India Financial News

Mint, citing low prices, adequate strategic reserves, and the government’s ability to cushion fuel shocks from spilling into retail prices.In January, the Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation, under a revised data series, stood at around 2.75%, significantly below the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) medium-term target of 4%.With inflation currently subdued and a newly introduced CPI series indicating broadly similar trends to the old base-year data, the economists said the starting point itself provides a strong buffer against external shocks, likely preventing any immediate pressure on retail inflation or RBI's monetary policy outlook.For 2025-26, the RBI has projected CPI inflation at 2.1%, with the March quarter at 3.2%. Inflation for the June and September quarters is seen at 4% and 4.2%, respectively, suggesting the current price environment is far more benign than during previous geopolitical shocks.“I think the starting point is more comfortable for RBI at this juncture, given that inflation is more manageable now compared with the Russia-Ukraine war, when global commodity prices surged sharply,” Anubhuti Sahay, head of India economic research at Standard Chartered Bank, said.Sahay added that policymakers are unlikely to rush to revise projections or change the policy stance until there is greater clarity on how long the war will last and how significantly it will disrupt global energy markets.

BENGALURU: For most restaurant chains, the goal is to build one blockbuster brand. At IPO-bound Curefoods, the strategy is the opposite.The Bengaluru-based cloud kitchen operator is working on adding brands to its portfolio that can each reach ₹200-300 crore in revenue, spreading its bets across multiple cuisines and consumption occasions.

western disturbances travel eastward with westerly winds. They make for the primary source of rainfall and snowfall in northwest and north India in winter months.Though the number of western disturbances in the last three months was the highest in the last five years, their intensity was lower resulting in the highest rain deficit in the months those years."A majority of the western disturbances that influenced India during the winter season, especially during December to February, were feeble, resulting in below-normal rainfall and limited snowfall activity across large parts of northwestern India," said Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director general of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).Northwest India recorded rainfall deficits of 86.8% in February and 12% in January.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the nationwide Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination campaign on 28 February by including it in India’s Universal Immunization Programme to vaccinate 12 million girls annually. With 120,000 new cases and 80,000 deaths annually, India accounts for a quarter of global cervical cancer deaths.Infection by certain HPV strains can cause precancerous cell changes, which may eventually lead to cancer.Mint explains the rationale behind the plan to help stop cervical cancer – the second most common cancer among women in India – by leveraging the country's digital infrastructure and primary health centre network.The aim is to prevent cervical cancer in girls before they are exposed to the virus.

Gold has nearly doubled and silver has tripled over the past two years. Both metals surged in popularity last year as investors globally placed greater trust in liquid physical assets over the US dollar-denominated financial system.In January, Indians invested more in gold exchange traded funds (ETFs) than in equity mutual funds for the first time, with net inflows surging to a record ₹24,040 crore even as equity fund investments slipped to ₹24,029 crore.

Could India be returning to Russia for oil supplies? Going by a Bloomberg report, it seems so. Two shipments of Russian crude oil that were originally headed for East Asia have reportedly been redirected towards India and are expected to unload this week, with one already having reached Paradip.

While most Indian households meticulously track their primary loans and repayment schedules to avoid the fallout of a default, a different category of spending often goes unnoticed. These are the ‘silent EMIs’ — recurring monthly payments that are individually small and scattered. Because they lack the immediate weight of a major loan, they are easy to overlook, yet their cumulative impact on a household's financial health is immensely powerful.Silent EMIs are the monthly payments we commit to without much thought about their impact on our household income.

India’s telecom giants and global technology firms are locked in a tussle over pricing and regulation of the country’s business internet backbone.At the centre of the clash are Domestic Leased Circuits (DLCs)—dedicated, high-security broadband lines used by banks, data centres and enterprises. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is conducting its first review of these tariffs in more than a decade, which could slash price caps that have been unchanged since 2014.The total revenue earned by service providers from DLCs in FY 2023–24 is around ₹13,300 crore, which is approximately 60% higher than the revenue earned in FY 2012–13, according to Trai.Mobile operators, including Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, are defending their turf, arguing that government intervention would amount to a subsidy for Big Tech.

₹290 crore in a Series B funding round led by Bertelsmann India Investments, as the company looks to deepen its presence and expand its rural storefront network, Ankur Dahiya, co-founder and chief executive told Mint.“We started in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana and we feel its the right time to expand our footprint in the same Ganges belt,” said Dahiya. “Secondly, we want to increase our penetration in the areas we're present.”The fundraise comes as Rozana scales its hybrid rural commerce model—combining neighbourhood storefronts and centralized warehouses with a network of women-led last-mile partners—at a time when relatively few startups are focused exclusively on India’s rural e-commerce opportunity.The fundraise was led by German conglomerate Bertelsmann's local venture capital arm, Bertelsmann India Investments (BII) with participation from Fireside Ventures, US-based Spark Growth Ventures, FE Securities and a few family offices.The deal was majorly a primary investment with a small component of secondaries to give early angel investors an exit.

