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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Mumbai: The Indian rupee’s slide to fresh record lows amid the ongoing West Asia war is prompting calls for deeper structural reforms instead of short-term liquidity measures to stabilize the currency, five market participants told Mint.While the US-Iran conflict has intensified pressure on the rupee, experts said the currency’s weakness predates the war and reflects broader concerns over slowing capital inflows at a time when India’s current account deficit is expected to widen.Since the war began on 28 February, the rupee has declined by 4.6%, according to Bloomberg data. After clocking fresh lows for three consecutive trading sessions, the currency hit a fresh record low of 95.96 per US dollar on Thursday, before trimming losses and ended at 95.64 compared with 95.66 on Wednesday.

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.The domestic precious metals market is adjusting to a major policy reset. The government has raised import duty on gold and silver by about 9%, including cess.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.For over two decades, an Oman-based NRI has called Muscat home, building a career in a country that levies zero personal income tax.In India, he filed his tax returns dutifully, claimed NRI status and availed the concessional rates that came with it, including the 5-20% flat tax on interest and dividend income, which would otherwise be taxed at slab rates for residents. It was meant to be a watertight benefit under the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAA).Then, last year, the income tax department came knocking.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.AS AN UNEASY truce holds between America and Iran, experts are struggling to predict what new phase the conflict may enter next. Might an artificial-intelligence model know any better? To find out, The Economist asked RAND, a think-tank, to see if its new AI forecasting system thought a popular uprising was in the offing in Iran. Integrated Strategic Forecasting (ISF), as the system is known, put the chance of regime collapse or replacement by the end of 2026 at 20%—higher than many experts would hazard.There are caveats.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.At first, the legal battle between Nayara Energy Ltd—the Indian refiner backed by Russia’s Rosneft—and SAP India appeared to be a conventional contract dispute.However, it quickly raised larger questions around foreign sanctions, India’s technological dependence on multinational software providers, and whether global geopolitical developments could disrupt critical infrastructure operations within the country.After Justice Vikas Mahajan heard both parties, the court recorded its judgement on 30 April.Mint explains the case and why it matters.The dispute started in July 2025, when SAP India Pvt Ltd suspended all critical software support services including SAP ECC support (maintenance for its legacy core business suite), marketplace access, SSCR keys (developer credentials required to modify SAP source code), and expert services.SAP said this was done after the European Union imposed sanctions on Rosneft, the Russian oil refinery that has a 49.13% stake in Nayara.Nayara approached the Delhi High Court in September, saying the suspension blocked access to software critical for refinery operations and regulatory compliance. The company noted it was unable to implement GST 2.0 updates and argued that the disruption "poses a serious risk to India’s sovereignty and public interest", given that its refinery accounts for 8.5% of the nation’s energy production.Nayara argued that SAP was using the European Union trade curbs to not provide services to the energy firm despite its contractual obligations in India.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.In April, the Chinese government issued a notification—Decree 834, which imposed restrictions on multinational companies operating in the country. Mint examines what this decree is all about, its motivation, its implications for India, and what the Indian government should do to counter it.Decree 834 is China’s first comprehensive regulation on industrial and supply chain security. While not entirely new, it creates a unified national security-driven regulatory framework for supply chain oversight.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Renewed hostilities near the Strait of Hormuz sparked a choppy retreat in domestic equities, even as favourable state-election outcomes provided a brief cushion to markets this week. Benchmark indices fell about 0.6% on Friday amid a global risk-off mood, as Iran accused the US of breaching their ceasefire agreement, citing attacks on its oil tankers and air strikes on coastal areas.But markets ultimately eked out marginal weekly gains, though the underlying sentiment remained fragile and directionless.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The rupee closed at a record low of 95.29 on Tuesday as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to sell and crude prices stayed above $100 per barrel. Costlier oil is pushing up India’s import bill, while weak foreign inflows are limiting any recovery, said market participants.The rupee will see a meaningful recovery only once Brent crude falls below $100 and capital flows turn supportive again, market experts said, adding that against some emerging market peers, the rupee is beginning to look undervalued.Yet, the overall bias remains weak, with the rupee consistently facing selling pressure on rebounds.