Deloitte Financial News

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: Indian FMCG products might get costlier on account of the war in West Asia as companies use up their buffer raw material stocks and shipments of key ingredients, including crude oil and oil-derived products, slow down because of global tensions, experts said.Persistent crude oil-linked inflation could keep companies cautious on pricing, margins and expansion plans. As inflationary pressures build, consumers are expected to cut back on discretionary spending and reduce shopping frequency.“People will start to look at value for money often.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.An industry body has asked the government to scrap a proposal to ban audit firms from offering non-audit services to clients for three years after their term ends.It said the move will lead to operational inefficiencies, increased costs and hurdles for large corporate groups, and force companies to depend on smaller auditors, which could compromise service quality in complex areas.Companies including EY, PwC, KPMG, Deloitte, BDO and Grant Thornton Bharat, among other audit firms, will be severely impacted if amendments proposed to the Companies Act of 2013 are implemented. These companies offer other advisory services besides audits for clients.The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), a body representing companies across sectors, submitted its comments and suggestions on the Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, last week, Mint has learnt.According to the proposed clause in the bill, an auditor or audit firm shall not provide, directly or indirectly, any non-audit services to a company or its holding company or subsidiary.

When Raunak Bhinge first approached institutional investors seeking funding for Infinite Uptime, the pitch was straightforward: much of India’s factory equipment was still analogue, and digitising it could help manufacturers improve output. Over time, the venture pivoted from being seen as a software startup to proving it was an artificial intelligence (AI)-backed business built on proprietary industrial data and models refined over years of deployments.“Investor due diligence has become deeper over the years as we raised funding,” said Bhinge, whose venture has raised over $60 million since inception.

Mint explains how significant AI’s impact really is on investment banking.A 2023 Deloitte report noted that global investment banks have invested billions of dollars in machine learning and natural language processing to transform trading and risk management. However, the deal-making lifecycle remains heavily dependent on human expertise.

The podcast market revenue is estimated to grow from $969 million in 2024 to $4.5 billion by 2030, according to a Deloitte report released on Tuesday, marking India’s move from a niche audio category to a video-first podcast powerhouse.As far as specific genres go, following 2023 and 2024, podcast consumption has rebounded, with renewed interest in favour of select genres, Deloitte’s media and entertainment predictions report showed. The report cites a 2024 consumer study that found 12% of Indians actively engaged with podcasts.“The trend of video podcasts has evolved in the past six months or so, and there is now traction for two-hour plus conversations versus 15-20 minute content pieces earlier.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. NEW DELHI: As India plans to set up 10 gigawatts (GW) of data centre capacity by 2030, demand for electricity is expected to surge. Mint explains how this will impact India’s power sector.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. DBS Bank India is looking to target India's rising ‘mass affluent’ base to become a true universal bank and stand out among its peers, who largely cater to companies and the super-rich, CEO Rajat Verma told Mint in an interview. Mass affluent refers to individuals who earn significantly more than the average consumer at around ₹30 lakh a year, but haven't yet reached ‘high-net-worth’ status.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. As ‘thank God it’s Friday’s resounds across offices, Stephen Fernandes is packing away his laptop after a long day. His day as a DevOps engineer may be done, but his day as a sound engineer is only getting started as he heads into sound check and rehearsals for a local band in Mumbai.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. MUMBAI: India’s wealth management industry is scrambling to scale as a growing pool of household financial wealth remains underserved. Of the at least $1.1 trillion held by the country’s top households, defined as those with annual incomes of $25,000 or more, at the end of FY24, only about $0.7 trillion was addressed by registered wealth managers, according to a 2025 Deloitte report.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi: AM Green Group, owned by Greenko founders Anil Kumar Chalamalasetty and Mahesh Kolli, plan to set up a 1 gigawatt data centre in Uttar Pradesh with an investment of about $25 billion, said four people aware of the developments. The company has signed an agreement with the InvestUP, the investment-focussed agency of the government of Uttar Pradesh.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. MUMBAI: Godrej Industries Group is restructuring its financial services businesses to prepare for expansion into new segments, including wealth management, following an announcement it first made in August 2025. The listed holding company, Godrej Industries Ltd, last week incorporated a new subsidiary, Godrej Investment Ltd, which will serve as the umbrella entity for all its financial services operations, according to an executive familiar with the plans.

