India Financial News

₹1.5 trillion during the period since RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee met in October 2025.Despite this, in its policy announcement of 5 December, the central bank said it would conduct OMO purchases of government securities (G-Secs) amounting to ₹1 trillion this month, apart from 3-year dollar-rupee buy-sell swaps of $5 billion—only to double the quantum of both within a space of less than three weeks.Last Tuesday, RBI announced OMO G-Sec purchases of ₹2 trillion and a forex swap auction of $10 billion for a tenor of 3 years to be held on 13 January 2026. While bankers say liquidity typically tightens as the year nears its end, RBI has not explained what has changed to make it literally double down on infusion.Yes, like other central banks, RBI is expected to function as a lender of last resort.

Following years of aggressive hoarding, Indian corporations are starting to dip into their cash reserves to fund dividend payouts and acquisitions, but not capital expenditure (capex).According to a Mint analysis of data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the pace of cash accumulation hit an eight-year low by September 2025.The analysis of CMIE data for a common sample of nearly 2,000 listed firms, excluding banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) companies, showed that cash and bank balances rose just 1% year-on-year to about ₹5.4 trillion by September. The pace is a far cry from the pandemic period, when heightened uncertainty pushed median cash balances up by nearly 15% annually between September 2020 and September 2024.Companies are now sitting on a cash pile equivalent to nearly 5% of their total assets, up from 3.5% in September 2017 and 4% in September 2020, the analysis showed.

World Bank report in September on container port performance. "The port’s CPPI values were 66 (2020), 62 (2021), 35 (2022), 48 (2023), and 100 (2024).

Dear reader, as 2025, a year of global tumult and volatility, rolls by, Mint's reporters and columnists look around the corner on what is coming in 2026—to help you know what to expect and prepare for it. Tell us what you think at [email protected]: India’s pet care market is suddenly swelling with contenders, as consumer giants chase a new generation of indulgent pet parents and their ‘fur babies’.

Dear reader, as 2025, a year of global tumult and volatility, rolls by, Mint's reporters and columnists look around the corner on what is coming in 2026—to help you know what to expect and prepare for it. Tell us what you think at [email protected] has the milk but not the export muscle.That imbalance has defined its dairy sector for years: a country that is among the world’s largest milk producers, yet remains a marginal player in global dairy trade.

Best stocks to buy today (All Buy trades are rates of Equity & Sell rates are based on F&O)Gravita India Ltd: Buy above ₹1870, stop ₹1800 target ₹2030 (Multiday)Laurus Labs Ltd: Buy above ₹1088, stop ₹1072 target ₹1115 (Intraday)PNB Housing Finance Ltd: Buy above ₹970, stop ₹950 target ₹1030 (Intraday)On 24 December, the Sensex and the Nifty ended lower ahead of the Christmas holiday, weighed down by FII selling and profit-booking across key sectors. The benchmark indices slipped from their intraday highs, with the Sensex closing at 85,408.70, down 116.14 points (0.14%), while the Nifty settled at 26,142.10, losing 37.45 points (0.14%).

The heavy industries ministry is likely to exhaust its ₹857-crore subsidy fund for electric three-wheelers in the L5 category under the ₹10,900-crore PM E-Drive scheme three months ahead of schedule, according to the government’s letter to manufacturers. The funds were originally expected to last until March 2026, but the high adoption of electric three-wheelers means they have been disbursed faster than anticipated.In a publicly available letter to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) dated 23 December, the ministry said it would stop granting incentives on reaching the scheme's target of 288,809 L5 three-wheelers, or on 26 December, whichever came earlier.“Para 46 of the scheme notification clearly stipulates that the PM E-Drive Scheme is fund-limited, and once the allocated funds for the scheme or any of its sub-components is exhausted, no further claims will be entertained,” the letter read.Two kinds of electric three-wheelers can receive subsidies under the PM E-Drive scheme – L3 category e-rickshaws with small batteries, commonly used for last-mile connectivity in cities such as Delhi and Kolkata; and larger, L5 category three-wheelers that are used to ferry both passengers and cargo.

