India Financial News

Mumbai: Adar Poonawalla-led Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd is in talks to partner with medical device maker Trivitron Healthcare to scale up its investment in MyLab Discovery Solutions Pvt.

Write to Andy Serwer at [email protected] updated with the latest Trending, India , World and US news.

The global landscape has shifted significantly over the past few weeks, triggered by the unfolding geopolitical complexities in West Asia.As we stepped into 2026, the sentiment was one of cautious optimism. The probability of a global recession appeared slim, and investors were pivoting aggressively toward growth assets.

Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are going to the polls this month. These three states are dissimilar in many ways. But they are similar in that they have had unique sociopolitical paths from the time of India’s independence.

Mint.Co-founder Mohal Lalbhai confirmed the fundraise, saying the company is in discussions with existing and new investors to support market expansion this financial year, but declined to comment on valuation. “We are currently in the process of raising around $50 million from existing and new investors as we look to grow our market presence over this financial year,” he said.The round is being led by existing investors, including Capital 2B, and Japan Airlines' JAL Innovation Fund, one of the two people quoted above said on the condition of anonymity.

₹4,900-5,200 crore, has traditionally been dominated by FMCG and consumer electronics players, making the entry of healthcare brands notable.“IPL has always reflected where India’s aspirations are headed and today, India wants to be healthier, not just entertained,” said Ripal Chopda, chief marketing officer at The Sleep Company, whose campaign features MS Dhoni linking sleep to overall health.The shift is playing out beyond traditional advertising slots and into team-level partnerships and product integrations. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries has signed a three-year principal sponsorship and health partnership with Royal Challengers Bengaluru—the first such direct association between a major drugmaker and an IPL franchise.

India’s market regulator is working on a collaborative framework with corporates, academia and professional bodies to expand the pipeline and effectiveness of independent directors, even as recent boardroom tensions at HDFC Bank sharpen scrutiny on governance standards.“Sebi will seek to embark on a joint initiative for capacity building of independent directors at scale with a view to further improve corporate governance,” Sebi chief Tuhin Kanta Pandey said at the 19th Governance Summit hosted by the Confederation of Indian industries (CII) on Monday.“Boards are well constituted, but not always equally effective. Information is available but not always interrogated deeply.

India’s luxury hotels are exploring ways to capitalize on their brands by going beyond room bookings and food and beverage sales. Chains such as Taj, Marriott, Leela, Oberoi and Sarovar are increasingly moving into branded residences and serviced apartments to diversify their offerings.The trend, which has been around for a few years, gathered pace in FY26, with at least half a dozen projects signed and launched across Mumbai, Gurugram, Noida and Greater Noida as hospitality companies looked for more asset-light revenue streams tied to real estate.Indian Hotels Company Ltd, which runs the Taj brand of hotels, signed an agreement to manage 74 Taj serviced apartments with the Gulshan Group in Noida last month.

The world has been through this before. Oil prices spike, supply chains shudder and emerging economies absorb the pain while advanced nations reach for their strategic reserves. But the conflict now roiling West Asia carries a twist that policymakers must not overlook: this is not a health shock, as covid was.

Regional storytelling has always had a strong emotional connect with audiences. When combined with the short, mobile-optimised format of micro-dramas, such stories can travel naturally across digital platforms, industry experts say.“We are starting to see early interest in regional language micro-drama storytelling as the format gains visibility in India.

₹2,600 crore into its automobile subsidiary, JSW Green Mobility, since its inception—signalling a serious push into India’s passenger and commercial vehicle market as it gears up for a FY27 debut.Billionaire Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Group is targeting the October–December quarter of financial year 2027 to launch its first passenger vehicle, after infusing about ₹2,600 crore into its automobile subsidiary, JSW Green Mobility, since inception.According to Mint’s review of multiple filings with the ministry of corporate affairs, the capital was deployed primarily toward setting up plant operations for passenger and commercial vehicle businesses in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, alongside general corporate purposes and debt repayment.With interests spanning steel, energy and paints, JSW’s move marks its most decisive diversification yet—and places it alongside Tata Group and Mahindra as the third major Indian business house entering the automobile sector.While the automobile subsidiary was incorporated in 2023, filings show it did not receive meaningful financial support from group firms until December 2024—when chairman Sajjan Jindal publicly declared JSW’s intent to build its own automobile brand.Funding from group companies accelerated sharply after that announcement.Queries sent to JSW Group remained unanswered.“Our idea is not to be an outpost of a Chinese company to sell products in India,” Jindal told the Financial Times in December 2024. “We want to manufacture the products in India, value-add in India, and sell them in India.”The company is scheduled to launch its first car in the October–December quarter of financial year 2027.

After years of marginal tweaks, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) undertook one of the most consequential reforms in its External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) framework in February this year. Over the decades, commercial loans raised by Indian resident entities have been regulated under tightly-controlled regimes, with caps on the quantum of annual borrowing, ceilings on interest spreads, prescriptive maturity conditions and rigid end-use norms.

