India Financial News

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.NEW DELHI: Telecom operator Reliance Jio Infocomm is expected to post steady subscriber additions for the March quarter (Q4FY26), but the absence of tariff hikes and a shorter quarter are likely to cap growth, a trend analysts expect across the sector.Reliance Jio, the telecom arm of Jio Platforms, will report its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings on 24 April alongside parent Reliance Industries Ltd.“Reliance Jio is expected to add 5 million subscribers q-o-q (quarter-on-quarter) to 520 million, with Arpu (average revenue per user) likely to grow by 1% q-o-q to ₹216/month, led by 5G FWA (fixed wireless access) addition,” brokerage house Centrum said in a note dated 5 April.Arpu, a key industry metric that tracks average revenue earned per user, is seen inching up modestly as operators lean on premiumization rather than price hikes.On a standalone basis, Centrum estimates Jio will report ₹33,529 crore revenue from operations, up 2.4% sequentially and 11.7% year-on-year. Net profit is projected to rise 2.8% quarter-on-quarter and 11% annually to ₹7,371 crore.Reliance Jio, India’s largest telecom operator by market share, accounts for the bulk of Jio Platforms’ business.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Imagine a marketplace for domesticated animals. Over the decades, two dominant merchant groups have come to rule it. Call them X, those who grew up with these animals and understand their temperament and seasonal moods, and Y, a group of shrewd outsiders who spotted the market’s potential early, brought capital from distant lands and learnt the trade well enough to profit off it.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The government’s decision to reopen wheat exports in February after nearly four years—and then scaling up the quota from 2.5 million tonnes to 5 million—comes as India sits on a comfortable surplus. The move aims to ease excess supply and support farm prices without hurting food security. But how do exports lift farmer incomes, and can this be done without stoking inflation? Mint explains.Because there is more wheat in the system than the country currently needs.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.NEW DELHI: As Alpha, the Alia Bhatt-starrer female spin-off to Yash Raj Films’ Spy Universe, which includes hits like Pathaan, readies for release later this year, trade experts say Bollywood still lags Hollywood in building high-profile, female-led franchise extensions.Unlike the West, where films such as Wonder Woman and Black Widow have proven audience pull for women-led entries within larger cinematic universes, Indian studios have been slower to back big-budget action spectacles anchored by female stars—even when they sit inside established franchises.Malayalam cinema has taken early steps in this direction with Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra, a female superhero film released last year. In Hindi cinema, comparable attempts have largely been limited to mid-budget spin-offs such as Taapsee Pannu’s Naam Shabana, a spin-off to Akshay Kumar’s spy film Baby, Kajol’s horror film Maa, a spin-off to Ajay Devgn’s Shaitaan, alongside Rani Mukerji’s ongoing Mardaani series.“The gap largely comes from how franchises have historically been built in Indian cinema.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The clean energy story is evolving fast, and battery energy storage systems (BESS) are becoming a crucial part of that shift.As renewable energy capacity grows, the need to store power efficiently and use it when demand rises is only getting more important. But the BESS theme has not been like many other fast-emerging themes in the market.Due to supply constraints and operational challenges, many stocks within the sector or involved in the ecosystem have corrected from their peaks.In some cases, stocks have fallen simply due to the broader market weakness.As India continues to push aggressively towards renewable energy, the need for efficient energy storage is only expected to grow.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.A $10 million purse? Believe it. A Hermès handbag owned by the late fashion icon Jane Birkin sold for that eye-popping, record-setting sum last summer at Sotheby’s in Paris.Now, if you can afford a $10 million pocketbook, there’s no doubt you have plenty of dough.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Japan has decided to ease restrictions on its sale of weapons to other countries, although this would be limited to the 17 with which it has defence tie-ups. As India is part of the four-nation Quad—with Japan, the US and Australia as other members—Tokyo’s move opens up a possibility worth close consideration by New Delhi. We could diversify our set of high-tech arms suppliers to include a non-hegemonic power with which we have had good relations for eight decades.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: Bigger is proving to be a handicap for portfolio management services (PMS), with five of six large schemes analysed—each managing over ₹5,000 crore—seeing performance decline after crossing that size, an analysis by Mint shows.PMS are customized investment portfolios for high-net-worth investors, with a minimum investment of ₹50 lakh, typically built around a concentrated set of stocks.The pattern points to a structural constraint: as PMS strategies scale, deploying larger sums into high-conviction small- and mid-cap ideas becomes harder without moving prices, compressing alpha.There are 15 equity PMS schemes with assets above ₹5,000 crore as of March 2026, according to data from the Association of Portfolio Managers of India (Apmi). Of these, six schemes were analysed as they manage domestic money and invest directly in stocks.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.B9 Beverages Ltd founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Ankur Jain has been asked to resign and is expected to exit as early as this week, according to two persons familiar with the matter, as investors and lenders move to stabilise the cash-strapped craft beer maker, where production was halted around September last year.The leadership reset will come this week with the appointment of a new CEO. "Salary delays as a result of financial mismanagement have run into several crores.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Bengaluru/Mumbai: War-driven cost pressures are deepening an already weak travel cycle, dampening luggage makers’ peak summer season and pushing them to pivot to smaller, lower-priced products from bigger suitcases. Higher airfares and geopolitical uncertainty have hit suitcase sales, forcing brands to lean on backpacks and accessories to protect volumes without eroding margins.The April-June quarter accounts for about 40% of annual sales for luggage brands as families typically spend more on holidays and leisure travel.