India Financial News

CareEdge Ratings, is hoping to tap into a large market of rating foreign currency loans of Indian companies after it launched its international corporate and sovereign ratings from its Gift City office called CareEdge Global IFSC Ltd. CEO Mehul Pandya said together with taking away market share from its foreign peers, Care has plans to expand into African countries giving them the option of being rated from a new perspective. «So far more than $50 billion has been raised from Gift City and most of it has been rated by foreign agencies. If we just consider a few basis points of this amount in fees, it has huge revenue potential. We have a natural advantage because of our domestic expertise which we will leverage,» Pandya said.

UST said on Thursday that it has acquired the automation unit of Information Services Group (ISG), for a total consideration of $27 million. The firm said the acquisition will strengthen its position in the intelligent automation space and allow the company to deliver a broader set of services to its clients. The acquired unit is a leading provider of intelligent automation solutions, utilizing artificial intelligence (AI), robotic process automation (RPA), and automation technologies to help clients across a range of industries, said the firm in its statement. It further added that the automation unit of ISG helps optimize clients’ business processes, enhance their customer experience, and reduce their operational costs. The development comes days after the IT firm set a target of 6,000 employees in its Kochi centre, up from the current level of 2,800, in the next five years. While UST’s Thiruvananthapuram centre has about 7,500 employees and is the company’s largest centre globally, UST Bengaluru has about 6,500 employees. Across India, the IT firm has around 20,000 employees. Globally, the firm has more than 30,000 employees.

Motilal Oswal Financial Services has buy call on Transport Corporation of India with a target price of Rs 1,290. The current market price of Transport Corporation of India is Rs 1,073.2. Transport Corporation of India, incorporated in the year 1995, is a Small Cap company (having a market cap of Rs 8,339.24 Crore) operating in Logistics sector. Transport Corporation of India key Products/Revenue Segments include Freight & Demurrage and Other Operating Revenue for the year ending 31-Mar-2024.

Granules India Ltd.(up 2.72 per cent), Aurobindo Pharma Ltd.(up 1.17 per cent), Divi's Laboratories Ltd.(up 0.67 per cent), Sanofi India Ltd.(up 0.54 per cent) and Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd.(up 0.51 per cent) were among the top gainers.

India's primary markets have seen a deluge of initial public offerings (IPOs) in recent months, drawing in eager investors hoping to grab shares of high-profile companies. 

The government recently expanded the scope of its free public health insurance scheme, Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), to include all citizens above age 70 irrespective of their socio-economic status. 

Iran-Israel conflict escalates, according to TOI. The rising tensions, fueled by Iran's missile attacks on Tel Aviv and other cities on Wednesday, have left many Indian workers and students deeply anxious. “The situation is tough… We’ve never faced anything as threatening as this,” shared Rajesh Medicherla, a caregiver from Telangana working in Tel Aviv. Medicherla recorded a video showing a missile striking a building in the city, and in the footage, he can be heard exclaiming in Telugu, “bro… bro… padutundi (brother, it’s falling)!” He added that no one expected the missiles to reach as far as Tel Aviv. The attacks have left many Indian nationals, including students and workers, deeply unsettled. Although most remain safe for now, there is a growing sense of alarm as the situation could worsen at any moment. Several research scholars from Bengal, who are currently in Israel, are anxious to return to India but are facing obstacles. With most international flights grounded, their attempts to return home are being thwarted. Many are awaiting instructions from India’s Ministry of External Affairs regarding possible evacuations.

Carmon, while speaking to ANI, said that India should closely monitor the situation in Israel, as it has its own interests there. Carmon appreciated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's swift response, noting that he reaffirmed India's commitment to peace. Speaking about India's role in maintaining peace and stability in the Middle East, Carmon highlighted the strategic partnership between India and Israel, underpinned by strong bilateral relations.

equity mutual funds (MFs) delivered negative returns in September. During this period, there were approximately 625 equity and equity-oriented schemes. The HDFC Defence Fund saw the largest loss of around 2.29% during the month. The Bank of India Mid & Small Cap Equity & Debt Fund gave a negative return of around 1.56%. Meanwhile, the Samco Active Momentum Fund lost around 1.30% in September. The Quant Tech Fund and NJ Flexi Cap Fund provided negative returns of approximately 1.20% and 1.19%, respectively.

geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Several Gulf carriers have altered their routes to prioritise passenger safety, while neighbouring countries in the region have closed their airspace, forcing airlines to navigate alternative routes to avoid the escalating conflict. The Indian government on Wednesday issued a travel advisory urging its nationals to avoid non-essential travel to Iran. “We are closely monitoring the recent escalation in security situation in the region. Those currently residing in Iran are requested to remain vigilant and stay in contact with the Indian Embassy in Tehran,” read the advisory.

