India Financial News

Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday expressed concerns over the mis-selling of products, particularly insurance, stating that it adds to the customers' borrowing costs. Speaking at the State Bank of India Economist Conclave, on whether there is a case for a policy rate cut, the FM said «banks’ interest rates will have to be far more affordable» while adding that she does not want to get into the debate about whether perishables should be part of the inflationary measure index. Banks have facilitated the distribution of insurance project products, Sitharaman said. «While this model has significantly contributed to improving insurance penetration across the country, it has also raised concerns about instances of mis-selling … I would say, it added or contributed in indirect ways to the increased cost of borrowing for the customers.»

Abhyudaya Cooperative Bank board for another year till November 24, 2025 and asked Satya Prakash Pathak to continue as the administrator of the bank. Earlier, the regulator superseded the board on November 24, 2023 for a year due to material concerns arising from poor governance standards observed within the bank. RBI on Monday said that the extension of the deadline beyond the close of business on November 23, 2024 was necessary in public interest.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. British retailer Marks & Spencer is scaling back its home decor business in India, removing home linen, home decor, and dinnerware from store shelves. The retailer is prioritizing core categories like apparel.

Make in India and production linked incentive schemes for different sectors are helping attract foreign investors to set up bases in India, according to industry chamber CII. In a letter to Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said that the government's increased investments in infrastructure such as roads, railways and ports are making the domestic industry more competitive. The policy shift within India has also occurred at the same time as geopolitical conditions have become favourable for India, with many global companies looking to diversify their geographical base, the letter, dated November 5, said. "FDI inflows have increased from USD 45.14 billion in 2014-15 to USD 70.95 billion in 2023-24, indicating the growing interest of foreign investors for setting up base in India," it said, adding that the PLI schemes have attracted huge investments.

«China stands ready to work with India to deliver on the important common understandings between the leaders of the two countries, step up communication and cooperation and enhance strategic mutual trust,» he said, adding that he has no information on the specifics of the meeting of the leaders and officials. At their Kazan meeting, the two leaders endorsed the India-China agreement on patrolling and disengagement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh and issued directions to revive various bilateral dialogue mechanisms, signalling attempts to normalise ties that were hit by a deadly military clash in 2020.

Chennai-Vladivostok maritime corridor, which is likely to boost maritime ties between India and Russia, is operational now, and container ships carrying crude oil, metal and textile have started coming to Indian ports, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said on Monday. The Chennai-Vladivostok sea route will cover a distance of about 5,600 nautical miles. «The Eastern Maritime Corridor between Vladivostok and Chennai is operational now. Container ships carrying crude oil, metal and textile have started coming to Indian ports,» Sonowal told reporters here. The Eastern Maritime Corridor is estimated to reduce the time required to transport cargo between the Indian and Russian Ports of the Far East Region by up to 16 days. The time taken will come down to 24 days compared to more than 40 that it currently takes to transport goods from India to Far East Russia via Europe.

Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong on Monday said the airline group will support the ongoing transformation of the enlarged Air India Group by offering «our stewardship and expertise where possible» as he emphasised that Air India-Vistara merger marks a pivotal moment for Indian aviation. In his first comments after the completion of the merger on November 11, he also said that Singapore Airlines is committed to deepening its commercial collaboration with Air India. Vistara was a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Tatas, and with the merger, Singapore Airlines has a 25.1 per cent in Tata Group-owned Air India. At a symbolic ceremony in the national capital on Monday, Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines celebrated the merger. Tata Sons Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Goh Choon Phong, as well as senior management and employees from Tatas, Singapore Airlines, Air India, and Vistara were present, according to a joint release by Singapore Airlines and Tata Sons.

Amazon Seller Services and Flipkart Internet, experienced robust growth in the fiscal year ending March 2024, reaching a combined total of Rs 11,621 crore. This marks an impressive 33% increase from the previous fiscal year’s Rs 8,705 crore, according to regulatory filings by both companies. Amazon Seller Services, the Indian marketplace arm of the global e-commerce giant Amazon, reported a substantial 24% increase in revenue from «other marketplace-related services,» amounting to Rs 6,649 crore—a notable rise from Rs 5,380 crore in the previous fiscal year. The «other marketplace-related services» category primarily comprises income from advertising, which is recognised based on clicks or impressions delivered to users.

healthcare industry is expected to step up spending on cybersecurity, with hospitals currently allocating 8–10% of their IT budgets for hiring experts and deploying tools to prevent cyberattacks. According to a Deloitte India analysis, this will increase to 12–15% in the next two years– from a reactive to a proactive cybersecurity readiness. Unlike the financial services sector, healthcare has been slower in adopting digital technologies. However, recent data breaches and rising cyber threats have prompted large hospital chains and their board members to prioritise patient data protection highlighted the ‘Cyber Resilience in Hospitals’ report by Deloitte and the Data Security Council of India (DSCI). While the Indian healthcare system is valued at $66 billion and projected to surpass $100 billion by 2027 cyber readiness and digital infrastructure needs to be developed. Nearly 60% of healthcare organisations globally suffered a cyberattack in 2023, according to a study by Sophos, earlier reported by ET. This includes India's top institutions such as the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) wherein the personal data of over 81.5 million Indians was compromised and found for sale on the dark web.