The volatile market scenario continues to keep everyone guessing. With the war showing no signs of receding, one needs to tread these waters carefully.Buy above ₹318, stop ₹303, target ₹348 (Multiday)Buy above ₹5590, stop ₹5390 target, ₹5995 (Multiday)Buy above ₹2555, stop ₹2450, target ₹2775 (Multiday)Why it’s recommended: The Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited (MCX), is India's leading commodity derivatives exchange with over 60% market share. It provides a national-level, regulated electronic platform for trading futures and options in commodities such as gold, silver, crude oil, and natural gas.

Stock market recap: The Indian stock market saw strong buying interest on 5 March, largely driven by short covering after a sharp sell-off that had dragged benchmark indices down about 4% in just a few days.The Sensex jumped 900 points, or 1.14%, to close at 80,015.90. Its NSE counterpart, the Nifty 50, rose 1.17% to end at 24,765.90.Buying was broad-based across the market.

investment funds that invest in alternative assets such as private equity, hedge funds and other non-traditional investments beyond traditional stocks and bonds, with wealthy individuals and institutions as their main investors. Regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), there are three categories of AIFs in the country, with Category III AIFs focusing on high-risk, high-return trading strategies using leverage.Tata AMC entered the Category III AIF space in 2019 with its Absolute Return Fund, a conservative long-short strategy.

XED, which provides education programs to top executives. The company plans to raise $12 million through a dollar-based offering in GIFT City this month.While the offering will test the IPO route at the offshore financial centre, the forthcoming framework is aimed at companies that want to list directly on the exchanges.If implemented, the proposal would allow Indian and global companies, whether already listed elsewhere or privately held, to list their shares on GIFT City exchanges without raising fresh capital.

Mint's queries.The launch of Mounjaro by Eli Lilly in March 2025, followed by Wegovy and Ozempic from Novo Nordisk, has pushed India’s GLP-1 drug market past ₹1,000 crore within a year, according to pharma intelligence platform Pharmarack. Yet, awareness among the broader population remains limited.

e-Rupee, with total transactions of 120 million valued at ₹28,000 crore since its 2022 launch, central bank data till December showed. While retail CBDC can be used to pay other users, as well as merchants for goods and services, wholesale use cases include interbank settlements and large-value transactions.

India is weighing a plan to prioritize natural gas supply to critical sectors after LNG (liquefied natural gas) shipments from Qatar were disrupted following an attack on QatarEnergy’s Ras Laffan liquefaction complex on Monday, three people aware of the matter said.The move assumes significance as India imports about 55% of its natural gas requirement. Further, of the $14.9 billion worth of natural gas imports in FY25, Qatar’s share was about 50%, according to data from Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC).“The government is looking at multiple options to ensure uninterrupted supply of natural gas,” one of the three people mentioned above said on condition of anonymity.

West Asia conflict could ease.The benchmark Nifty50 index recovered close to half of its recent losses in the last hour on Thursday, as reports emerged that Iran had reached out to the US for talks to end the war, improving risk appetite. The news coincided with the weekly expiry of Sensex options on Thursday, which also forced the traders to square off their positions in panic.The US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran on Saturday that killed its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, triggering retaliation and fuelling a wider regional conflict in West Asia, dragging stock markets around the world lower.Over two trading sessions starting Monday, the Nifty50 had fallen 695 points, of which 285 points—about 41%—were recouped on Thursday.

Mint.With BluSmart, Eversource aims to enter consumer mobility, expanding beyond the business-to-business fleet (B2B) model of Lithium Urban Technologies into the business-to-consumer (B2C) ride-hailing market, one of the people cited above said. Both people requested anonymity.Since the plan involves assets under insolvency proceedings, no valuation has been discussed at this point, the other person said.

crude oil to India.Higher oil and gas prices should force CGDs and oil marketing companies (OMCs) to raise prices of CNG and auto fuels. Nomura estimates that CGDs source 30%-40% of their natural gas requirement from imported LNG. As imported LNG prices rise (due to higher pricing and shipping costs), CGDs must raise the CNG price to maintain their Ebitda margins.

Mumbai: Umesh Modi Group’s Win-Medicare Pvt Ltd (WMPL), the maker of household brands like Betadine and Movicol, is looking to sell a minority stake in a deal valued between $150 million and $200 million, according to three sources familiar with the matter. The company has appointed EY as its advisor to lead the search for potential buyers, they said.“About $100 million is likely to be secondary, with the parent entity expected to offload a minority stake, while the remaining component would be primary but subject to the company’s expansion plans,” two of the people cited above said on the condition of anonymity.The third person said, “The deal was launched about two months ago and several private equity firms have been tapped as part of the process.

The Iran-US conflict has sent shockwaves through Indian markets, pushing the rupee to a record low of 92.32 and driving crude oil past $80 per barrel. As the Nifty 50 shed 2.1% in just four days, foreign investors pulled out over ₹11,700 crore, seeking safety in a strengthening dollar.With the Strait of Hormuz blockade threatening energy supplies and squeezing margins for oil and chemical firms, investors are caught between gold's safe-haven appeal and rising macroeconomic headwinds.Mintexplains what this nascent war and the resulting supply shocks mean for your portfolio and the road ahead for Indian equities.Since the Iran-US war began on 28 February, equity markets worldwide have fallen.The Nifty 50 index declined 2.1% between 28 February and 4 March, while the Nikkei fell 5.5%, the Hang Seng 4.5%, and the Kospi 8.9% over the same period.