Piyush Goyal met US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on Thursday on the sidelines of the India-US CEO Forum. Goyal said that they discussed on prospects of tech and research and development collaboration in various sectors. In a post on X, he said, «Held a productive meeting with the US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, over lunch on the sidelines of the India-US CEO Forum. Our discussions focused on prospects of tech and R&D collaboration in critical sectors such as defence, space, semiconductors, telecom, AI and clean energy. We also discussed opportunities for US investments in upcoming 20 industrial cities in India to foster mutual growth.»

Navratri is a significant Hindu festival celebrated across India, devoted to the worship of the nine forms of Goddess Durga. In 2024, the nine-day Shardiya or Shrad Navratri will take place in the month of Ashwin, which usually falls between September and October on the Gregorian calendar. This festival is one of the four Navratris observed in a year, with Shardiya Navratri being the most revered, often referred to as Maha Navratri due to its immense religious and cultural significance.

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The government has named Ram Singh, Saugata Bhattacharya and Nagesh Kumar as the three new external members of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monetary policy committee (MPC) to replace Ashima Goyal, Shashanka Bhide and Jayanth Varma, whose terms are expiring.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Investment funds KKR & Co., Stonepeak Partners and Macquarie Capital have sounded out merchant bankers to acquire a potential stake in India's No.3 telecom tower firm Ascend Telecom Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd, two people aware of the development said, after losing the race for American Tower Corp.'s India assets to Canada’s Brookfield.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi: Akash Kargupta, a 33-year-old Gurgaon-based banking executive, bought an iPhone 15 last week. While he had the budget to afford Apple’s latest smartphone—the iPhone 16, he chose the one-generation-old version instead.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Observers of the Indian information technology (IT) services space expect Infosys Ltd to post the fastest revenue growth among the industry’s top five for the quarter ended September 2024. Brokerages Axis Capital and Nomura in their notes predicted sequential revenue growth upwards of 4% for Infosys, whereas HDFC Securities projected 3% jump in revenue.

legal dispute between fintech BharatPe and its co-founder Ashneer Grover may be designed to free both sides from encumbrances in future business growth. But there's more that needs to be done than just kiss and make up. BharatPe is headed for an IPO and will seek to present a picture of a house in order to investors.

democracies, especially when their leaders have grown to be such 'homies' across administrations, should feel comfortable enough to comment, even criticise, on the other's functionings as a democracy. Or, to put it more pointedly, they shouldn't feel prickly enough when such critiques are aired by pals.

New company incorporations declined almost 21% in September from a year before, the third straight month of fall and the steepest so far in this financial year, showed the latest corporate affairs ministry data. However, the registration of limited liability partnerships (LLPs) increased almost 8% year-on-year, maintaining an increase month after month except for the fall in May, the data showed. Experts said company registrations may have already peaked, blaming an unfavourable base (such incorporations had hit a record in 2022-23) for the fall this fiscal.

Middle East after Iran attacked Israel with barrage of missiles on Tuesday night. While Israel has vowed to make Iran «pay» for firing missiles at its territory, Tehran warned on Wednesday it would launch an even bigger attack if it is targeted. A full-scale war between the two countries will not bode well for India's energy security as India imports a large part of its oil and gas from the region. Oil prices climbed more than 3% on Wednesday as Israel and the United States vowed retribution over Iran's biggest ever direct attack on Israel, Reuters reported. With Israel also ordering more soldiers into Lebanon to battle Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, the conflict has rapidly intensified with little sign of de-escalation despite international pleas. That has sent oil prices surging, with Brent futures up $2.26, or 3.07%, to $75.82 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude jumped $2.38, or 3.42%, to $72.22 by 1320 GMT. Both crude benchmarks on Tuesday surged more than 5% before closing around 2.5% higher. A full-blown war can cause a big spurt in crude oil prices. India imports most of its oil and gas and higher prices will impact inflation as well as economic growth.