Country Financial News

New Delhi: Facing supply disruption from West Asia, the Indian government has directed all state-run and private-sector refineries in the country to step up production of domestic cooking gas by diverting feedstock away from the manufacturing of non-essential products, including petrochemicals.Using its powers under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, the ministry has directed all refiners to supply LPG to the three state-owned refiners – Indian Oil Corp Ltd, Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd – which will in turn supply it only to domestic consumers of cooking gas.The development is significant as India has only about 25 days of LPG stock. Annual demand stands at 33.15 million tonnes, with imports servicing about 75-80% of this.

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.

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.

The Estée Lauder Companies has signed an agreement to acquire the stake it doesn’t already own in Indian luxury beauty company Forest Essentials, with the transaction expected to close in the second half of 2026, said Stéphane de La Faverie, president and chief executive officer of The Estée Lauder Companies.The deal completes an 18-year partnership with the luxury Ayurveda brand, which was founded by Mira Kulkarni.Forest Essentials sells Ayurvedic skincare and haircare products and competes with premium labels such as Kama Ayurveda. Estée Lauder had a 49% stake in the company in 2013, which it increased from a 20% stake it took in 2008.Speaking to Mint, La Faverie, said, “Today, this brand is the leader in prestige skincare in India, which is still a very small segment of the larger beauty business in India.

A new wave of affluent buyers in their twenties and early thirties is driving growth in India’s luxury watch market, forcing global brands to reposition for a more aspirational consumer.The shift comes at a time when rising disposable incomes, a swelling base of high-net-worth individuals and easing import duties under India’s trade pact with the European Union are reshaping the premium timepiece landscape. Lower tariffs on Swiss watches are expected to narrow price gaps, intensify competition and accelerate premiumisation in a market that executives say is expanding rapidly.The luxury watch market is poised for strong expansion, with annual growth estimated at 11-12%, supported by the country's rising affluent base and growing wealth among high-net-worth individuals (HNIs), according to an October 2025 report by SOIC Research.The share of luxury and high-end watch sales has jumped from 48% in FY20 to 70% in FY25, indicating that Indian buyers are gravitating toward more exclusive, higher-value brands.

On National Science Day each year on 28 February, we rightly celebrate discovery and innovation. India’s scientific community has earned that recognition. However, the role of science in national life has changed in ways that are not immediately obvious.

₹815 crore on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s overseas visits since he took office in 2014, covering 78 countries across 99 trips, according to data shared in Parliament last month.The disclosures offer a detailed snapshot of how frequently he travels, which countries dominate his itinerary and what that outreach has cost the exchequer. Overseas travel has been a central plank of Modi’s diplomatic strategy, with the prime minister frequently engaging global leaders in person.A Mint analysis of the data shows that, adjusted for inflation, the total outlay amounts to just over ₹1,000 crore in current prices. In all, Modi has spent 352 days abroad across his three terms.

oil and petro-products to deal with short-term disruptions. The Union ministry of petroleum and natural gas has formed a 24×7 control room to continuously monitor the supply and stock position across the country.State-run oil marketing companies (OMCs)—Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd (HPCL), Bharat Petroleum Corp.

Exits from international subsidiaries and associate companies in Japan, Finland and Sri Lanka in the financial year 2026 have narrowed the list of loss-making foreign companies for Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, which is resetting its international business to back profitable businesses.The exits from international subsidiaries and joint ventures in the three countries have helped Mahindra and Mahindra shed companies with total annual losses of about ₹313 crore or 2.2% of its consolidated profit of ₹14,073 crore as of 31 March 2025.With these exits, the major loss-making foreign subsidiaries of the Mumbai-based company have narrowed down to companies in the US, Turkey, Mauritius and Germany, which together posted losses of ₹670 crore, or 4.7% of the company’s consolidated profits for FY25.Mahindra’s strategy to curb losses in its international businesses has come into focus after its exit from its Japanese subsidiary, Mitsubishi Mahindra Agricultural Machinery, on Monday, which it said will help reduce losses from a business it acquired in 2015.“On completion of the liquidation procedure, the promoter group would not have to incur the annual loss as well as fund these losses,” the company said in an exchange filing on Monday.The company’s renewed focus on exiting loss-making international businesses to double down on its high-growth areas and markets comes at a time when group chief executive Anish Shah is set to complete five years at the helm next month.Since taking over in 2021, Mahindra under Shah has exited several key international loss-making businesses as it seeks to increase profitability.

In 2016, Pranav Doshi, then an executive with the Canadian consulate, decided to move 2,000 kilometres away from their home in Mumbai. Doshi’s wife was given an option to choose between Unilever Plc’s London and Dubai offices, and she picked the largest city in the United Arab Emirates. “We selected Dubai because we had a young child, and wanted family support; that was not possible in London,” said Doshi, 47.

