India Financial News

Stock market recap: Indian stock market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended 0.7% higher on Tuesday, 17 March, following gains in global peers. Meanwhile, investors remained on edge amid lingering concerns over the ongoing US-Iran conflict in the Middle East, a sharp rise in crude oil prices, and continued strength in the US dollar, all of which have weighed on risk appetite.Sensex ended 568 points or 0.75% higher at 76,071 while Nifty rose 172 points or 0.74% to settle at 23,581.

Mint.“The acquisition was strategic in nature for us and they bring their partnerships on the procurement side of running warehouse management and the serviceability of an order that is coming from rural India," said Mohapatra.While the company declined to comment on the financial details of the transaction, it said that it had not raised additional funding to finance the acquisition and that it was done through the company's existing funds.The acquisition brings Saveo's 10,000 platform partners across Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu into CureBay's network of 190 clinics.Most of the integrations of Saveo's pharma distribution business into CureBay have already been completed. “In a few of our markets, we are already hitting the market with the combined power of both the organizations and talent," said Mohapatra.India's rural healthcare market is fragmented with multiple models, including remote patient monitoring, mobile hospitals and more.

deferred a decision on granting another term at its meeting on 24 February. The surprise development came after Noel Tata sought a clear roadmap for the performance of some of the new businesses launched under Chandrasekaran’s watch, including e-commerce, aviation and semiconductors.

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

₹20,000 crore via infrastructure bonds, Union Bank of India announced its plans to issue the first ₹7,500 crore tranche of 10-year bonds on Friday, three merchant bankers told Mint.The issue will have a base size of ₹3,000 crore and a greenshoe option of ₹4,500 crore. The bonds are rated AAA by Care Ratings.On 13 February, Mint reported that state-run lenders are preparing to tap the debt market through infrastructure bonds in March.Banks and financial institutions raise funds through infrastructure bonds to finance their long-term infrastructure projects.

Mumbai: Global private equity firm L Catterton’s India pool of capital, led by former Hindustan Unilever (HUL) chief Sanjiv Mehta, is eyeing more proprietary deals in the country after deploying over $100 million across companies like Farmley, Haldiram’s and Healing Hands Clinic over the last year.“Our deals are primarily proprietary in nature, and we don’t take part in intense bidding processes. This preferential access allows us to have better returns for our investors through better pricing discipline.

Mint.The country currently has about 300 seismometers at earthquake monitoring stations for detection, early warning capability and scientific understanding of seismic activity.Scientists and disaster management experts say this brief gap between the arrival of different seismic waves can be used to safeguard critical infrastructure such as metro rail systems, transmission lines, power plants and industrial facilities. While earthquakes cannot be predicted in advance, many countries operate Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) systems that provide a few seconds to about one minute of lead time before strong shake reaches a location.The development is significant given that 59% of India is vulnerable to earthquakes due to its unique geological and tectonic setting, particularly its location at the collision boundary of the Indian and Eurasian plates.Mint had earlier reported that India was developing a system to predict destructive S-waves during earthquakes.According to the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), a New Delhi-based multilateral organization, India suffers losses of around $31.6 billion across nine infrastructure sectors—buildings, health, education, oil and gas, ports and airports, power, roads and railways, telecommunications, and water and wastewater—due to earthquakes, cyclones, floods, landslides and tsunamis every year.

carbon credit is roughly equivalent to the emissions caused from burning about 430 litres of petrol or a round-trip flight between Delhi and Singapore. It can sometimes take more than a year for a carbon credit to be issued.

₹2,000 crore stake sale in its battery arm, Ola Cell Technologies Private Ltd, after its board earlier approved a ₹1,500 crore fundraise through share or securities issuance.The push comes as falling scooter sales and a weakening balance sheet tighten liquidity, even as the company doubles down on its capital-intensive cell business.Mint looks at what is driving the company’s fundraising push.The urgency stems from a sharp deterioration in its core business.In 2025, Ola Electric’s sales more than halved to nearly 200,000 electric scooters, while rivals such as TVS Motor Co., Bajaj Auto and Ather Energy gained ground.In the October-December quarter, revenue fell to a record low of ₹504 crore, while losses stood at ₹487 crore, compared with ₹564 crore a year earlier.Analysts say the pressure is now visible on its balance sheet.“(A) turnaround would necessitate Ola to have a strong cash balance to survive this phase. However, as per our calculations, Ola has turned net debt as of 9MFY26 ( ₹670 crore) from net cash of ₹160 crore in H1FY26.

Toyota’s factory in Woodstock, Ontario, will soon deploy Digit, a humanoid robot from Agility Robotics, on its production floor. These bipedal machines will unload auto parts from warehouse tuggers and onto the production line—work that until now was performed by humans. Toyota chose humanoid robots because its factories are designed for people.

India’s goods and services tax (GST) still struggles with a basic design problem: the integrity of its input tax credit (ITC) chain. The recent rate rationalization simplified slabs, but its merger of the 12% category with the 5% slab largely applies to supplies where ITC is restricted or unavailable. In such cases, the system resembles cascading turnover-style taxation and weakens the value-added tax (VAT) principle of seamless credit and tax neutrality.

