Provident Financial News

The government has launched a ₹20,000 crore credit guarantee scheme for microfinance institutions to revive lending in the microfinance sector, which has been hit by a prolonged period of stress. The move is aimed at restoring lender confidence and improving credit flow to small borrowers.

Mint that its UK operations will not break even this fiscal.The timing is significant. Tata Steel has consistently maintained that its UK turnaround hinges on policy support to counter unfair import competition.

cheque bounce and NPA matters, is not just a legal problem but an economic bottleneck.“The approach is to move from a litigation-heavy enforcement model to a resolution driven framework. Reducing pendency in cheque bounce cases means unlocking stuck money, easing pressure on banks, and improving credit circulation, each of which has a direct bearing on economic growth,” Said Gauhar Mirza, partner at law firm Saraf and Partners.A similar meeting was last held on 5 February 2026, during which discussions centred on measures to settle one-third of the total pending accident claim cases in tribunals and high courts across India.Emails sent to the finance ministry, IBA, General Insurance Council, MCPC and NALSA remained unanswered till press time.Abhishek Singhvi, senior advocate at the Supreme Court, and Rajya Sabha member, said, “India, with the best and the brightest in its legal ecosystem, and despite avant garde doctrines like basic structure and PIL (public interest litigation), suffers the ignominy of humongous arrears and five crore plus case pendency.

“These disconnected issues do not take away the confidence in private banks,” said Pratik Shah, partner and national leader, financial services, EY India.Shah’s optimism also stems from stronger regulatory guardrails. He said the regulatory review and oversight process has only got better and more robust over the last few years, and there have been cases where the regulator has not been shy about imposing fines or even shutting down businesses.“I think the environment around us is becoming more and more complex, and business risks are manifesting themselves in a different manner.

The international system is entering a phase that increasingly resembles an earlier era of geopolitics—one defined less by shared rules and more by competing spheres of influence. Signals emerging from Washington’s strategic thinking, particularly during the presidency of Donald Trump, point to a worldview in which power, leverage and bilateral bargaining take precedence over the norms and institutions that have guided global governance for decades.With the next Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) approaching, the future of multilateralism is in the spotlight.

IBM closed the buyout of Confluent, a US-based data streaming company. At $11 billion, this is IBM’s second-largest acquisition in recent years, after the Red Hat buyout in 2019 for $34 billion. The deal is expected to help IBM boost Agentic AI capabilities.As companies shift from AI pilots to production, they struggle with fragmented data.

financial crisis soon cut that to roughly $11 billion at the trough, before a recovery to around $15 billion by 2010.The inflection point came in 2011, when Adobe began shifting from boxed software to monthly subscriptions through its Creative Cloud platform. Investors were initially skeptical. Over time, the model gained traction.

The Centre on Friday launched a ₹20,000 crore credit guarantee scheme to revive bank lending to microfinance institutions (MFIs), as the sector grapples with persistent liquidity constraints despite improving asset quality.According to a paper issued by National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC), the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Microfinance Institutions–2.0 (CGSMFI-2.0) will be effective from 20 March 2026 and will cover loans sanctioned by member lending institutions (MLIs) to MFIs until 30 June 2026.It will provide guarantee cover for loans extended by these lenders to MFIs for on-lending to small borrowers, in line with Reserve Bank of India norms.The scheme builds on an earlier credit guarantee programme introduced in June 2021 to support microfinance lending during the covid-19 pandemic.“The sector has demonstrated strong improvement in credit quality and adherence to responsible lending practices.

Artificial intelligence presents a transformative moment for society, but it appears that the number of people focused on making sure it’s safe might fit on a single transatlantic flight.Perhaps that shouldn’t surprise given the global arms race that has propelled generative AI companies to stratospheric valuations, but it should cause some alarm. The technology makes errors, is largely untested in the wild and has shown toxic side effects on mental health.

CMS Info Systems operates in a sector undergoing significant consolidation, where weaker players are steadily exiting due to severe challenges accessing credit and liquidity. As a result, even a listed competitor (AGS Transact) had to cease operations due to liquidity problems.CMS stepped in to stabilise ATM networks for banks, reinforcing its position as a mission-critical partner rather than just a service provider.

India Inc.’s earnings recovery will take longer than expected as higher energy prices amid the West Asia conflict could squeeze margins, according to the investment head of Standard Chartered Securities (India).“The consensus about a month back was building around 14-15% kind of (earnings) growth, which might come to low double-digits because of these changes in the input cost,” said Gaurav Dua, chief investment officer at the broking firm.For a year and a half, India Inc has been in an earnings downgrade cycle that was expected to bottom out, Dua said. But the rising energy prices could prolong the recovery, he said.

taxpayers are opting for the new tax regime, which offers few exemptions for allowances. Companies don’t want to keep bearing the administrative burden of giving an allowance that no one uses.

price hikes better not be delayed beyond April.“Cement spreads, a key leading indicator of industry unitary Ebitda, averaged ₹2,704/tonne in Q4FY26 (forecast), marking a decline of over ₹50/tonne QoQ, as elevated costs pressured margins amid the geopolitical uncertainties,” said a 13 March report by Nomura Research.Given that it takes 60-90 days for costs to flow through to profit and loss statements, thanks to the buffer provided by inventories and transit times, the real pressure may only show up in the coming quarters. Nomura’s channel checks, however, suggest price hikes could resume after March, once the year-end volume push subsides, helping cushion margins.Still, near-term cost pressures are a reality, and will be hard to ignore.

