India Financial News

The Supreme Court of India recently permitted the withdrawal of clinically assisted nutrition and hydration for Harish Rana, marking the first judicial case related to the fundamental right to die with dignity. The decision is a landmark in clinical and legal history. As the family took Harish to AIIMS, New Delhi, for the process, one can hardly imagine their emotional state.

Bengaluru: A sharp rise in crude oil-linked raw material prices is unsettling India’s plastic packaging industry, but a bigger disruption is being caused by companies securing and stockpiling their supplies, tightening availability and pushing up prices.This is directly impacting packaged food and beverage companies that are preparing for peak summer demand. Most plastics are derived from crude oil and natural gas liquids that are refined to make the raw material for plastic.Prices of key inputs such as PET resin (used for plastic bottles) and polyolefins (used for bottle caps, labels and pouches) have surged by 40% to 80% in weeks, driven by the West Asia conflict that started on 28 February and subsequent global crude oil volatility.

Novo Nordisk to treat type-2 diabetes, semaglutide, delivered in an injection, has gained global attention for its weight-loss benefits. The drug is sold under brand names Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus (oral pill) by the Danish pharma giant.With patent protection expiring, companies including Dr.

The war in West Asia has raised geopolitical vulnerabilities. These are not only affecting countries in the region that are directly or indirectly involved in the war, but also much of the rest of the world. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has already led to a spike in energy prices and shortage of petroleum products, including gas.

A faraway war may squeeze margins for one of India’s biggest beer makers just as the summer season begins.After two tepid quarters, demand is finally recovering but profitability could be under pressure amid rising input costs due to the ongoing war in West Asia, Vivek Gupta, managing director and chief executive officer of Bengaluru-based United Breweries, which makes Kingfisher and Heineken, said in an exclusive interview.“The growth of the beer category is dependent on not just favourable weather but also on affordability, local policies and raw material supplies,” Gupta told Mint. “Our margins will surely be under pressure as there will be some impact from the war.

India joined several developing countries to advocate for a global framework to lower cross-border remittance costs ahead of the World Trade Organisation's 14th ministerial conference (MC14), marking a focus on development-linked financial issues in trade.The proposal, supported by Morocco, Pakistan and the African Group, addresses remittance fees, which remain above the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals target of under 3% by 2030. On several routes, costs still range between 5% and 6%, significantly reducing the amount that ultimately reaches recipient households.

₹83,029 crore, up nearly 36% from February’s ₹61,141 crore, which itself was a 16-month high, according to NSE data.“This month could witness highest-ever ADT for NSE, thanks to a surge in volatility because of the rising geopolitical tensions,” said Amit Chandra, vice-president, research, at HDFC Securities.The previous record monthly ADT for NSE was ₹71,690 crore in February 2024. With seven sessions remaining this month, sustained trading amid elevated volatility could push the exchange ADT to a new high and potentially boost market share, said Kruti Shah, quant analyst at Equirus Securities.The spike in turnover is mirrored in the ratio of premium to notional turnover on NSE, HDFC Securities' Chandra said.

Small-cap funds, the most sought-after mutual fund category that has attracted majority of investor money in the last three years, have a problem — spotting specialized talent to run investments.As a result, several of them have managers running both large-cap and small-cap funds or have co-management teams in place or, in some instances, have even the chief investment officers (CIOs) listed as the primary fund manager of small-cap funds.Investors have put over ₹1.35 trillion into small-cap funds in three years through February, yet the number of fund managers equipped to run these schemes, which demands a distinct skill set, remains limited.Assets managed by small cap mutual funds more than doubled to ₹3.64 trillion in February from ₹1.32 trillion in February 2023. Number of folios, as mutual fund accounts are termed, in the segment also more than doubled to 28 million in the same period, according to industry lobby Association of Mutual Funds of India or Amfi.Mint analyzed all the small cap schemes and found that there are 31 asset management companies (AMCs) that offer both small-cap and large-cap schemes.Of these, 12 mutual funds have the same manager overseeing both large-cap and small-cap funds.Further, among a total of 34 small-cap schemes, 11 named the CIO or head of equities as the primary fund manager.Unlike in large-cap stocks where research coverage is vast, spotting good small stocks requires digging and peeling layers.

Bluechip stocks are shares of large, well-established companies with strong financial performance and a long history of stable earnings. These companies are usually industry leaders, have strong balance sheets, and often pay regular dividends to investors.Because of their size and reputation, bluechip stocks are considered relatively safer and less volatile than smaller or newer companies.

It is unfortunate that India’s government has decided to call off the privatization of IDBI Bank for now, as reports indicate. The disappointment is that this decision was reportedly taken in response to poor investor interest—as seen in low bids for the 61% stake on offer to corporate bidders. There are many reasons behind the process of what we in India like to call ‘disinvestment,’ a euphemism coined as a political shield against critics.

The ripple effects of a disruption in cooking gas supply due to the West Asia conflict have begun to show up in India’s top management institutes, which house thousands of students and staff.While there is no uniform crisis across campuses, multiple Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) told Mint they have taken precautionary steps over the past week as delays in LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinder refills started affecting kitchen operations. Measures have ranged from trimming menus to securing supplies through local administrative support.“LPG crisis has been severe,” said Devashish Das Gupta, chairperson, student affairs, IIM Lucknow.

clean energy ministry in December urging banks and other lenders to be cautious on financing new solar photovoltaic module manufacturing capacity. Adding to the sector’s woes is a preliminary 126% tariff recently imposed by the US, which threatens to choke off its primary export market and worsen an already growing domestic capacity glut.“We are now quite cautious on lending to this industry.

