₹1.73 trillion.“A key catalyst was the primary market cycle, including widely recognised names such as Tata Capital, Meesho, Lenskart, LG Electronics, PhysicsWallah and ICICI Prudential–where familiar brands significantly lowered entry barriers for first-time investors across smaller towns,” said Ankit Mandholia, head equity and derivatives, wealth management at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.The growth in new investors from some of these states comes even as the active investor count has fallen from the post-pandemic highs amid global uncertainty and the Sebi’s crackdown against retail trading in the futures and options (F&O) markets.While state-wise data for individual investors is not available, the number of investors pan-India who traded in the cash segment at least once a year fell 8% in 2025. But those trading in the equity derivatives segment fell 25%, showed NSE data, indicating that new investors are participating in the cash market.Across regions, the entry pattern is consistent: the vast majority of new investors begin in cash equities and IPOs, while F&O participation remains a relatively small fraction, said Arief Mohamad, chief business officer-direct business, Angel One.