₹6,049 crore, chief executive officer Akhilesh Kumar Dixit said in an interview on Monday.The enterprise and equity values of the deal are estimated at $723 million and $500 million, respectively, said another person in the know of the developments.The proposed transaction would rank among the largest deals in India’s fast-growing smart metering sector and highlights the financial stress at EESL, even as IntelliSmart plays a key role in the country’s $30-billion programme to replace 250 million conventional electricity meters with smart ones.Set up in 2019, IntelliSmart was awarded 22 million smart meter orders in the backdrop of India running the world’s largest electricity smart metering programme that aims to replace 250 million conventional meters with smart ones at a $30 billion investment. This will not just help reduce power theft but also ensure reliable electricity supply.IntelliSmart has installed 5 million smart meters and has presence across Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Bihar.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India Inc. is expected to roll out an average increment of 8.5-9.5% in the upcoming appraisal cycle, as companies calculate the impact of the new labour code and almost-stagnant inflation.

Deloitte, one of the world’s largest professional services firms, has emerged as the primary casualty of Elon Musk’s campaign to slash federal government spending. Since January, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Musk under Donald Trump’s second-term administration, has cut or modified 124 of Deloitte’s contracts, more than double the number axed from any other consultancy. The total value of these terminated contracts exceeds $1.16 billion, with DOGE claiming a $371.8 million saving for taxpayers. The largest of these was a $51 million IT services contract with the Department of Health and Human Services. Other impacted agencies include the CDC, NIH, and EPA. According to Fortune, the effects are already trickling down. Deloitte’s Government and Public Services division, which employs over 15,000 people, has started pulling staff off projects. Layoffs are expected.

At present, such individuals can buy into India's primary and secondary markets only through the foreign portfolio investor (FPIs) route.

National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) has flagged certain lapses in the audit quality of three audit firms. The observations have been made in NFRA's three separate inspection reports of SRBC & Co LLP, Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP and Walker Chandiok & Co LLP. In its report on SRBC & Co LLP, the regulator conducted audit quality inspections in 2024 and the scope included focus on three audit areas — Internal financial control over financial reporting on revenue, related party transactions and impairment of non-financial assets. SRBC & Co LLP is member of two networks — Ernst & Young Global network and SR Batliboi & Affiliates.

SRBC (SR Batliboi), Walker Chandiok (WCCL) and Deloitte Haskins & Sells (Deloitte) have once again brought to light critical issues such as auditor independence, the provision of non-audit services to audit clients, deficiencies in quality control frameworks, and conflicts of interest, raising concerns about whether top audit firms are responding quickly enough to meet regulatory requirements. A key concern for the regulator, the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA), has been that despite affiliations with global networks, each firm operating locally has not aligned its internal audit policies and procedures with Indian regulatory norms, particularly Sections 141 and 144 of the Companies Act and the ICAI Code of Ethics. Section 141 addresses the eligibility, qualifications, and disqualifications of auditors, whereas Section 144 prohibits auditors from providing certain services to the company or its subsidiaries. They reviewed SRBC in 2024 for compliance with previous findings and evaluated three FY23 audits, focusing on revenue-related internal controls, related-party transactions, and non-financial asset impairment. The regulator found that despite being a member of Ernst & Young Global since 2013, SRBC's policies fail to consider their relationships with network firms.

Boxy shirts, Korean pants, oversized tees and cargos for boys. Gen Zs have aunique way of dressing up. Some 20 brands launched in the past five years and aimed squarely at the social media generation — from Freakins and Bonkers Corner to Urbanic and Newme— are already nibbling into the sales of established rivals such as Zara and H&M in India. Gen Z, the largest consumer cohort, isn’t brand conscious or loyal either, which is hurting global labels. Its members, between the ages of 13 and 28 years, frequently experiment with attire, from head to toe. Also, money isn’t a factor as most of these upcoming brands have price tags of Rs 500-800, almost half that of their rivals.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Employees may be in for an even bigger disappointment this year as the economy and the market grapple with uncertainty. Companies are not only offering slimmer hikes but will also elevate fewer people.

Nirmala Sitharaman, said Romal Shetty, CEO of Deloitte South Asia. «Our domestic consumption-driven economy, which makes up 62% of our GDP, shields us from external fluctuations. And our favourable geopolitical alignment opens doors where others see barriers,» Shetty said at the ET Awards for Corporate Excellence in Mumbai on Saturday.

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is scrutinising the billions of dollars the US government spends each year on consulting services, as per a report.