The Indian rupee lost 10% against the US dollar in 2025-26, making it one of the worst performances in emerging markets. March alone saw a 4.24% drop, the steepest in any single month in six years, with the rupee briefly breaching the 95 level against the dollar. To defend the currency, the Reserve bank of India (RBI) sold dollars heavily from its reserves, which fell by $30.5 billion in March.

India’s mutual fund body has asked the market regulator to allow fund houses to use intraday borrowings from banks to purchase securities after it deferred implementation of the new norms to July, according to two people aware of the development.On 13 March, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) tightened regulations and allowed fund houses to borrow funds from banks on an intraday basis only for repurchase or redemption of units, payment of interest, or income distribution-cum-capital withdrawal payouts to unitholders. The new rules were to have become effective on 1 April, Sebi said in a circular.“The circular will tie up mutual funds’ hands.

Growth has been slow but steady, exactly opposite of the steady decline in the US market.Subway, like other fast-food joints, is a part of the quick service restaurant (QSR) industry, which is riding on the tailwinds of India’s growth story.India’s QSR industry is complex and varied, with entities ranging from small independent eating places (neighbourhood Udipi type hotels) to home-grown chains (Haldiram’s, Saravanaa Bhavan) to multinational franchises (Subway, McDonald’s). However, the organized QSR market is dominated by a few firms, which control global food brands and generate about ₹20,000 crore in revenue (2024-25 estimate).The top five companies are publicly listed, and recent press reports suggest that Subway may also be preparing for an initial public offering.

EPL is the world's largest manufacturer of laminated tubes, producing roughly 9 billion tubes annually. It operates 21 manufacturing facilities across 11 countries, catering to the oral care, beauty, and personal care (BPC), and pharmaceutical segments.

Snapchat is leaning on India’s regional film industries, enlisting local celebrities to share movie updates and behind-the-scenes content, to engage Gen Z tier-II and tier-III cities—a win-win for both the platform and filmmakers.“We work closely with regional film industries across languages spanning Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and other ecosystems because that’s where some of the most authentic and culturally relevant storytelling is happening today,” said Saket Jha Saurabh, director and head of content and AR partnerships at Snap Inc., Snapchat’s parent company.“These efforts also play a key role in helping us strengthen our reach across emerging markets, including tier-II and tier-III cities, where both regional storytelling and Snapchat adoption are seeing a strong momentum," he added.While Snapchat has collaborated to promote movies such as Pushpa 2, HIT 3, Ponniyin Selvan II, Kantara Chapter 1, and Dude, top regional celebrities like Rashmika Mandanna, Allu Arjun, and Ghanta Naveen Babu, popularly known as Nani, also share content on the app, enticing their fans to sign up.The strategy is to offer exclusive content and early previews, including first looks at films, directly to the app’s audience.

As the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) heads into its first policy decision of the new financial year on 8 April, a rate pause is widely expected even as a rapidly shifting macro landscape triggered by the West Asia war may force a shift in its outlook.A Mint poll of 10 economists and market participants points to rising inflation risks and a weakening growth outlook, with all expecting the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to hold rates while signalling a more cautious policy stance.In 2025, the RBI had cumulatively cut the repo rate—the rate at which it lends short-term funds to banks—by 125 basis points (bps), with the last cut of 25 bps in December to 5.25%.“We do expect RBI to hold onto the repo rate and stance,” said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda. The MPC’s stance has remained neutral since June 2025.“The tone will be cautious,” Sabnavis added.

More than three weeks since the US President Donald Trump announced an investment by ‘Reliance’ in a new oil refinery in his country, a lack of clarity from both the Mukesh Ambani-led company and India’s two top stock exchanges on the subject has exposed gaps in India’s rumour verification rules, experts said.While some experts believe that Reliance Industries Ltd should have provided further clarity on whether it was investing in the US, others think the situation falls within the ‘grey area’ of the disclosure rules governing listed companies.However, experts say India’s two top stock exchanges–BSE Ltd and the National Stock Exchange–could have used their discretion to seek clarification from Reliance Industries on the subject, as they often do with other firms for matters of far less significance.Rumour verification is governed by Regulation 30(11) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements, 2015 (LODR). The regulation was amended in 2024 to link verification to stock price movement rather than event materiality.For a stock priced above ₹200, such as Reliance Industries, the price movement threshold is 3% relative to the benchmark.

NITI Aayog, nearly 600 million Indians face high to extreme water stress, while industrial water demand is expected to double by 2030. Despite this, only 30–35% of wastewater generated in urban India is currently treated, and an even smaller fraction is reused.According to Le Guennec, encouraging industries to transition from freshwater dependence to treated wastewater could significantly ease pressure on freshwater resources.

As we enter a new fiscal year, both the government and industry bodies such as the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) would do well to focus on what truly drives sustained growth in India: Is it the demand or supply side of the Indian economy?In ten-pin bowling, a strike happens only when the head pin is hit. Economic strategy is no different. If India wants to trigger a virtuous cycle of 8% growth, it must hit the right first pin.