Reliance Jio was waiting for the government's nod for 2.5% public shareholding norms, and will now move ahead with its plans to tap the capital markets.Last week, the finance ministry allowed large companies above a certain market cap to list with just 2.5% stake sale through public offers, as against the minimum 25% requirement earlier.The rules allow companies with a post-issue valuation of above ₹5 trillion ($54 billion) to dilute a minimum of 2.5% equity, a drop from the previous 5% limit. The easing will also help companies such as the National Stock Exchange (NSE) to successfully list on Indian exchanges, Mint reported earlier.Mint also reported this month that India has emerged as the second-largest IPO market globally by proceeds and the most active by number of deals in 2024, with companies raising about ₹1.6 trillion across more than 300 listings.

Buyers can avail a discount of ₹2-9 lakh on the purchase of a medium or heavy electric truck under the PM E-Drive scheme by providing scrapping certificates for multiple diesel trucks, the ministry of heavy industries has clarified.The scheme mandates that scrapping certificates, also known as certificates of deposit (CDs), must be provided before claiming incentives. Mint explains this quid pro quo to reduce India’s reliance on carbon-heavy road freight, which makes up a third of the country’s total transport sector greenhouse gas emissions.What is the clarification for vehicle scrapping under the PM E-Drive scheme?On 27 February, a statement from the ministry of heavy industries clarified that incentives for new trucks can be granted against one or more valid scrapping certificates for diesel trucks, provided the gross vehicle weight (GVW) of the diesel trucks is higher.The ministry also explained with examples.

NEW DELHI: The civil aviation ministry proposes to offer as much as ₹1,800 crore as incentives to manufacture drones in India, increase adoption across defence and civilian sectors and reduce reliance on component imports from China.The tentatively titled Mission Drone Shakti is expected to set aside ₹1,600 crore-1,800 crore over five years to fund and support research and development and local manufacturing of components including critical parts and incentivize drone sales and adoption, an official aware of the discussions said.The plan is to introduce the scheme in FY27, targeting private Indian companies. The details are being finalized and after the finance ministry’s approval, it will be presented for the consideration of the Cabinet.The proposed Mission Drone Shakti mirrors India’s production-linked incentive schemes across 14 sectors such as electronics, textiles, pharmaceuticals and automobiles, which had a cumulative outlay of ₹1.97 trillion.

₹29,845 crore in February, down 4% from ₹31,002 crore in January, according to data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi).As markets fall, many investors are seeing negative returns and wondering whether to stop SIPs. The math suggests they shouldn’t.The core mechanism behind SIPs is rupee cost averaging. When markets fall, a fixed monthly investment buys more units.

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) February 2026 amendments of its Credit Facilities Directions, together with the overhaul of its framework for external commercial borrowings (ECBs), has recast India’s acquisition finance regime and opened a regulated channel for bank-led acquisitions. RBI’s new directions allow banks in India to extend ‘acquisition finance’ to non-financial corporates in the country or their subsidiary or step-down special purpose vehicles (SPVs) so that they can acquire strategic ‘control’ through equity shares or compulsorily convertible debentures in a domestic or foreign target, where the transaction is a long-term strategic investment for value creation.

India’s Viksit Bharat 2047 vision requires a massive expansion of infrastructure and manufacturing, highlighted by the $1.3 trillion National Infrastructure Pipeline. However, achieving this alongside India’s net-zero 2070 target poses a financing challenge: investment must jump from $14.7 trillion to $22.7 trillion for a full green transition. To remain globally competitive amid tightening carbon border rules, key sectors such as steel and cement must decarbonize rapidly.

₹1,200 crore, with Stovekraft and TTK Prestige together accounting for about 36% as of FY25, according to Fadia.“Whatever channel inventory was already available has largely been sold out, and companies would not be in a position to quickly refill the channel as they would not have planned for such a sudden surge in demand,” said Fadia. “They will need time to order components and align the supply chain, which could take at least 20–30 days."Most consumer appliance companies source components from China and assemble them locally, while some traders and distributors directly import finished goods from China and Vietnam, limiting the benefit for domestic manufacturers, said Fadia.A major share of induction stoves sold in India are sourced from China, with companies procuring components or finished units and assembling them domestically before selling under local brands, said Trviesh D, chief operating officer at Tradejini, a stock broking company.And even if companies ramp up supply, the demand may fade once LPG availability improves.“While the disruption may lead some households to try induction cooking, we expect demand to normalize once LPG supply improves, limiting the likelihood of a sustained structural shift in the category,” said Manish Valecha, research analyst, Anand Rathi Institutional Equities.Investor enthusiasm has already cooled.

Mint’s analysis of historical data.Nomura recently projected that Indian equities could end the year in the red if crude oil prices remain above $100 per barrel, driven by disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz. Analysts estimate that every $10 increase in crude prices could widen the deficit by roughly $20 billion, or about 0.5% of GDP.The brokerage also expects a potential 10-15% downside to FY27 earnings estimates for the Nifty 50 if elevated oil prices persist.

trade deficit of nearly $100 billion with China. Local production funded by FDI could substitute a part of these imports.Second, net FDI inflows have fallen significantly in recent years, making new sources of capital increasingly valuable.Third, the Israel–Iran war has once again exposed India’s energy vulnerabilities.

The nationwide shortage of cooking gas over the past week should abate soon, given that import supplies are on their way to Indian shores even as domestic refiners have been asked to bump up production.The crippling shortage of this item of mass consumption that has proven to be the Achilles heel of our energy security calculus partly owes its origin to well-intentioned policy efforts to shift households from kerosene to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), a cleaner fuel. While only half of India’s population had access to LPG in 2010, its coverage is nearly complete today.