Cummins India Ltd: Buy above ₹4,720 | Stop ₹4,600 | Target ₹5,050 (multiday)Infosys Ltd: Sell below ₹1,260 | Stop ₹1,295 | Target ₹1,210 (multiday)Hindustan Unilever Ltd: Sell below ₹2,140 | Stop ₹2,175 | Target ₹2,050 (multiday)On 18 March 2026, Indian equities extended their winning streak for a third straight session, buoyed by strong global sentiment and broad-based buying. The Nifty 50 briefly crossed the 23,850 mark intraday before settling at 23,777.80, up 196.65 points or 0.83%.

Walt Disney Co.’s expected technology centre in Bengaluru raises questions over up to 9% of information technology (IT) outsourcer Globant S.A.’s revenue, underscoring a troubling shift in the software services sector as large clients bring back-end work in-house.The entertainment giant’s global capability centre (GCC) in Bengaluru will be “an integrated extension of global product and technology teams”, its spokesperson said in an emailed response to Mint. In January, the company behind Mickey Mouse and Peter Pan to Spider-Man reportedly leased 174,000 sq.

₹33,660-crore Bharat Audyogik Vikas Yojna (Bhavya) kicks off in fiscal year 2027 (FY27), aiming to expand India's manufacturing muscle, while creating large-scale employment.The Union Cabinet also approved a series of projects totalling more than ₹45,000 crore, including Bhavya, which will be executed over five years."The scheme is expected to drive large-scale job creation, generating substantial direct and indirect employment across manufacturing, logistics, and services, while catalyzing significant investments. The scheme aims to generate 15 lakh direct jobs by boosting manufacturing-led growth and enhancing infrastructure with ready-to-use industrial parks," said Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union minister for railways, information and broadcasting, and electronics and information technology.The Bhavya scheme will be implemented in partnership with states and private sector players, building on the experience of industrial smart cities developed under the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme.

airlines must also provide monetary compensation when the cancellation is not communicated appropriately well in advance. However, in the case of cancellations caused by a war, airlines are not liable to provide monetary compensation.The exclusion extends beyond just ticket cancellations. Claims for trip interruption, delays, missed connections and even additional accommodation costs may be denied if it is linked to a conflict.Baggage-related claims may also be denied if the delay or loss is directly attributable to airport shutdowns or conflict conditions.

Gail (India) Ltd’s shares have declined about 12% since the conflict in West Asia began, hitting 52-week low of ₹144.50 on Monday. The Strait of Hormuz blockade and QatarEnergy's suspension of operations at its LNG plant would hit Gail’s transmission and marketing businesses.As per Elara Capital, the state-owned company transported 123 million standard cubic meter (mmscmd) of natural gas in 2025, and about 30% of it came from sources that pass through or are close to the Strait and are stalled currently.The marketing segment traded volume of 105 mmscmd in 2025, and its dependency is less at 16%, thanks to diversified contracts from the US, Russia, and Australia.

investors in a FoF that then allocates capital across underlying AIFs, managers can effectively broaden participation while staying within the letter of the rules.“We have seen a gradual increase in FoFs in the industry as it helps an AIF accommodate investors who could not participate in a fund the first time around,” said Pratik Jain, managing partner–investments at Wealth Co. Asset Management Pvt.

Mint.The country currently has about 300 seismometers at earthquake monitoring stations for detection, early warning capability and scientific understanding of seismic activity.Scientists and disaster management experts say this brief gap between the arrival of different seismic waves can be used to safeguard critical infrastructure such as metro rail systems, transmission lines, power plants and industrial facilities. While earthquakes cannot be predicted in advance, many countries operate Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) systems that provide a few seconds to about one minute of lead time before strong shake reaches a location.The development is significant given that 59% of India is vulnerable to earthquakes due to its unique geological and tectonic setting, particularly its location at the collision boundary of the Indian and Eurasian plates.Mint had earlier reported that India was developing a system to predict destructive S-waves during earthquakes.According to the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), a New Delhi-based multilateral organization, India suffers losses of around $31.6 billion across nine infrastructure sectors—buildings, health, education, oil and gas, ports and airports, power, roads and railways, telecommunications, and water and wastewater—due to earthquakes, cyclones, floods, landslides and tsunamis every year.

Buyers can avail a discount of ₹2-9 lakh on the purchase of a medium or heavy electric truck under the PM E-Drive scheme by providing scrapping certificates for multiple diesel trucks, the ministry of heavy industries has clarified.The scheme mandates that scrapping certificates, also known as certificates of deposit (CDs), must be provided before claiming incentives. Mint explains this quid pro quo to reduce India’s reliance on carbon-heavy road freight, which makes up a third of the country’s total transport sector greenhouse gas emissions.What is the clarification for vehicle scrapping under the PM E-Drive scheme?On 27 February, a statement from the ministry of heavy industries clarified that incentives for new trucks can be granted against one or more valid scrapping certificates for diesel trucks, provided the gross vehicle weight (GVW) of the diesel trucks is higher.The ministry also explained with examples.