“In the near term, 94.70 is likely to act as resistance, while 95.50 is seen as immediate support, with markets closely tracking US non-farm payrolls and unemployment data this week for further direction," said Jateen Trivedi, vice-president and research analyst for commodity and currency at LKP Securities.Over the past year, the rupee has weakened by nearly 11%, with over 4% of that decline coming since the war broke out.Even as earnings improve and nominal growth normalizes, the rupee remains under pressure from higher crude prices this year and continued FPI selling after last year's trade tensions, said Harsh Gupta Madhusudan, fund manager, PIPE, Ionic Asset.The last one to two years have been the perfect storm for India with gold imports remaining strong, India not having any clear AI play, and post-2024 elections macro tightness filtering through with a lag, which is now being reversed.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The central government’s procurement from micro and small enterprises (MSEs) rose 21% to ₹1.14 trillion in FY26, according to the MSME Sambandh portal. This surge meant smaller firms bagged nearly half (48.91%) of all central government orders, a significant increase from the 43.28% ( ₹93,971 crore) recorded in FY25.This performance far exceeds the statutory requirement for the government to source at least 25% of its orders from MSEs.Industry stakeholders and experts suggested the rising volumes reflected growing MSME inclusion within the national economy.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.India’s weight-loss frenzy is under the scanner, with the blockbuster drug semaglutide facing fresh scrutiny after hundreds of suspected complications were flagged, said two government officials in the know, with medical experts noting that about half the users report some side-effects. The ongoing review could lead to tighter norms, including label changes, safety warnings and stricter prescription rules.Amid the hype surrounding these glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptors' efficacy for weight loss, the government has documented around 400 reports of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) potentially linked to the medication that is now being clinically evaluated, the officials said.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.For a little over two months now, the world has speculated on the impact of the Israel-US-Iran war on the world economy. As the war’s disruption stretched on, concern began turning into panic over energy and food security. India is in a particularly vulnerable position—both directly, given its high energy dependence on West Asia, and indirectly due to the ripple effects of various impacts across the world.India’s large import dependence makes adaptive responses to economic and social impacts of the war enormously challenging, especially in the immediate time-frame of two years.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The end of a 15-year political regime in West Bengal has rekindled investor interest in companies headquartered in the state, triggering a sharp rally in select stocks on expectations of a policy reset.On 4 May, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) registered a watershed win in the 294-member assembly, unseating the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) and ending its 15-year rule.On the back of expectations of improved industrial policy clarity and faster clearances, shares of RP Sanjiv Goenka Group companies, Bandhan Bank, Emami Limited and others saw a sharp move in prices.However, analysts caution that the rally reflects anticipatory positioning rather than earnings visibility.“The market is largely anticipatory positioning, not earnings-led yet,” said Ajay Bagga, a market expert. “Any regime shift that improves industrial policy clarity and capex visibility can expand earnings multiples but sustainability depends entirely on execution, not sentiment,” Bagga added.Shares of Kolkata-based Bandhan Bank touched an all-time high of ₹212.5 on Monday, emerging as the top gainer in the Nifty Private Bank pack that day.As of FY26, West Bengal accounted for 24% of Bandhan Bank’s total loans and advances—the highest among all states.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.For many Indian households, the rupee hitting a record low of 94.85 to a US dollar might feel like a distant headline that has little to do with their finances. Especially when no child studies abroad, no holiday is booked overseas, and no money sits in any international fund.It is easy to assume households are insulated from the volatility of the foreign exchange market.However, the reality of a globalized economy is that the dollar is woven into the daily life of an Indian household, even with no direct spending in dollars.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.A clarification by the Reserve Bank of India has undercut Tata Sons’ attempt to distance itself from public funds, potentially retaining it in the upper layer of non-bank financial companies (NBFCs), a category that entails tighter regulation and a mandatory listing requirement.The move complicates matters for the holding company of the Tata group, which has been trying to stay private, especially since RBI introduced its scale-based supervision of non-bank lenders.Late Wednesday, the central bank said it has received feedback that the mention of ‘indirect public funds’ in its draft non-banking financial company (NBFC) circular of 6 February leads to treating equity investment in an NBFC by group entities having debt as ‘indirect receipt of public funds’.Per RBI, public funds include funds raised either directly or indirectly through public deposits, inter-corporate deposits, bank finance and all funds received from external sources.Mint had reported in 2024 that Tata Sons had turned debt-free in a bid to avoid getting listed under the upper layer regulations and surrendered its registration as a core investment company (CIC). The RBI is yet to communicate its decision on this issue.A former regulator said the earlier argument was that since Tata Sons does not have public funds, it can give up its CIC registration, not be in the upper layer, and therefore can stay private, does not hold water.