India Financial News

Bengaluru residents.

Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal said that the financial disparities imposed by the BJP-led Union Government on Kerala go beyond politics, posing a significant challenge to cooperative federalism, and called on the Central government to ensure fair treatment for all states. «The BJP-led Union Government's financial discrimination against Kerala is not just a political slogan but a question of cooperative federalism, and it is the duty of the Central government to protect the interests of the states,» the minister told PTI in an interview on Monday night. Balagopal, who has been challenging the BJP-led Centre for its alleged discrimination against Kerala on financial matters for quite some time, said that the issue has now been raised by other non-BJP ruled states, including Congress-ruled Karnataka, as the states are feeling strangled by the Centre.

Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma voiced confidence that his digital payments pioneer will overcome regulatory setbacks in India this year and stage a comeback as a stronger company. “The biggest thing that I’ve learned is that many times your teammate and adviser may not be getting it correct,” Sharma said at a financial technology conference in Tokyo Tuesday, his first public appearance since Indian regulators ordered his banking affiliate to halt certain activities. “And it is important for you, yourself to be taking care of it versus just letting a teammate or a adviser suggest that what should it be.” Sharma is fighting to put his digital-payments company back on stable footing after regulators placed severe curbs on the banking affiliate, the backbone for much of its financial and payments services. Both Paytm and Paytm Payments Bank are part of the billionaire’s fintech empire, but the bank isn’t controlled by the publicly traded mobile wallet pioneer.

Khan is hitting the headlines for the wrong reasons. Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan recently came under a lot of fire for a gaffe. The ‘Jawan’ star was seen calling ‘RRR’ actor Ram Charan ‘idli’ at the pre-wedding function of Reliance heir Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant. The second day of the pre-wedding festivities saw an energetic dance performance by the three Khans — Shah Rukh, Salman, and Aamir. The trio danced to some of their evergreen chartbusters. The trio also attempted to shake a leg to ‘Naatu Naatu’, the superhit song from ‘RRR’. It was at this point that SRK called Ram Charan to join them.

BJP on Tuesday lashed out at the opposition parties' INDIA bloc over reported remarks of DMK leader A Raja against Hinduism and Lord Ram and said insulting India's ethos publicly and humiliating Hindu gods has become the hallmark of their political agenda. Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, senior party leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad noted that DMK MP Raja in his latest speech in Tamil has said «India is not a nation. Understand this well. India is never a nation. One nation means one language, one tradition, one culture. Then, only it is a nation. India is not a nation but a sub-continent». «This is Maoist ideology,» Prasad charged, reacting sharply to the DMK leader's reported remarks. Prasad further quoted Raja who said in his speech «if this is your Jai Shri Ram, if this is your Bharat Mata Ki Jai, we will never accept that Jai Shri Ram and Bharat Mata. Tamil don't accept. You go and tell (that) we are enemies of Ram».

JG Chemicals, which opened for subscription earlier today, was fully booked so far on the first day of bidding. The retail portion of the issue was fully subscribed, while NII category followed closely with 93% subscription. There were no bids yet in the QIB category of the IPO, which closes on March 7.

power producers to import 6% of their coal requirements until June, despite adequate domestic availability, amid transport constraints and higher electricity demand, a power ministry note said on Tuesday. India last year had asked utilities to import 6% of their coal requirements until March due to an unprecedented surge in power and coal demand. Despite record production by state-run Coal India, which accounts for about 80% of India's domestic production of the fuel, constraints with the country's railway network necessitated imports, the note said.

El Nino has peaked as one of the five strongest on record and will continue to impact global climate in the coming months despite a weakening trend, the World Meteorological Organisation said on Tuesday. The UN agency also said above-normal temperatures are predicted over almost all land areas between March and May. The prevailing El Nino conditions fuelled record temperatures and extreme events the world over, with 2023 being the warmest on record. According to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service, the global mean temperature breached the 1.5-degree Celsius threshold for an entire year for the first time in January.

Mercedes-Benz expects India to become its third biggest market in its 'Region Overseas' over the next 2-3 years with demand anticipated to remain strong for luxury products, according to a senior company executive. The Region Overseas for Mercedes Benz comprises 118 countries, excluding North America, Europe and China. India is the fifth largest market in the region after Japan, South Korea, Australia and Turkey. The sales gap between India and Turkey is around 8,000 units per year.

The premium BYD Seal offers nifty featuers. In the front it sports Double U floating LED headlights with glistening ripple lamp while in the back it has a boundless LED tail light with sporty black diffuser. It offers electronic hidden flush door handle, 19 inch precision blade wheel hub, and waterdrop-shaped side mirrors.

