India Financial News

«We do need to make a distinction between regulation with respect to financial sector and regulation with respect to non-financial sector of the economy,» Nageswaran said at the CII Global Economic Policy Forum 2024. «In non financial sectors, excepting natural monopolies or utilities where you have to have a regulator to protect customer interest, you can expect competition to take care of much of the roles that regulators are expected to perform. So as long as you create a competitive environment as close to the theoretical perfect competition, then you are fine,» said the Chief Economic Advisor to Government of India.

Axis Bank's latest report warns that inflation in India is unlikely to ease quickly, as both core and food price indices are expected to remain closely linked. Despite food prices and vegetable costs being at cyclical highs, the report highlights that supply responses may lag the demand boost driven by income-transfer schemes. «In India, we do not see inflation easing quickly: over the long term, core and food price indices move together. Though food relative to core, and vegetables relative to food, are both at cyclical highs, the supply response may lag the demand boost from income-transfer schemes,» said the report titled " India Economic and Market Outlook 2025 ". ALSO READ: India's CPI inflation likely to ease to 5.5% in Nov from 6.2% in Oct: Morgan Stanley

Bengaluru Rising report, released by the UnboxingBLR Foundation during the Bengaluru Tech Summit, highlighted the city’s economic growth, lifestyle advantages and global appeal. Bengaluru has positioned itself as an economic powerhouse, ranking third in company formations after Mumbai and Delhi, with over 27,000 new companies registered between 2012 and 2023. It has also added 80 million square feet of Grade A office space, generating 800,000 jobs—the highest among Indian cities. In the startup ecosystem, Bengaluru remains unmatched. On average, the city has seen 1,400 startups emerge annually over the last decade, trailing only Delhi NCR’s 2,100 yearly average. It also leads the nation in startup funding and the creation of unicorns, reinforcing its reputation as India’s entrepreneurial hub in addition to being its own Silicon Valley. But it seems Bengaluru is getting saturated with its phenomenal growth. Though it may seem nearly impossible to build another Bengaluru in India, a lot of mini Bengalurus can sprout across the country in coming years.

foreign institutional investors (FIIs) are taking reverse steps to buy back more than what they sold last month. As against the $2.5 billion sell-off seen in November, FIIs have already bought Indian stocks worth around $3 billion in the first 10 days of the December month. As a result, the Nifty is already up around 2% this month with bulls betting that the momentum could turn into a strong Santa rally and take the market to new record peaks in the next few weeks before the Budget.

«But now, for the first half of this year, earning growth has been slightly muted in mid-single digit and that is expected to remain that way at least for the next one to two quarters. So, to that extent, one has to moderate the return expectations going into next year,» says Dikshit Mittal, Senior Fund Manager-Equity, LIC MF. What do you make of the markets right now and there is debate which is underway whether 2025 is going to be a great year for the Indian equities or is it going to be a year of trimmed in very moderate single digit kind of gains? What is your estimate? Dikshit Mittal: Last two-three years returns have been very, very strong. In fact, compounded returns have been in high teens. So, to that extent, coming into next year, one has to moderate the return expectation. So, we cannot expect the same kind of returns we have generated last year.

staffing industry added about 235,000 temporary workers (white and grey collar roles) in the year to September 30, up 5.9% quarter-on-quarter and 17.9% year-on-year, according to a report released by the Indian Staffing Federation (ISF) on Wednesday. Sectors including fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), e-commerce, manufacturing, healthcare, retail, logistics, banking, energy and hospitality drove the growth, it said. As of September, the flexible workforce stands at 1.81 million employed by around 130 ISF members, according to the report.

East Ocyon Bio, an allogeneic Cell & Gene Therapy (CGT) startup, on Wednesday, announced the closure of its $4.2 million seed round. The investment round was led by Aeravti Ventures and Micro Labs. The newly raised funds will be utilised to enable several initiatives like pre-clinical testing of CAR-NK and CAR-gamma delta T cell therapies, the creation of a GMP manufacturing facility, and Phase I clinical trials. Renu Kundu, Founder of East Ocyon Bio, said in a statement, «We are incredibly grateful for the support of Aeravti Ventures and Micro Labs, whose belief in our vision is instrumental in our journey toward clinical validation of this transformative technology.» Rishabh Singh, Managing Partner at Aeravti Ventures, said in a statement, “India is the cancer capital of the world but receives innovative therapies years after the west. Our partnership with East Ocyon Bio reflects our commitment to supporting impactful organisations that indigenise innovation and create cutting-edge products for the world.”

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. US President Harry S. Truman once famously asked for a “one-handed economist" because he was tired of economists who, instead of giving decisive answers, would say, “On the one hand, this, and on the other hand, that." As 2024 ends, we can see why that’s so.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday lowered India's economic growth forecast to 6.5 per cent for the current financial year from its earlier estimate of 7 per cent due to lower-than-expected growth in private investment and housing demand. The multilateral development bank has also lowered India's growth forecast for 2025-26 financial year. Changes in US trade, fiscal, and immigration policies could dent growth and add to inflation in developing Asia and the Pacific, according to the latest edition of Asian Development Outlook (ADO). The report also said Asia and the Pacific's economies are projected to grow 4.9 per cent in 2024, slightly below ADB's September forecast of 5 per cent.

