India Financial News

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Economists often talk of ‘inflationary expectations’ and one may be left wondering what these mean. In essence, the argument goes that present inflation is not relevant as this has already been witnessed. What is important is future inflation, which is why expectations of price levels matter.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.NEW DELHI: India’s appetite for Swiss watches is expanding, but the bigger shift is in how consumers are buying them. As the market crossed ₹3,500 crore for the first time in 2025, demand is increasingly being shaped by more informed, deliberate choices—moving away from logo-driven purchases towards craftsmanship, heritage and understated design.“The Indian luxury customer has evolved from buying brands to buying watchmaking,” said Pranav Saboo, managing director and chief executive of Ethos Ltd, one of India’s biggest watch retailersThat shift is showing up across the market.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Balanced advantage funds (BAFs)—hybrid mutual funds that dynamically shift between equity and debt—adjust their allocations in response to market conditions. In theory, they increase equity exposure when valuations are low and move towards debt when equities appear stretched.A closer look at how India’s five largest BAFs have moved over the past two years, however, reveals a more nuanced picture: the broad direction is consistent, but the pace, range and conviction differ from fund to fund.Between January 2024 and March 2026, the Nifty 50 ran through a full cycle—rallying about 19% from around 21,700 to over 25,800, correcting nearly 14% through February 2025, recovering through the rest of 2025, and showing fresh weakness in early 2026 amid the West Asia war.Through this period, the five largest BAFs by assets under management (AUM)—HDFC Balanced Advantage Fund, ICICI Prudential BAF, SBI BAF, Edelweiss BAF and Kotak BAF—all adjusted equity exposure, but in different ways driven by their underlying models, ranging from valuation-based frameworks to momentum-driven approaches.That divergence matters.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.On 13 April, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) returned Ujjivan Small Finance Bank's (SFB) application for a voluntary transition to a universal bank, asking it to diversify its loan portfolio. RBI had also returned Jana SFB's application in October 2025 for failing eligibility criteria under its April 2024 framework for SFB-to-universal bank transitions. Jana and Ujjivan are expected to reapply.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.There is a particular kind of Indian investor I have come to admire over the years—disciplined, patient, and largely immune to fads. They began a few SIPs decades ago, quietly added to them, never panicked during crashes, and never chased the hot sector of the moment.They built real wealth—not through brilliance, but through consistency and time. Their family will be materially better off because of what they did.And yet, when such a person dies, what often follows is a scene their careful investing was never meant to produce.A spouse who knows money exists somewhere but cannot say where.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Power transmission projects worth nearly ₹5 trillion are currently under bidding or execution across India, according to a senior official from the ministry of power.This large pipeline comes at a time when transmission infrastructure has emerged as a bottleneck in expanding renewable energy capacity and meeting the country’s rapidly rising power demand.To achieve 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030, the government has planned significant transmission expansion.In FY26, transmission projects worth ₹1 trillion cleared the National Committee on Transmission stage, while projects worth ₹1.47 trillion progressed beyond the special purpose vehicle stage.The government’s broader objective is to build a next-generation, intelligent and integrated national grid capable of supporting renewable energy, storage solutions, green hydrogen, and emerging demand centres such as data hubs.With power transmission emerging as a major investment theme, the sector is attracting investor interest.Here are a few companies with strong order pipelines to track.According to the business update Investor and analyst interaction on 23 March 2026, the company has a strong, visible execution pipeline of over ₹1.48 trillion.Assuming a 50% win rate on a ₹15 trillion opportunity, the company estimates potential project wins of around ₹7.5 trillion over the coming decades, resulting in an illustrative long-term execution pipeline of over ₹9 trillion.Power Grid, a Maharatna central public sector enterprise under the ministry of power, is primarily engaged in the transmission of electricity through its EHVAC (extra high voltage alternating current) and HVDC (high voltage direct current) transmission networks.The