Reserve Bank of India has asked the country’s major state-owned refiners to press Persian Gulf suppliers to accept at least 10% of oil payments in rupees in the next financial year, three executives at the processors said. The move is aimed at promoting the Indian currency in international trade and cutting dependence on dollars, said the executives, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. The government is worried that India’s booming demand for energy will put downward pressure on the rupee, and also wants to leverage the growth in consumption to its own advantage, they said. The three refiners — Indian Oil Corp., Bharat Petroleum Corp. and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. — have already approached oil exporters on the matter, but the suppliers are pushing back due to currency risk and conversion charges, the executives said. The central bank has asked the Indian refiners to bear part of the currency transaction charges, but they are also resisting the idea on the grounds it will erode margins, they said.

Israel on Tuesday advised Indians working in Israeli border areas to relocate to safe zones within the country. The advisory comes a day after an anti-tank missile attack near Israel's border with Lebanon killed one foreign worker and seriously wounded two Indians. «In view of the prevailing security situation and local safety advisories, all Indians nationals in Israel, especially those working in or visiting border areas in the north and south, are advised to relocate to safe areas within Israel,» said the embassy in a post on X. «The Embassy remains in touch with the Israeli authorities to ensure the safety of all our nationals,» it added.

Karnataka aims to become a $1 trillion economy by 2032 by growing at a sustained rate of 18%, Industries minister MB Patil said on Monday. The state, he said, would soon bring out a new clean mobility policy that would make the state a premier destination for EV manufacturing. Patil, who was speaking at the inauguration of the 54th World Trade Centre Association (WTCA) Global Business forum, said that the state’s Industrial Policy for the period 2020-25 provided multiple financial incentives to create favourable economics for investors. “Karnataka is also partnering with technology companies to leverage industry 4.0 technologies and the state will drive automation and develop AI-powered subscription products or services,” he added. This was the first edition of the summit in Karnataka and the second held in India. The event, jointly organised by the New York World Trade Centers Association and Bengaluru World Trade Centers Association, was inaugurated by Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.

Tata Sons, the holding company of the Rs 30 lakh crore conglomerate, grows louder, investors have already started betting on Tata Chemicals which could be the biggest beneficiary of the mega IPO. Shares of Tata Chemicals rallied 8% to the day's high at Rs 1,084.80 on BSE on Tuesday. Classified as an upper-layer NBFC last year by RBI Tata Sons must list itself on stock exchanges by September 2025. It was last year reported that Tata Sons could be worth Rs 11 lakh crore and a 5% stake sale would lead to an IPO size of about Rs 55,000 crore.

electric vehicles and aerospace market in the last few years has been on the rise, with a marked increase in volume and quality of high precision gears being exported from the country, American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA) president President Matthew Croson told ET. Increased investment towards the manufacturing sector, both from government and private players, he added, was a major contributor towards this. “At the end of the day, you can't make the gears at the level without new equipment, and well trained people that can work those machines. Our member companies from India are doing a great job of demonstrating quality that’s coming out of India right now,” he said. AGMA, which has been accredited to write the US standards on gearing, counts 17 Indian companies among its members. A major emerging trend in the gear industry worldwide, Croson said, was vehicle electrification. “We've learned that because of the NVH, the noise and the volume, the vibration, and some of the issues there, electric vehicles need high precision gears. It requires new education and training, and we’re providing classes from our organisation for this…it is a net positive for the industry,” he said.

FSSAI) has confirmed that McDonald’s India uses 100% real cheese, Westlife Foodworld said in a stock exchange intimation on Tuesday. «The verification confirms the brand’s assertion that it uses 100% Real Cheese and that it does not use any cheese analogues or substitutes in any of its products,» the company said. Further, the west and south zone of McDonald’s India has also received results of tests done by an NABL-accredited lab, confirming use of 100 per cent real cheese across its products, Westlife said.

bonds in the Bloomberg Emerging Market Local Currency Index with effect from January 31, 2025. The inclusion of Indian bonds in the Bloomberg EM index could bring inflows of $5 billion from passive investors and more likely from active investors.

The deadline to update your Aadhaar card for free is about to end. In December 2023, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) extended the deadline for free updation of Aadhaar. The deadline for free updation of an Aadhaar card is 14 March. At present, one can update their Aadhaar card for free only on the myAaadhaar portal. However a ₹50 fee is charged if you update it offline.

long buildup. The signal is considered more reliable if the volume on the counter has also seen an increase. -Bata India's stock price gained 2.46%, and open interest saw a rise of 1.93%.

Uday Kotak on Tuesday said that too much regulatory guardrails could impede economic growth and halt India's journey towards a developed nation. Regulators should not be too conservative and cautious but must respond fast to «accidents» in the respective sectors, he said while addressing a two-day event organised by National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA). «I feel very very optimistic for India's future but I am also very conscious that...unbridled focus on the opportunity without having the guardrails also runs the risk, and also too much guardrails will not get us there (developed nation),» he said. Observing that the aspiration of the fast growth of 7.5-8 per cent GDP over the next 20-25 years needs significant capacity building, he said, «it also requires a sense of dreaming. It requires a sense of creativity, entrepreneurship, and professionals (need to be) ready to take risks without fear.»