Country Financial News

Mint, more than half of SMEs lack access to affordable finance, real-time climate information and insurance products, forcing many to treat resilience spending as discretionary.The findings come as businesses worldwide face rising risks from natural disasters, with climate change intensifying extreme weather and geological events. There are an estimated 358 million SMEs globally.SMEs are often the worst-affected by climate disasters and the least equipped to recover.

The impact of Trump 2.0: The year saw a stark turn in US engagement, with Trump’s approach to the Indo-Pacific characterized by unpredictability at best and rent-seeking at worst.The recently-released US National Security Strategy was emblematic of this ambiguity, prioritizing quid pro quo ties over legacy commitments and the use of muscular rhetoric while offering little doctrinal clarity.This has sent out mixed signals on China, as its deterrence rhetoric coexists with policy fuzziness and even deference in some parts, with US partners struggling to identify US thresholds for action, particularly on high-stakes issues such as Taiwan.Despite the rhetorical turbulence emanating from Washington, alliance architectures did not collapse, although they didn’t sprint forward either.Traditional security partnerships with Japan, Australia, South Korea and the Philippines have endured amid a sobering realization of the magnitude of US capabilities, particularly vis-à-vis strategic concerns about China.Nonetheless, the pace and predictability of strategic cooperation have waned, which is telling in the context of a tenuous regional landscape.Hence, although formal alliances will continue to matter, their political meaning has shifted, with partner countries less willing now to outsource strategy entirely to Washington and more inclined to shape outcomes independently, reflecting a post-‘hub-and-spokes complacency’ mindset.Similarly, multilateral formats like the Quad persisted and adapted, but the coherence of their agenda often reflected leadership from partners as much as from Washington.Initiatives such as maritime domain awareness and cooperation on critical minerals, for example, were driven more on the ground by Canberra,

Dear reader, as 2025, a year of global tumult and volatility, rolls by, Mint's reporters and columnists look around the corner on what is coming in 2026—to help you know what to expect and prepare for it. Tell us what you think at [email protected] persistent foreign investment outflows and a weakening rupee, several of India's premier conglomerates emerged as standout creators of shareholder wealth,outperforming even the benchmark indices.Collectively, the top 10 corporate groups by market capitalization now command nearly 24% of the country's ₹474 trillion (as on 26 December) total market capitalization, reflecting their massive—though slightly diminished—footprint on Dalal Street, down from 30% in 2022.However, performance within this elite group was far from uniform.

2026 is poised to be a year of monumental moments, marked by a summer of Assembly elections in India, an intensifying global space race, and major sporting events — notably the FIFA World Cup and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.The year also marks the US completing 250 years of independence, Bangladesh heading to the polls for the first time since former PM Sheikh Hasina’s ouster, India hosting the 18th Brics Summit, Apple turning 50, and the long-awaited release of GTA VI, the open-world action-adventure franchise. All of these set the stage for a packed year ahead.

In a development that is alarming policy makers and public health experts, India's oral nicotine pouch manufacturers are seeking permission to sell products of 6mg strength that are 50% more potent than the current maximum, offering them as therapeutic medical products under the nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) regime, according to two officials and documents reviewed by Mint.With the government running awareness campaigns against tobacco use in the country, this has sparked concerns of nicotine initiation and long-term addiction.The latest development pertains to Vcherish Pvt. Ltd, Harsh Nutricare Pvt.

Mint.For users, this would mean smartphones would automatically redirect a portion of data traffic from cellular networks to nearby Wi-Fi networks when available—including hotspots under the PM-WANI (Prime Minister Wi-Fi Access Network Interface) scheme—without interrupting calls, SMS, or applications.This will help reduce congestion on crowded mobile networks, improve speed in indoor and high-traffic areas, and enable operators to use their limited mobile spectrum more efficiently, often without users noticing any change.“Telecom operators in India do offload traffic to Wi-Fi in specific scenarios, but the practice has varied widely and lacked a nationally accepted technical framework,” a government official said, on condition of anonymity.“The new draft standard aims to define how Wi-Fi can work seamlessly with mobile networks, including public Wi-Fi, while ensuring there are no call drops during network switches and that there is a common offloading framework that works across operators,” the official added.The government wants operators to ensure that Voice over Wi-Fi (VoWiFi) works properly, including emergency calls, standard text messages over the internet, and multimedia calling services, while ensuring that all authentication and data transport mechanisms shall comply with national security directives and lawful interception, according to the draft rules.The rules also want operators to support open roaming and interoperability between different vendors to allow Wi-Fi offloading to scale without friction as users move across locations and networks.The Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC) under the department of telecommunications (DoT) is currently working to formalize the rules.“Telecom operators have