Tilaknagar Industries for Rs 62 crore via a block deal while Societe Generale was the buyer. BofA sold shares at a price of Rs 338.65 apiece which was marginally lower than the previous closing price of Rs 339.30 on the BSE.

Mutual Fund on Monday divested 6.6 per cent stake in MedPlus Health Services for Rs 552 crore through open market transactions. MedPlus Health Services is a retail pharmacy and diagnostics chain in India. Billionaire Azim Premji's PE firm Premji Invest, through its arm PI Opportunities Fund — I, sold 68.93 lakh shares or 5.77 per cent stake in MedPlus Health Services and exited the firm, according to the block deal data on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. After enduring New Delhi’s extreme temperatures and lung-killing pollution for two years, the 27-year-old IT engineer took a transfer to his employer’s office in Bengaluru. It was meant to be a new beginning amid pleasant weather, easygoing people and pubs aplenty.

On Monday morning, AQI levels in the city remained dangerously high. Notable readings included 919 in Mundka, 762 in ITI Jahangirpuri, and 624 in Anand Vihar, placing these areas in the 'severe-plus' category. In Beijing, the capital of China, pollution is nearly 10 times less than in Delhi. More than a decade ago, Beijing was known as the smog capital of the world where air pollution caused thousands of deaths every year. In a decade, starting in 2013, Beijing was able to bring down its air pollution drastically with a host of measures. Can Delhi learn anything from Beijing's war on air pollution?

Index Private Ltd, a subsidiary of BSE, on Monday announced the launch of a new index — BSE Select IPO — to measure the performance of newly listed stocks on the bourse either through a public issue or spin-off/demerger process. Stocks are included in the index based on three primary criteria — full market capitalisation, liquidity and minimum listing history of three months, Asia Index said in a statement. This new index can be used for running passive strategies such as ETFs and Index Funds as well as gauging the performance of new companies across all the major sectors in India.

Power and Instrumentation(Gujarat)Ltd.(up 5.00%), Transformers & Rectifiers(India)Ltd.(up 5.00%), Indo Tech Transformers Ltd.(up 5.00%), Energy Development Company Ltd.(up 4.97%), Neueon Towers Ltd.(up 4.84%), GE Vernova T&D India Ltd.(up 4.78%), Suzlon Energy Ltd.(up 4.46%), GE Power India Ltd.(up 4.07%), KPI Green Energy Ltd.(up 3.43%) and Voltamp Transformers Ltd.(up 2.25%) stood among the top gainers.

Remote work was a novelty before Covid-19 broke out, with less than one in three companies (30%) in India offering the option, but stringent restrictions during the pandemic made almost all companies adopt WFH policies. And 68% companies continue with these policies, said a joint report by industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and business school Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), titled ‘Work-from-home: Benefits and costs’. While about 5% of companies allow fully remote work, almost half of them expect employees to be present in the office for two-three days a week.

Sikko Industries Ltd.(up 12.51%), Madhya Bharat Agro Products Ltd.(up 3.21%), Paradeep Phosphates Ltd.(up 2.98%), Rama Phosphates Ltd.(up 2.27%), Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd.(up 1.48%), Khaitan Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd.(up 1.21%), Agro Phos India Ltd.(up 0.97%), Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd.(up 0.78%), Krishana Phoschem Ltd.(up 0.73%) and Coromandel International Ltd.(up 0.31%) stood among the top gainers.

India International Trade Fair, an official statement said on Monday. The Government e-Marketplace (GeM) is an online platform that facilitates end-to-end procurement of goods and services by various central, state ministries, departments, organisations, public sector undertakings, panchayats, and cooperatives. The online portal was established with a clear objective to eliminate cumbersome and archaic manual public procurement processes that were riddled with inefficiencies and transparency-related issues. GeM is onboarding the Indian sellers and service providers by conducting an extensive registration drive at its pavilion at the India International Trade Fair (IITF), the commerce ministry said.

stocks rallied as much as 15% in Mumbai trading on Monday even as equity benchmarks, BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty, traded in the amid brisk in frontline bluechip counters. Stocks that surged in excess of 15% included, Siddha Ventures Ltd.(20.00%), Shri Gang Industries(19.99%), Jindal Poly Investm(19.99%), James Warren Tea(19.99%), Multibase India(19.99%), Tokyo Finance(19.98%), Laffans Petro(19.98%), Sumedha Fiscal(19.88%), Purple Entertainment(19.20%) and Garware Tech(18.71%).