₹65,000-crore domestic paneer market, according to two government officials and a document reviewed by Mint.Authorities have frequently seized fake paneer ahead of major festivals, when demand surges, giving unscrupulous traders an opportunity to flood markets with adulterated products, posing a threat to consumer health.To curb this unsavoury practice, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) proposes to make it compulsory for paneer substitutes (products made from non-dairy ingredients such as vegetable oils) as “paneer analogue”, while prohibiting the use of any dairy-related terminology, to help consumers clearly distinguish them from milk-based paneer.“Currently, analogues are designed to mimic the white, creamy appearance of traditional or real paneer, often using starches and emulsifiers to replicate the texture. The proposed regulations aim to empower consumers to make informed choices instantly and promote healthy eating,” said the first of the two government officials cited earlier, both of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity.For clear visual identification, these substitutes will have food colour added to them to ensure that they stand out from the white and natural dairy paneer or paneer-based products.

New-age electric bus manufacturers have stormed India’s biggest tender, picking up nearly 80% of the 10,900 e-buses on offer as part of the ₹10,900-crore PM E-Drive scheme, leaving legacy players with little to show for their efforts.Flush with recent investments, companies like PMI Electro Mobility and Eka Mobility offered aggressive, lucrative pricing, securing contracts for 5,210 and 3,485 e-buses, respectively.Among other manufacturers, only Olectra Greentech—an established electric bus manufacturer and a subsidiary of Hyderabad-based EPC company Megha Engineering—managed a partial win, bagging 1,785 e-buses.Bigger names such as Tata Motors and VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV) were caught off guard when the results, revealed on Wednesday, showed they had not won a single contract, according to three executives directly aware of the development. Chennai-based Ashok Leyland missed the tender entirely due to a technical glitch and has approached the Delhi High Court.Government officials and industry executives spoke on the condition of anonymity as the results are so far only known to the bidders and haven’t been made public.

Dear reader, as 2025, a year of global tumult and volatility, rolls by, Mint's reporters and columnists look around the corner on what is coming in 2026—to help you know what to expect and prepare for it. Tell us what you think at [email protected] Chinese zodiac predicts that 2026 will be the Year of the Fire Horse, symbolizing bold decisions, ambition and sharply moving away from the strategic thinking that was 2025, the Year of the Wood Snake.For both the employer and the employee in India Inc, there will be three prominent trends, says experts.

₹6.64 a unit, even though solar and wind power come for ₹2.5-4. The key reason is the 'infirm' nature of renewable power - lack of generation when the sun doesn't shine, and the wind doesn't blow.Even those renewable projects with combined solar and wind generation, plus battery storage, are not finding takers despite being available at ₹5 a unit or lower, as discoms remain wary of battery supply chains. Meanwhile, thermal provides the necessary base load.

rabi crops. "The cold wave conditions in north and other parts of the country are currently conducive to rabi crops and we don't see any major impact," said Ratan Tiwari, director, Indian Council of Agricultural Resrach-Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR), Karnal.India’s rabi crop sowing in 2025–26 has recorded a notable increase in coverage compared to the previous year, with total area sown rising by more than 8 lakh hectares, according to data released by the Union ministry of agriculture & farmers’ welfare on Monday.

Mint explains what the government’s NOC actually signifies, and why these approvals are unlikely, by themselves, to change the current structure of India’s aviation market any time soon.No. An NOC does not allow an airline to fly, sell tickets, or commence operations. It merely permits a company to begin the formal process of setting up an airline.Air Kerala illustrates the gap between approval and execution.

rare earth magnets, a key input for sectors ranging from defence and electronics to renewable energy and electric vehicles.Mint unpacks the committee's recommendations and India's ambitions for rare earth magnets.Critical mineral security assumes significance amid geopolitical uncertainties and trade wars as nations try to leverage their resources to disrupt supply chains.China’s export ban on rare earth magnets in April 2025, which disrupted manufacturing supply chains globally, resulted from an escalating trade war, with the world’s second-largest economy retaliating to steep US tariffs.Beijing used its dominance in the sector–60% of the world’s rare earth mining and 90% of the world’s processing capacity–as a tool to disrupt supply chains, pushing manufacturers across the globe into a frenzy.The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in its Sustainable Development Goals Pulse 2025 report in July this year, noted that minerals required for the energy transition – copper, zinc, germanium, tin, and nickel, among others – faced higher export restrictions compared to other traded critical minerals. “This trend reflects rising geopolitical sensitivities and growing domestic value chain ambitions in producing countries,” the report noted.The International Energy Agency narrowed and simplified this sentiment, focusing on how critical minerals are shaping the energy transition.

