India Financial News

India and China on Thursday agreed to work with «urgency» and «redouble» their efforts to realise complete disengagement in remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh as NSA Ajit Doval held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in St Petersburg with a focus on an early resolution of the lingering border standoff. Doval conveyed to Wang that peace and tranquillity in border areas and respect for the Line of Actual Control (LAC) are essential for normalcy in bilateral ties, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The Doval-Wang meeting took place in the Russian city on the sidelines of a conclave of national security advisors of the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) nations. «The meeting gave the two sides an opportunity to review the recent efforts towards finding an early resolution of the remaining issues along the Line of Actual Control, which will create conditions to stabilise and rebuild bilateral relations,» the MEA said.

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday proposed stricter norms for the oversight of wet-leased planes operated by Indian airlines. Faced with the grounding of a significant number of planes due to engine and supply chain woes, domestic carriers are utilising more wet-leased aircraft as a short-term measure to cater to rising air traffic demand. The watchdog has issued a draft for public consultation on the revised Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) on wet/damp lease operations by Indian operators to strengthen the regulatory framework for safety oversight of wet/damp lease operations. Wet lease of an aircraft by an Indian carrier involves the leasing of foreign aircraft, along with crew, maintenance and insurance. The plane is also under the operational control of the foreign operator (lessor) and subject to regulatory requirements of the foreign civil aviation authority concerned.

United States will host a meeting of the Quad on September 21, according to a release from the White House. US President Joe Biden will host the fourth in-person meet of the group — consiting of India, Australia and Japan — in Wilmington, Delaware. «The President looks forward to welcoming Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan,» the White House release said. The September meet will be the final Quad meeting for the American President as well as Japan's Kishida, who are due to step down soon.

Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has identified and notified the products on which the revised and more stringent public procurement norms will be applied, as the government steps up its intent to push up local value addition. The DoT has identified 36 products such as routers, ethernet switches, media gateways, customer premises equipment, GPON equipment etc, where the minimum local content has to be over 50%. On certain products, the minimum local content has to be 65%. The stakeholders including telecom operators, manufacturers etc can provide their comments within 15 days on the draft notification.

US Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), said on Thursday that the United States is ready to offer F-16 fighter jets to India. Speaking with reporters on India's defence sector and F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets, Major General Piffarerio said, "...The more options that are out there, I think the stronger the Indian Air Force is going to be in the future." He added, «We certainly want to give them the best that we have — the F-16s. But ultimately it's going to be a choice for the Indian Air Force on what they want to do with their air defence.»

Northeast Students' Organisation (NESO) on Thursday urged the Prime Minister and Home Minister to urgently intervene in the Manipur situation. NESO is an apex body of eight students' organisations representing seven NE states. The organisation claimed that the failure to address the ethnic conflict not only undermines the stability of Manipur but also poses a threat to the broader peace and security of the entire northeast region.

Amazon and Walmart's Flipkart violated local competition laws by giving preference to select sellers on their shopping websites, according to confidential reports seen by Reuters. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) in 2020 ordered an investigation into Amazon and Flipkart for allegedly promoting certain sellers with which they had business arrangements and giving priority to certain listings. In a 1027-page report on Amazon and a separate 1,696-page report on Flipkart, both dated Aug. 9, the CCI investigators said the two companies were found to have created an ecosystem where preferred sellers appeared higher in search results, elbowing out other sellers.

Markets regulator Sebi on Thursday ordered the attachment of bank accounts as well as shares and mutual fund holdings of Karvy Stock Broking and its CMD C Parthasarathy to recover dues of around Rs 25 crore. Before this, the regulator on August 7 sent a notice to Karvy and Parthasarathy asking them to pay dues within 15 days in a case pertaining to misappropriation of clients' funds by misusing the Power of Attorney (PoA). The notice came after the entities failed to pay the fine imposed on them by Sebi.

Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan next month when NSA Ajit Doval called on him in St Petersburg. The Putin-Doval meeting came nearly three weeks after Modi travelled to Ukranian capital Kyiv and held talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Doval is in St Petersburg to attend a conclave of national security advisors of the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) nations. The summit of the grouping will be held in the Russian city of Kazan from October 22-24. Modi is set to attend the summit.

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Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI). This compares with the long-term average ratio of 1.6. A ratio greater than two indicates that buying inflows are twice as high as selling outflows, reflecting strong investor momentum. Among equity funds, the sector funds have maintained a buy-to-sell ratio of over three for the fourth consecutive month and have had a ratio greater than one for 15 consecutive months. Sector/thematic NFOs reported a net inflow of Rs 33,939 crore over the past three months, accounting for 30% of the total equity fund inflow. During the period, equity funds received a total inflow of Rs 1,15,960 crore. In August, equity NFOs totalled an inflow of Rs 10,202 crore with notable offers including the Motilal Oswal Manufacturing Fund, Motilal Oswal Business Cycle Fund, SBI Innovative Opportunities Fund, and Invesco India Manufacturing Fund.