₹350 crore. Rainmatter Foundation, which was set up in 2020 works as a different, non-profit entity which provides climate-related grants.While the firm's initial focus was on fintech, in the early 2020s, it ramped up investments to include industries like health and wellness as well as climate.Rainmatter’s stance comes at a time when many Indian venture capital funds have grown cautious on climate-tech, a sector that, despite early optimism, has struggled to deliver healthy exits or meaningful scale.Average cheque sizes in the segment have declined over the past three years, dropping from $52 million in 2023 to $28 million in 2024 and $27 million in 2025, according to data from Venture Intelligence, a private company tracking platform.“We never started investing in climate because other VCs were investing.

Dear reader, as 2025, a year of global tumult and volatility, rolls by, Mint's reporters and columnists look around the corner on what is coming in 2026—to help you know what to expect and prepare for it. Tell us what you think at [email protected]’s trade policy in 2025 unfolded against a challenging global backdrop of high US tariffs, geopolitical uncertainty and slowing global demand.

₹100 to the dollar.Former chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian argued this week in the Indian Express that ₹100 per dollar is a worthy new-year resolution for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), not least because China and East Asia have kept their currencies cheap to exploit foreign markets: “The markets are trying to do a desirable job that policymakers have been unable or unwilling to do.”Indian companies are savvy enough to hedge their currency exposure.We should do more to help our most labour-intensive industries: ‘Make in India’ needs to be rebranded as ‘Hand-Make in India.’ A much-needed pen-stroke reform, says Laila Tyabji, founder of Dastkar, is to “simply remove GST on handlooms; it needlessly increases the paperwork and end price.”I buy handloom or hand-dyed cotton and walk 400 metres from my apartment to a tailor who adeptly makes shirts out of Kerala mundu material and even delicate jamdani that looks like candyfloss.Consider renaming Ease of Doing Business as a more truthful ‘unease of doing business,’ thus focusing on reducing the complexity of dealing with the government.It is wonderful, of course, that we can pay our taxes online almost as easily as buying a book off Amazon, but our tax system is still too complex and does little to widen the tax base. In fact, the last budget arguably narrowed it by raising the income threshold for income tax.In a country as unequal as ours, we need an inheritance tax.

Dear reader, as 2025, a year of global tumult and volatility, rolls by, Mint's reporters and columnists look around the corner on what is coming in 2026—to help you know what to expect and prepare for it. Tell us what you think at [email protected] the year 2025 drew to a close, thousands of spectators braved Delhi’s foul air, made stagnant by the unyielding winter winds, to catch a glimpse of Lionel Messi. Not long back, it would have been a regular meet-and-greet for a legendary footballer.

data centres are the refineries converting it into AI-ready fuel. And India is fast emerging as the next global hub.The country generates nearly 20% of the world's data but hosts only 3% of global data centre capacity.

Climate finance is becoming an increasingly important topic, especially as we see more gaps in Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) commitments and rising surface temperatures. Countries outline their climate goals by labelling targets as either unconditional, achievable with their own resources, or conditional, relying on international support for finance, technology, or capacity building.

Will and Ariel DurantIn the day-to-day intensity of building and running a business, it’s easy to get consumed by immediate decisions, metrics and crises. The Lessons of History by Will and Ariel Durant reminded me of the importance of occasionally stepping back and zooming out. The Durants distil centuries into recurring themes: ambition, cooperation, conflict, resilience, and show how little human nature truly changes.