A new term that entered the lexicon after India’s budget for 2026-27 was the ‘orange economy.’ Synonymous with the creative economy, it is emerging as a formidable engine of growth that transcends traditional industrial boundaries. Once viewed as niche, the intersection of culture, technology and intellectual property now accounts for roughly 3.1% of global GDP and 6.2% of all employment.For a country like India, where recent budgetary initiatives recognize the strategic value of creative assets, the growth of this sector offers more than just economic expansion.

About a month ago, I built my first app. It was a simple speed-reader Chrome extension that is designed to display text one word at a time so I can read an article faster than normal.

The American-Israeli attack on Iran raises a number of vital questions for India and the rest of the world, delving into which is necessary to make the best of a bad situation. The prices of oil and liquefied natural gas have begun to rise as Iran attempts to choke the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one in every fourth barrel of all seaborne crude oil moves. If this grip lasts, it will make energy imports dearer, weaken the rupee and give inflation a cost-push.

MSMEs, accounting for about 45% of India’s total exports, any prolonged instability threatens not just margins but order continuity.“We are fortunate that our goods are not stuck in transit,” said Sushma Morthania, director at Shezar Technologies, which exports electronic components worth around ₹50 lakh each month. Nearly 40% of her shipments go to West Asia, Europe, and parts of Latin America via Dubai’s Jebel Ali Port.

drive up natural gas prices and freight costs, industry officials and analysts said.Although the government makes a provisional estimate of the fertilizer subsidy at the start of the financial year—based on sowing patterns, irrigated area and historical demand—it carries an implicit obligation to enhance the allocation if unforeseen developments arise.Currently, the fertilizer subsidy is projected at ₹1.71 trillion for the next financial year, slightly lower compared to the revised estimate of ₹1.86 trillion for the ongoing 2025-26 fiscal (FY26)."If the crisis persists for long, the fertilizer prices are expected to go up which might require higher subsidies," said an industry official on the condition of anonymity. In the past, the government has been making special financial provisions for additional subsidies in case of a spike in global prices.Natural gas, the primary feedstock and energy source for urea production, accounts for a bulk of fertilizer manufacturing costs, making the sector highly sensitive to price spikes.Research firm Zero Carbon Analytics has said that of the top countries that import oil and gas via the Strait of Hormuz, Japan faces the most direct risk of disruption, due to its high share of oil and gas trade through the shipping route and its reliance on imported oil and gas.

India is fast becoming one of the world’s biggest AI user bases. The question now is how it can turn that scale into superpower status rather than just training Silicon Valley for free.That will be a tall order for a country largely caught flat-footed by the boom. But let’s start with the basics: The three main building blocks of AI are talent, compute (including high-end chips and infrastructure) and data.

Mint analysis of vehicle registration data from the Vahan dashboard shows the share of overall EV sales has risen from under 1% until 2020 to 8% in 2025. Adoption accelerated after 2021 amid a stronger policy push.Compare this with the government’s ambitious target of 30% EV penetration by 2030—it’s an unachievable goal.“Realistically, the aim looks extremely difficult to achieve; even with strong growth, crossing the 10–12% threshold by 2030 itself would be challenging under current conditions,” said Rajat Mahajan, partner and auto sector leader at Deloitte.The concern is not just about missing a numerical target.

₹1.71 trillion as fertilizer subsidy for FY27. The support goes to plant nutrients such as urea, phosphorous and potash, with the subsidy system designed to partially absorb price spikes faced by farmers arising from international commodity shocks.At the same time, policymakers have begun encouraging alternatives.

Indian companies with operations in West Asia spent the weekend tracking their employees and gauging the impact on their businesses as the US-Israel strikes on Iran escalated the conflict, freezing movement from outside and within the region.“We are in touch with the client firms. The workers are safe.

Jai Ho! The resounding A.R. Rahman composition from the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire played as Narayan Manepally, CEO of Geist Brewing Co. and Vidya Kubher, the brand’s head brewmaster, collected the Gold Award at the European Beer Star 2025 competition in Nuremberg, Germany, in September.

Imran Khan’s long career in Pakistani politics produced many unforgettable images. In 2014, he stood atop a shipping container to rage against the US and his own nation’s elite; in 2018, he delivered his memorable first address as prime minister, holding up illustrations of what malnourishment did to children’s brains, and promising to turn the country into an Islamist welfare state.For millions around the world, however, none of these pictures from his later life will ever be as memorable as the spectacle of nearly 40-year-old Imran holding up the world cup that Pakistan’s cricketers had just won.