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.New Delhi: India is looking to strengthen the social security net for informal workers amid rising living costs for retirees. Under the plan, the finance ministry, in consultation with the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), is considering doubling the assured pension ceiling under the flagship Atal Pension Yojana (APY) to up to ₹10,000 a month, according to three people aware of the discussions.The proposal aims to boost fresh enrolments as well as retention in a scheme that now has 90 million subscribers but faces high drop-offs.Launched in May 2015, the pension scheme focuses on informal sector workers and currently provides a guaranteed monthly pension of ₹1,000-5,000 after the age of 60 years, depending on the subscriber’s contribution slab.With nearly half the enrolled subscribers discontinuing contributions over time, the government is examining a long pending demand to enhance the pension cap to up to ₹10,000 per month to make the scheme more attractive and aligned with rising living costs, according to the people cited above.The scheme's gross enrolments in FY26 crossed 13.5 million, the highest ever in a single fiscal year since its launch.“The government and the PFRDA are examining options to enhance the upper pension cap to around ₹8,000– ₹10,000 per month, aiming to make the scheme more attractive and aligned with rising living costs,” said one of the people cited above, requesting anonymity.Under the scheme's structure, the government provided a co-contribution in the initial years for subscribers enrolled before 31 March 2016.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday tightened and consolidated rules for e-mandates—automated instructions that allow recurring payments—aimed at improving transaction processing by payment system operators (PSOs) and reducing friction for users.Mint explains what has changed, why it matters, and what payment system operators will need to adjust.An e-mandate is a one-time authorization that allows a bank to automatically process recurring payments on a customer’s behalf. These are used for subscriptions such as OTT services, mutual fund investments, utility bills, insurance premiums, and loan instalments.Setting up an e-mandate requires a one-time registration and authentication using an additional factor of authentication (AFA), alongside the issuer’s standard process.Each mandate must specify a validity period, which customers can modify or withdraw at any time.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Iran, China and an array of middlemen have evaded U.S. sanctions for years by shipping oil on aging tankers with opaque records and transferring cargoes between ships at sea, all to avoid scrutiny and legal liability.U.S.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.For long, Indian retail investors operated under a comforting premise — that domestic growth, strong savings, and limited direct global exposure would shield portfolios from global volatility. That premise is increasingly untenable. Indian retail portfolios, long seen as insulated by domestic growth stories such as consumption and banking, are now firmly in the grip of global economic currents.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.On that ordinary Monday morning, nothing felt unusual. Nikhil finished his pranayama, walked Misha, his three-year-old Husky, and switched on the coffee machine to enjoy his morning brew. Then, he opened his laptop to check his mail.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.At his glass-walled office, Pirojsha Adi Godrej, 45, the chairman designate of Godrej Industries, sits with his back to the renowned mangroves of Vikhroli stretching into the horizon. Pirojsha, who collects manuscripts ranging from the Mughal era to contemporary times, is now dedicated to nurturing the storied Godrej legacy, which grew significantly during his father (Adi Godrej) and uncle’s (Nadir) eras. The succession comes two years after the 129-year-old Godrej group split into two—Godrej Industries Group and Godrej Enterprises Group.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.India’s newly unveiled CGSMFI 2.0, a ₹20,000 crore credit guarantee scheme for microfinance, aims to revive credit flows to the stressed sector. Yet, in its current form, it only partially addresses the symptoms and largely ignores the causes. India’s microfinance sector is in downturn.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.More young professionals these days are trading longer vacations for bite-sized weekend hikes and domestic trekking. This trend has picked up immensely across India's busy metros and cities.The government has recognized India's potential to offer world-class trekking and hiking experiences.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.On Thursday, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal—two states with sharply different political rhythms—head to the polls. Tamil Nadu will vote in a single phase across all 234 seats, while West Bengal begins its first phase in 152 of 294 constituencies.Both contests will test the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) momentum: it has little presence in Tamil Nadu but poses a serious challenge to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal.Mint explores:West Bengal has a history of extended single-party/alliance rule. The state was governed by the Left Front, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), for 34 years before Mamata Banerjee’s rise ended that run in 2011.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Akasa Air, India’s third largest airline, is tapping into the month-long demand for Hajj travel to deploy its aircraft capacity left underutilized after services to parts of West Asia were scaled back due to the ongoing war in the region, according to a person aware of the development.Approximately five to six airplanes were used on the West Asia route, which are now being used majorly for Hajj travel," said the person quoted above, requesting anonymity as this plan is part of business strategy.Flights to and from Doha, Riyadh and Kuwait have been suspended until 30 April, according to the airline’s 21 April post on X. While it continues to operate flights to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia—the main gateway for pilgrims going to Mecca—from Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kochi and Kozhikode, Akasa is evaluating resumption of flights to Abu Dhabi, the post said.Akasa Air did not respond to Mint’s queries on aircraft utilization, Hajj travel and the impact of the West Asia crisis.The airline has inducted eight new aircraft in 2026, taking the fleet size to 38.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Among several distressing data points in the recently published The State of Working India 2026, a detailed vivisection of India’s demographic bulge by scholars at Azim Premji University (APU), a few vividly stand out. While India now produces 5 million graduates every year, salaried employment is only a fraction of that at 1.7 million annually. “This has also contributed to a slowdown in graduate earnings,” the report notes.