One, draconian limits on refugees: Admissions had grown under Joe Biden, swamping US support systems.On Trump’s first day in office, he pivoted to the other extreme with an executive order that shut the Refugee Admissions Program, leaving thousands of refugees stranded, including those with applications in process. The new admission rate is just 7,500.Trump has decried immigrants from what he calls ‘Third World’ countries and been vocal about a preference for White immigrants.

shorturl.at/EFYLw) The spirit of the court’s observations could explain many of India’s deficiencies. Poverty in the country results in a tendency to peg everything on it. So India’s plans are often of low calibre.

Apple Inc. has notched another feat in India – fuelled by easy credit, cashbacks and aspirational Indians, the iPhone 16 is now the country’s highest-selling smartphone, eclipsing the most popular budget model from China’s Vivo.The iPhone 16 series, launched about 15 months ago, sold 6.5 million units in the first 11 months of 2025, according to data from Gurugram-based Counterpoint Research.

Dear reader, as 2025, a year of global tumult and volatility, rolls by, Mint's reporters and columnists look around the corner on what is coming in 2026—to help you know what to expect and prepare for it. Tell us what you think at [email protected] a year that saw initial public offerings (IPOs) eclipse other investment banking activity, cross-border merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions gained traction and are expected to continue through next year, industry executives said.

New Delhi: India’s leading electric bus and truck makers are planning to ask for a one-year extension on exemptions to import rare earth magnet motors — that are critical for electric vehicles (EVs)—under a central government scheme, three executives directly aware of the development said.According to the executives, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, manufacturers may seek an import relaxation till March 2027 under the ₹10,900-crore PM-E Drive scheme.The earlier deadline for e-trucks and e-buses to switch to locally manufactured rare earth magnet motors was March 2026, which was in turn extended from 1 September 2025.The extension is being sought as supply disruptions persist in imports, while local production of rare earth magnets and alternative motor technologies is expected to take another one to two years.Manufacturers such as Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Eka Mobility and Montra Electric are deliberating on sending a request to the ministry of heavy industries (MHI) to extend the import deadline, the executives said.A formal outreach to the government is expected in the next few weeks.

₹2,000-crore technology upgradation scheme for small businesses in the 2026-27 budget, aimed at boosting the adoption of energy-efficient machinery, two people aware of the development said.The technology upgradation scheme, proposed by the Union ministry of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME), and currently under discussion, will cover MSMEs with annual turnover of less than ₹50 crore, offering them a 20% capital subsidy for purchase of energy-efficient machinery, smart manufacturing, and automation upgrades, said the first of the two persons cited earlier, both of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity.A micro enterprise has an annual turnover of up to ₹5 crore, a small enterprise up to ₹50 crore, and a medium enterprise up to ₹500 crore.The plan comes amid several countries introducing their own carbon taxes on imports from nations with weaker climate regulations. The European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) comes into effect from 1 January.

While the hikes appear modest when measured per kilometre, their impact is concentrated on sleeper and second-class passengers, who account for over 70% of railway travel in India and are typically from lower-income groups.Under the latest fare structure, fares on mail and express trains have risen by 2 paise per kilometre for both AC and non-AC classes. Second-class passengers on ordinary trains travelling more than 215 kilometre (km) will now pay an additional 1 paisa per km.The latest fare rationalisation is expected to generate additional revenue of around ₹600 crore for the Indian Railways in this fiscal year.The July revision had also raised mail/express fares by 2 paise per km for AC classes and 1 paisa per km for non-AC classes, while second-class ordinary passengers were charged 0.5 paise per km after the first 500 km.The cumulative impact of both revisions becomes more pronounced on longer routes.

Mint breaks down how digital nomad visas work and why countries are betting on remote workers.A digital nomad is a professional who works remotely while living and travelling across different cities or countries, relying on digital tools rather than a fixed office. Typically employed in fields such as technology, consulting, content creation or online services, digital nomads earn their income online and choose locations based on factors like cost of living, internet connectivity and lifestyle.In recent years, governments have begun to formally recognise this group through ‘digital nomad visas’, allowing remote workers to legally live in a country for extended periods without entering the local job market.