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.A soft-spoken civil engineer with a fondness for early mornings and scriptures, Elattuvalapil Sreedharan appears to be an unlikely revolutionary.Yet few individuals have altered urban India as profoundly as he has. The label “Metro Man” barely captures the scale of his impact — especially in Delhi, where he didn’t just build a railway system, but helped change how a city thinks about movement, time and public space.When Sreedharan took charge of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation in the late 1990s, the daily commute of a typical Delhite was a case study in hardship.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.From India falling to the sixth rank in the IMF’s GDP rankings to retail inflation rising at a quicker pace in March amid the West Asia war, the moderation in shareholder payouts by TCS to parent Tata Sons, and commercial banks facing fewer penalties from the RBI, indicating improved compliance, here’s a compilation of this week’s news in numbers.India has slipped to the sixth rank globally in gross domestic product (GDP) rankings for 2025 (FY26) and 2026 (FY27), falling behind the UK after holding the fifth spot for three consecutive years, according to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) latest data.The pullback follows a downward revision in the country’s nominal GDP after the base year was updated from 2011-12 to 2022-23, which corrected previous overestimations, Mint reported. Additionally, a sharp depreciation in the rupee has weakened India’s standing in dollar terms.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Bengaluru: Organized jewellers are pushing lightweight designs, price-lock schemes and new launches amid volatile gold prices ahead of Akshaya Tritiya.The push comes amid sharp volatility in gold prices following the West Asia war, weighing on entry-level demand. Prices have swung widely over the past three months—from a record ₹1.75 lakh per 10gm in January to about ₹1.31 lakh in March, with intermittent rebounds and intraday drops of up to 5%.Akshaya Tritiya, which will be celebrated on Sunday, 19 April, isconsidered auspicious for buying gold.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The trailing impact of disruptions related to goods and services tax (GST) and recent policy changes dulled the March quarter for life insurers. HDFC Life Insurance and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, India's second and third largest private life insurers respectively, reporting softer growth and lower margins in what is usually their strongest premium season.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.New Delhi: India’s food regulator has cracked down on a key ingredient in popular wellness supplements, ordering a halt to the use of ashwagandha (withania somnifera) leaves and their extracts amid safety concerns flagged by the Ministry of Ayush, according to a government official and documents reviewed by Mint. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India said only the roots of ashwagandha—an Ayurvedic staple herb widely marketed for stress relief, muscle recovery and cognitive support—are permitted, and has directed states to act against violations.The move could disrupt formulations in India’s $38.77 billion nutraceuticals industry, where ashwagandha is a key product with its market estimated at $928.5 million in 2026.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) on Friday authorized 17 banks to import precious metals for the period from 1 April to March 2029, according to an official order.Of these, Union Bank of India and Russia- headquartered SBER Bank are authorised to import only gold, while 15 others, including Axis Bank Ltd, State Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, and HDFC Bank Ltd, are authorised to import both gold and silver, the order showed. Bank of India, Deutsche Bank, Federal Bank Ltd and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd are also on the list.In FY26, Indian Overseas Bank was authorised to import only gold, which has now been expanded to both precious metals, the order showed.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Mumbai: Last week’s euphoria on Dalal Street appears to have cooled, even as global indices outperformed Indian benchmarks. While optimism around US–Iran peace talks lent support, investor activity remained selective, driven more by stock- and sector-specific bets than broad-based momentum.The Nifty 50 and Sensex rose over 1% this week, extending gains after last week’s near 6% surge—their strongest in over five years—but the pace has now moderated.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Angel One’s shares jumped over 10% on Friday to ₹322 after its March-quarter (Q4FY26) results offered relief following a difficult stretch. Net revenue from operations rose 37% year-on-year to ₹1,014 crore, while operating margin expanded to 42% from 32%, aided by operating leverage.The rebound comes after a prolonged adjustment to tighter regulations that dragged revenues lower in the nine months to December.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.India’s food safety regulator has moved food recalls from paper trails to real-time digital tracking.The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has launched a dedicated “Food Recall” portal in March 2026, integrated into its FoSCoS licensing system, creating a centralized cloud-based hub to track recalled products.The shift comes after high-profile recall episodes — from Maggi noodles in 2015 to recent concerns over spices and protein supplements — exposed the delays and opacity in manual systems.The new framework aims to significantly reduce the time between identifying a food safety hazard and removing the product from the market.Mint explains.The “Food Recall” portal is a web-based facility integrated into FoSCoS. Each recall is assigned a unique identification number, allowing digital monitoring and public access to recall information.All new recalls initiated by enforcement authorities — including Designated Officers (DOs) and Central Licensing Authorities (CLAs) — must now be created directly in the FoSCoS system using official logins.