Asset Management India. The cautionary statement came after the exchange received a complaint against a WhatsApp group named «JO HAMBRO» luring investors with offers to buy shares at discounted prices after market hours. This group has allegedly collected money from retail investors under the garb of «Seat Trading Account». In this group, the entity --Lazzard Asset Management India-- is misrepresenting itself as a registered stock broker with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) using a forged registration certificate, the exchange said.

Bio-E3 policy marks a crucial step in positioning India as a global bio-economy leader and is set to spark a «bio-revolution» in India similar to the IT revolution in the Western world, Union minister Jitendra Singh said on Thursday. The BioE3 policy was formally launched last month and aims to facilitate sustainable and efficient utilisation of biological resources for innovation, scaling-up and bio-manufacturing of specialty chemicals, enzymes, bio-polymers, functional foods, smart proteins, veterinary products, precision bio-therapeutics and services. Speaking at the Global Bio-India Summit 2024, Singh, the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, said the policy marks a crucial step in positioning India as a global bio-economy leader. Singh highlighted the importance of the Global Biotech platform, which brings together a diverse range of stakeholders, including start ups, SMEs, large industries, research institutes, and international bodies.

Narendra Modi said. “There was a time when air travel was only reserved for the elite in India. It was limited to big cities but the middle and poor class never could use this. But today, lot of common people are flying from tier 2 and tier 3 cities,” Modi said while addressing the second Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference on Civil Aviation Thursday. The Prime Minister also announced the unanimous passing of the Delhi Declaration under which the countries agreed to work together to enhance regional cooperation, addressing emerging challenges, and fostering sustainable growth within the civil aviation sector.

New India Insurance, HDFC Ergo General Insurance, and National Insurance reported growth deceleration. Total industry premiums stood at Rs 22,880 crore, compared to Rs 21,883 crore in August 2023. August saw a dip in auto sales, with passenger vehicle sales falling 4.5% year-on-year during the month, according to data released by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association. Standalone health insurance companies, on the other hand, reported a robust 24.5% growth, driven by Niva Bupa Health Insurance, which is gearing up for its IPO. The health insurer saw premiums soar by 39% to Rs 596 crore from Rs 429 crore.

suo motu cognisance of the widespread protests impacting medical services and set up a 10-member national task force to make recommendations on ensuring safe working conditions for medical professionals and preventing violence against them. While suggestions are pouring in from stakeholders, young medics told Mint what they endure in their professions and what it would take to make them feel safe again. According to a study by the Indian Medical Association (IMA), over 75% of doctors have faced violence of some kind at the workplace.

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Pankaj Jain said on Thursday. “Do you think the cracks of zero or one ($/barrel) on gasoline (petrol) are sustainable? Even the cost of refining is not getting recovered on petrol,” Jain told reporters on the sidelines of an industry event. “The entire product market for exports is in complete turmoil.” Crack spreads are the difference between the prices of crude oil and refined products such as petrol and diesel. Globally, a combination of weak fuel demand and higher refinery runs has sharply pulled down margins on diesel and petrol in recent months. This hit domestic refiners’ earnings in the April-June quarter.

Insurance Corp (LIC) on Thursday said it has hiked its stake in Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to about 9.3 per cent. In a regulatory filing, LIC said its holding in railway sector 'miniratna' PSU has increased 2.02 per cent in the period December 16, 2022, to September 11, 2024, via open market purchases. «Life Insurance Corporation of India has increased its shareholding in equity shares of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd from 5,82,22,948 to 7,43,79,924 i.e., 7.278% to 9.298% of the paid-up capital of the said company (IRCTC),» LIC said.

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Indian office market is experiencing a notable shift, with domestic companies projected to lease 60-65 million square feet of office space between 2024-2025, a significant departure from the historical dominance of global corporations, particularly those from the United States, mentioned CBRE. Domestic firms saw a substantial 60% increase in office space absorption in the last two years, compared to the pre-pandemic years of 2018-2019. These firms have accounted for nearly 47% of overall office leasing activity in the last decade, with Delhi-NCR leading the way, followed by Bengaluru and Mumbai. According to the report, cities like Bengaluru and Hyderabad saw increased occupancy by e-commerce and life sciences firms, respectively, reflecting their strong growth trajectories. Further, Mumbai emerged prominently with a 43% share of domestic BFSI leasing, bolstered by substantial contributions from Delhi-NCR and Chennai during 2018 – H1 2024.