DoT) in December reserved 50MHz spectrum in the 5,875–5,925 megahertz (MHz) band for V2X and intelligent transport systems (ITS). Of this, 30MHz (5,875–5,905MHz) will be used for initial deployment, with the remainder earmarked for future ITS applications.DoT has approached Trai for its recommendations as MoRTH does not deal with the subject of spectrum.Vehicle connectivity is built around two components: on-board units (OBUs) installed in vehicles and roadside units (RSUs) deployed along infrastructure such as traffic signals.

Cummins India Ltd: Buy above ₹4,720 | Stop ₹4,600 | Target ₹5,050 (multiday)Infosys Ltd: Sell below ₹1,260 | Stop ₹1,295 | Target ₹1,210 (multiday)Hindustan Unilever Ltd: Sell below ₹2,140 | Stop ₹2,175 | Target ₹2,050 (multiday)On 18 March 2026, Indian equities extended their winning streak for a third straight session, buoyed by strong global sentiment and broad-based buying. The Nifty 50 briefly crossed the 23,850 mark intraday before settling at 23,777.80, up 196.65 points or 0.83%.

Walt Disney Co.’s expected technology centre in Bengaluru raises questions over up to 9% of information technology (IT) outsourcer Globant S.A.’s revenue, underscoring a troubling shift in the software services sector as large clients bring back-end work in-house.The entertainment giant’s global capability centre (GCC) in Bengaluru will be “an integrated extension of global product and technology teams”, its spokesperson said in an emailed response to Mint. In January, the company behind Mickey Mouse and Peter Pan to Spider-Man reportedly leased 174,000 sq.

Stock market recap: India’s benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty 50 rose 0.8% each on Wednesday, 18 March, tracking global gains as oil prices eased, even as investors turned cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision later in the day. Concerns over the ongoing US-Iran war in the Middle East capped gains.The Sensex climbed 633 points, or 0.83%, to close at 76,704, while the Nifty 50 advanced 196 points, or 0.83%, to settle at 23,778.

New Delhi: Amid the West Asia war, ethanol makers have urged the petroleum ministry to accelerate higher fuel blending and utilize a massive surplus to safeguard national energy security, with India being one of the largest importers of crude oil, according to a letter seen by Mint.The All India Distillers Association (Aida) wrote to the petroleum and natural gas ministry on 3 March, days after the conflict broke out on 28 February, seeking incentives for flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs), which run on very high ethanol blending, and higher procurement of ethanol by oil marketing companies (OMCs).Aida represents about 80% of India's total distillation capacity.The industry’s representation came after underutilisation of ethanol feedstocks in 2024-25 and 2025-26, according to a copy of the letter seen by Mint.Global oil volatility and supply chain disruptions make it imperative for India to strengthen domestic alternatives and accelerate indigenous biofuel production, the letter stated.“At a time when the country needs stronger domestic energy buffers against global oil shocks, idle biofuel capacity represents a missed strategic opportunity,” the letter said.Email queries sent to the ministry of petroleum and natural gas, ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH), Indian Oil Corp. Ltd, Bharat Petroleum Corp.

Mint earlier reported that India is in talks with Iranian authorities for safe passage for six LPG and four crude carriers through the Strait of Hormuz.Stay updated with the latest Trending, India , World and US news.

₹33,660-crore Bharat Audyogik Vikas Yojna (Bhavya) kicks off in fiscal year 2027 (FY27), aiming to expand India's manufacturing muscle, while creating large-scale employment.The Union Cabinet also approved a series of projects totalling more than ₹45,000 crore, including Bhavya, which will be executed over five years."The scheme is expected to drive large-scale job creation, generating substantial direct and indirect employment across manufacturing, logistics, and services, while catalyzing significant investments. The scheme aims to generate 15 lakh direct jobs by boosting manufacturing-led growth and enhancing infrastructure with ready-to-use industrial parks," said Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union minister for railways, information and broadcasting, and electronics and information technology.The Bhavya scheme will be implemented in partnership with states and private sector players, building on the experience of industrial smart cities developed under the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme.

Mint explains.Nvidia launched a new generation of its Vera Rubin chips, and an all-new Nvidia Groq 3 chip—designed after it signed a $20-billion partnership deal with the founder of Google’s custom chip.These focus on power efficiency, thereby significantly reducing the cost of AI. Huang referred to ‘inferencing’ or the cost of running AI, which he said will fall drastically when these new chips hit data centres in three years.The new chips, for the first time, took the spotlight away from building AI and onto running it, suggesting that Nvidia sees AI at a stage of mass adoption.Training AI is becoming templatized, while running AI will bring the bulk of the demand for specialized chips.

BYD sells four electric vehicle models in India—eMax 7, Atto 3, Sealion 7, and Seal. The first two models are homologated in India, thus there is no limit to their imports in the country.In 2025, its sales grew 88% to 5,402 units, as per data from the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (Fada).