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.NEW DELHI: Orkla India, the listed maker of MTR foods and Eastern spices, is gearing up for its next phase of growth with a cash-rich balance sheet to fund acquisitions, even as it pivots towards convenience foods and digital channels—moves that could stretch its traditional operating model.“We are a cash-generating company. We generate anything between ₹300-400 crore annually… money is not a constraint," Sanjay Sharma, managing director and chief executive officer at Orkla India, said in an interview with Mint.The debt-free company is evaluating partnerships and buyouts of regional brands as it looks to expand beyond its southern stronghold.The push comes as Orkla works to stabilize performance after its listing in November last year, part of its parent’s strategy to create independent portfolio companies and drive local value creation.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Every few years, a sector comes into focus and goes from nice to becoming a non-negotiable.Cybersecurity hit that inflection point a while ago, during the pandemic, but the surprising thing is, it’s not going back any time soon.In 2024 alone, we saw headline-grabbing incidents that rattled entire industries, from the CrowdStrike outage that disrupted airlines, hospitals, and businesses globally, causing estimated losses of over US$5 billion, to relentless ransomware campaigns targeting healthcare and government infrastructure.If anything, those events didn't slow down the investment in the sector, but they accelerated it.The numbers clearly back that up. Global cybersecurity spending is projected to hit $248 billion in 2026, a 12.5% jump, even as broader tech stocks face a rough ride this year.On top of this, worries around AI deepfakes continue to surge, following a 250% rise between 2024 and 2025.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: Cement prices across India have climbed to a one-year high after the West Asia conflict pushed up global energy and freight costs, raising input expenses for manufacturers, with analysts expecting further increases that could bring prices close to four-year peak levels.Cement companies have raised prices by ₹15–20 per 50 kg bag this month, lifting all-India average prices by about 5% in April compared with March, according to a Motilal Oswal report dated 10 April. Manufacturers are facing higher costs for fuel, packaging bags and other inputs, with early signs that the price cycle may extend further.Dealers expect additional hikes in the coming weeks if demand remains steady, according to Motilal Oswal analysts.Data from Crisil Intelligence shows cement prices previously peaked at about ₹305 per 50 kg bag in FY23, driven by a surge in global crude oil prices amid geopolitical tensions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Mumbai: India’s fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies are set to report a largely steady March quarter, with demand holding up despite a complex operating environment. However, a volatile mix of commodity swings, geopolitical tensions and emerging inflationary pressures is beginning to cloud the outlook, even as companies rely on calibrated pricing and cost controls to protect margins.Large listed players such as Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), ITC Ltd, Nestle India, Dabur, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd and Marico Ltd are expected to reflect these cross-currents in their March quarter earnings, which will kick off later this month.“FMCG companies will be able to maintain a status quo in the domestic market this quarter,” said Ankur Bisen, senior partner and head of retail, consumer products, food and e-commerce sectors at consulting firm The Knowledge Company.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The Centre’s proposal to fast-track India’s implementation of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Women’s Reservation Act) by speeding up nationwide delimitation has opened a Pandora’s box. That Act of 2023 amended the Constitution to reserve 33% of seats in Parliament and state assemblies for women. It was to be done after delimitation, a process by which electoral constituencies would be redrawn based on population.Now the Centre has made two big legislative moves—one to enlarge the Lok Sabha’s numeric strength and another to set up a commission that would carve up India’s electoral map afresh and could use population data from an earlier census than envisaged.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank will kick off the banking sector’s March-quarter earnings season on Saturday, with brokerages expecting a stable performance but watching closely for management commentary on margins, growth and macroeconomic risks from the West Asia war.For HDFC Bank, the spotlight will be on leadership developments following the exit of former part-time chairman Atanu Chakraborty on 18 March. Chakraborty had resigned with immediate effect from the board, citing “certain happenings and practices within the bank” that were “not in congruence” with his personal values and ethics, prompting questions on oversight and internal controls at trhe country's largest private bank.Following his resignation, HDFC Bank, in a late-night announcement, said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had approved the appointment of board member and HDFC Group veteran Keki Mistry as an interim part-time chairman for three months from 19 March.