The Asian Drama, Gunnar Myrdal introduced the concept of the ‘soft state.’ He was really writing about South Asia, especially India, with barely any mention of the ‘miracle economies’ of East Asia.He characterized the Indian state as a ‘soft state,’ implying a government with limited capacity, unable to unwind a gridlock of competing interests that sucked up and dissipated scarce resources. This pre-empted the high growth necessary for reducing widespread poverty.India is now a fast-growing economy and poverty is much reduced, but regulatory failure to clean up the air in Delhi under successive governments suggests that the ‘soft state’ still prevails.Of late, the soft state has also been very visible in the awful tragedy in Arpora, Goa, where a fire at an unauthorized night club, Birch by Romeo Lane, killed 21 persons.

New Delhi: To reduce India’s high burn-related mortality rates and standardise care across hospitals, the Centre has issued comprehensive treatment guidelines that formalise first-aid practices and discourage the use of common household remedies, according to two officials and a document seen by Mint.The development assumes significance given the rising burn injuries—an estimated 6-7 million injuries annually and around 150,000 deaths each year—with women and children disproportionately affected due to cooking fires and flammable liquids.The new framework, to be adopted by health centres with immediate effect, seeks to replace India’s fragmented, hospital-specific burn care protocols with a uniform, evidence-based system ranging from first responders, primary health centres (PHCs) and tertiary hospitals.The guidelines organise burn care into four levels—pre-hospital, primary, secondary and tertiary—clearly outlining responsibilities at each stage to reduce delays, inappropriate treatment and avoidable complications.They address a critical gap where healthcare professionals often relied on a mix of personal expertise and conflicting protocols due to resource constraints.The effectiveness of burn care in India has been constrained by chronic shortages of trained personnel, essential supplies and specialised equipment, gaps that are most acute in resource-limited settings, impacting patient recovery and complication rates."Standard treatment guidelines are vital because medical science is evidence-based, yet currently, individual hospitals often follow disparate protocols. It is crucial to collate best practices to ensure uniformity," said Dr.

Mint.The deal size is expected to be $50-60 million ( ₹449-538 crore) and would likely provide a full exit to the promoters, one of the people said, adding that the transaction is likely to close in the coming weeks.The acquisition is part of Pulsar’s broader strategy to build a food platform through the consolidation of multiple assets, the second person said.Both spoke on the condition of anonymity.The mid-market private equity firm has a strong footprint across India, West Asia and other emerging markets. Led by former TPG executive Vish Narain, Pulsar has backed several consumer-facing companies, including Biryani by Kilo and Blue Tokai, and earlier this year partnered with PJP Investments to bring Papa John’s Pizza to India.Pulsar and Nandhana did not immediately respond to Mint’s requests for comment.Founded in 2004 by Ravichandar Ramaswamy, Nandhana Palace is among the more prominent Andhra-style restaurant chains, with multiple outlets across Bengaluru and Chennai.

The author is a chair of the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet and a former chairman of Microsoft India.Catch all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint.

₹500 for a plate of six pieces.“Sushi’s vibrant colour palette and visual presentation make it particularly appealing to younger consumers, many of whom are drawn to dishes that photograph well for social-media platforms such as Instagram,” said Shravan Singh, manager of the two-year-old restaurant.In Kanpur, the dish is the highlight of the menu of another such small restaurant, “Oishi the temple of Wok”. It offers a variety of sushi, including Prawn Tempura, Avocado Cream Cheese, and Smoked Salmon.

The author is associate professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University and visiting fellow at the Centre de Sciences Humaines, New Delhi.Catch all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint.

Dear reader, as 2025, a year of global tumult and volatility, rolls by, Mint's reporters and columnists look around the corner on what is coming in 2026—to help you know what to expect and prepare for it. Tell us what you think at [email protected] hits and mid-budget flicks alike lit up Indian cinemas in 2025, proving that viewers flock to theatres regardless of scale or star value, and raising hopes of an encore in the coming year.While trade experts expect 2025 to close with collections of ₹13,000-13,500 crore across languages, about 10-14% higher than the previous year, the failure of films such as War 2 and Sikandar featuring big stars, and franchise films like Thamma, signals that big names alone aren't enough.That said, surprise hits such as Chhaava, Saiyaara and Tere Ishk Mein, along with the breakout numbers of industries like Gujarati, Marathi and Malayalam, underscore the growing space for all kinds of content in theatres, unlike the perception built immediately after the pandemic when only larger-than-life titles were finding draw in cinemas.Devang Sampat, managing director of Cinepolis India, identified three highlights of the year.