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Most of us move through our days submerged in routines, juggling everyday responsibilities. Every now and then, we come up for air, a brief pause to disconnect and reset. But that’s getting harder.Even these moments are now crowded with conversations about war, fragile markets and the growing impact of artificial intelligence on jobs.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The expiration of electric vehicle (EV) subsidies in four key states, which together fueled over a third of India's EV sales in FY26, is creating a new hurdle for carmakers. These state-level incentives were critical in making EVs price-competitive with traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, according to a review of state policies and an industry executive aware of the matter.Worryingly for EV makers, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh have also introduced fresh taxes on EVs in the past month, which experts believe could further dampen sales momentum in these markets.The developments follow a blockbuster year for the industry, with EV sales surging 84% in FY26 to nearly 200,000 units, according to data from the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA).Some of the country's largest electric car markets, including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu, have seen their purchase subsidies for consumers end, which is expected to raise overall cost of such vehicles.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.India’s top companies are estimated to have spent anywhere between ₹69,000 crore and ₹72,000 crore on legal matters in the fiscal year ended March. The spending has risen from ₹60,000 crore in FY25 due to shifting regulations, geopolitical risks and rising compliance demands.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.As the fourth quarter numbers of FY26 begin to trickle in, early trends point to headline profit resilience, largely driven by financials, particularly banks. Across non-financial industries such as consumer and IT, revenue growth has held up, but profits are already under pressure, signalling a broader margin squeeze ahead.With uncertainty around the West Asia conflict persisting, Dalal Street remains cautious, as investors brace for the full impact of rising input costs to flow through to profitability from the June quarter.A Mint analysis of 220 early results shows total income rose 3.4% year-on-year, a sharp slowdown from 12% in the December quarter for the same set of companies.However, even as core operations (net sales) rose nearly 9% y-o-y to a seven-quarter high, overall topline was weighed down by a 65% fall in non-core (‘other’) income, driven by treasury losses as bond yields hardened amid the West Asia conflict in March.Meanwhile, aggregate net profit for the 220 companies rose 10% y-o-y, but the gains were largely driven by banks, masking pressure on non-financial companies amid a sharp rise in costs.Further, a 50% spike in crude oil prices in March drove raw material and service costs higher, leading to a 13% year-on-year and 20% sequential surge in overall expenses, limiting the benefit from the absence of the previous quarter’s one-off labour code adjustments.Mitesh Dalal, head of broking at Sanctum Wealth, noted that most firms were still consuming lower-cost inventory through much of the quarter, with the crude spike largely concentrated in March.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The UAE's exit from the global oil cartels may be good for India, the world's third-largest oil buyer, sector experts said.The exit comes at a time when the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) has been trying to cap production amid a global oil crisis. The UAE decision may weaken Opec's control over oil prices and result in more energy purchases by India, experts said."This decision aligns with the UAE’s long-term strategic and economic vision and the evolution of its energy sector, including accelerating investment in domestic energy production, while reinforcing its commitment to its role as a responsible and reliable producer looking to the future of global energy markets," the Emirates' energy ministry wrote on X.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.India's weakest monsoon forecast in 26 years hasn't rattled Dalal Street much, raising the risk that investors are underpricing pockets of stress.The India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) first estimate pegs 2026 rainfall at 92% of the long-period average (LPA), flagging chances of below-normal precipitation. Amid persistent foreign investor outflows, elevated crude prices and patchy earnings, monsoon risks are being seen as incremental.However, experts caution that a weak monsoon could choke farm cash flows, dampen rural credit demand, and sour asset quality before broader consumption trends buckle.Non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) with exposure to vehicle loans and micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) financing in rural markets are most closely aligned with the monsoon cycle.Unlike fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), consumer durables, and autos—which can cushion rural weakness through premiumization and urban demand—these lenders' books are directly tied to farm incomes.The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) expects rabi crop income to grow just 0.8% year-on-year in FY26 due to low food inflation, down from almost 11% last year and well below the above-8% annual trend seen since FY16.