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has published the finer details of the Golden Jubilee Scholarship Scheme 2024. In comparison to the 2022 scheme, the amount given has been increased this year by up to 100% in some cases. Moreover, in the 2024 scholarship scheme some new categories like medical courses, engineering courses, and other categories have been introduced. Overall, the scope of this scholarship has been increased. But, before taking a final call, you must know that if you are pursuing a course through correspondence or part time (evening or night classes) and/or through Open Universities then you are not eligible for this Scholarship. Read below to find out the details of the scholarship amount and who is eligible and under what category.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. If technology is the new oil, who should steer the oil-tankers? Can India afford to drift without an artificial intelligence (AI) captain in the age of AI? Incoming US President Donald Trump has announced the appointment of former Paypal executive David Sacks as a “crypto and AI czar" to guide policy. The message is clear: governing AI and generating commercial value from AI innovations is an urgent need for global supremacy.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. At the Shrine Empire, New Delhi, a scarlet-hued wall comes into sight. It serves as a backdrop to six drawings by artist Sajan Mani.

«There is no doubt again some amount of tightness in the market in terms of employability in IT, but you have to keep in mind the statement like Mr Sundar Pichai's that says that 25% of the coding is now being done by the AI that they have developed,» says Anand Tandon, Independent Analyst Let us begin by discussing the IT pack itself. This morning, HSBC was talking about how there is an expectation of a recovery in terms of spends going forward. What is your take? Is this a sector which can provide that outperformance or is it going to be that 8% to 15% kind of growth and one is not sure whether they want to pay a multiple of 30 times for that? Anand Tandon: If they deliver 15% growth, it will be fantastic. Most companies are still looking at single digit, maybe just about double-digit kind of growth numbers, and there is nothing that I see on the horizon which predicts that there will be a sharp increase. The IT outlook in the US may have improved, but it is not necessarily for IT services business as such.

Sunil Subramaniam, Market Expert, says if a fund manager is getting, let us say, Rs 1,000 crore per month as SIP, he knows for the next 12 months, he can plan his purchases and so he tracks a good quality stock. He continuously keeps buying it because he is assured of the flow for a long time. The consistency of the SIP book gives a lot of comfort to fund managers also as they can acquire stocks steadily. In effect, fund managers are themselves doing an SIP in the stock market. Subramaniam also says that Rs 25,000 crore is just the tip of the iceberg. He would not be surprised if this doubles to Rs 50,000 crore in a year's time because the penetration of mutual funds in India is still in single digits in our 144 crore population. SIP inflows are near record high levels; equity inflows are at three-month high levels, coming in at near Rs 36,000 crore marks. How should one read into this data because in November, we saw real divergent moves in markets? Sunil Subramaniam: This indicates the maturity of the domestic investor, especially the ones using mutual funds as a vehicle and using distributors to advise them.

«Primarily, I would believe that that would continue going forward with whoever is the governor and with Governor Malhotra there, I think we are in very good hands because he brings several, I would say, set of experiences,» says KV Kamath, Chairman, NABFID & Veteran Banker In your understanding we are looking at end of an era, Shaktikanta Das. He has been rated as the best central banker for three years on the trot now and everyone will miss him. KV Kamath: Yes, I think indeed. He had to manage multiple challenges. Admirable. So, we all owe a big thank you to Mr Das.

Indian Motion Picture Producers' Association and the America's Motion Picture Association, which has an office in India, to present their views on the issue of over-the-top (OTT) content on December 20. The committee, chaired by Lok Sabha member Nishikant Dubey, will deliberate on the topic, "Emergence of OTT Platforms and Related Issues," with representatives from these associations. This development follows Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw's request for the parliamentary standing committee to take up the issue of strengthening existing laws governing social media and OTT platforms on a priority basis.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has expanded the list of stocks for the same day settlement in the equity cash market to the top 500 scrips by market capitalisation. In March, the regulator had introduced the beta version of T+0 (same day) settlement cycle on optional basis in addition to the existing T+1 settlement cycle in equity cash market, for a limited set of 25 scrips and with a limited number of brokers. To begin with, it was available only to non-custodian clients.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI), its outgoing governor Shaktikanta Das said Tuesday, while underscoring the 'excellent' rapport between the Centre and its money manager and alignment of objectives. Sanjay Malhotra, revenue secretary in the finance ministry, takes charge as the 26th governor Wednesday. «Restoring the inflation-growth (balance) is the most important task ahead for the RBI,» Das said in his last interaction with the media as the 25th governor of the nine-decade-old central bank. «I am sure Team RBI, under the leadership of the new governor, will take it forward,» said Das, who has had the longest tenure as Mint Road boss after India began unshackling its economy in 1991. As Das completes his second three-year term, India's consumer inflation gauge has touched a 14-month high of 6.2% in October. Murmurs are increasingly audible within the all-powerful rate-setting panel, too, for a cut in policy rates after the pace of economic growth unexpectedly slumped to a seven-quarter low of 5.4% in the three months to September.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governors have, in the past, acted according to the prevailing economic conditions and the monetary policy objectives in their first policy review. Y V Reddy and Duvvuri Subbarao had kept policy rates unchanged in their first policy review, while Urjit Patel and Shaktikanta Das had reduced rates in their first policy actions.

Sai Life Science (SLSL), a contract research, development and manufacturing organisation (CRDMO), is rolling out an IPO of ₹3,043 crore comprising a fresh issue of ₹950 crore and an offer for sale of ₹2,093 crore. The issue gives a partial exit to private equity investors TPG Asia and HBM. The promoter share will be diluted from 41.8% to 35.2%. The issue proceeds are going to be used for repayment of borrowings.

equity mutual funds in November, reflecting the impact of fewer thematic or sector-specific new offerings through the month that also coincided with sustained exits from local risk assets by overseas investors. Systematic investment plans (SIP) stayed stable even as total flows to growth-oriented funds shrank 14%, to ₹35,943 crore, from October's ₹41,887 crore. Monthly net subscriptions to thematic funds fell to this fiscal year's second-lowest level, at ₹7,658 crore. This marks the lowest inflows into the category since April. Net inflows into the category, which peaked at ₹22,352 crore in June, never declined below ₹12,000 crore between May and October, on multiple new fund offerings by the industry.