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NEW DELHI: The Centre is considering a 12–16% incentive on large investments to boost domestic manufacturing of construction equipment such as tunnel boring machines, cranes and crawlers, two people familiar with the discussions said.The proposal is part of the scheme for enhancement of construction and infrastructure equipment (CIE) announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her FY27 budget speech on 1 February.

Mumbai: Private credit is stepping in ahead of public listings to help founders and promoters consolidate stakes or shore up capital as investors seek partial or full exits amid equity market uncertainty.Over the past 12-14 months, founders or promoters of companies including Leap India, Symbiotec Pharma, Vivriti Group, Zepto, InMobi, Lenskart and Zetwerk have engaged in such transactions ahead of their initial public offerings (IPOs), multiple people familiar with the matter told Mint. “Credit is increasingly being used as a flexible pool of capital to capture these opportunities and, in some cases, to provide exits to their investors, especially when public/IPO markets are facing headwinds,” said Aakash Desai, chief investment officer (CIO) & head of private credit at 360 ONE Asset, which closed its fifth private credit fund with a $400 million corpus earlier this week.

₹265.4 crore, Christian Dior's slipped slightly to ₹257 crore from ₹265.7 crore in FY24, and Louis Vuitton's eased to ₹802.47 crore from ₹816.24 crore in FY24.In contrast, the more upmarket Hermès India, which caters to ultra-rich buyers, continued to expand, with revenue rising to ₹427.9 crore from ₹322.2 crore and net profit increasing to ₹83.7 crore from ₹72.7 crore. Swiss watches also outperformed, with sales rising to about ₹3,500 crore from ₹3,244.6 crore in 2024, according to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH.The divergence could be a sign of a broader market dynamic at play, say experts.

India's angel networks are increasingly creating their own funds, tapping into the surge of domestic capital to institutionalise early-stage investing in the country's startup ecosystem.To streamline their investment focus, these networks are shifting from deal-by-deal syndication to closed-ended funds, capitalizing on the surge in domestic capital available.“Failure rates for individual angels can be very high, and coming together to structure their investing is a way of addressing that failure rate,” said Ranjeet Shetye, a deeptech angel investor and a mentor at YourNest Venture Capital.Veteran networks like Indian Angel Network (now IAN Group), Hyderabad Angels, and Rajasthan Angels have launched their own funds. These networks have successfully identified enough winners, encouraging investors to supply capital for early-stage bets rather than engaging directly in deal-making.Hyderabad Angels Fund (HAF) launched their maiden fund last year, but it is relatively small at ₹150 crore.

Mint. “With the population and purchasing power that the country has, companies can't afford to make solutions which are not designed with the Indian price point in mind.”Qualcomm's chief executive Cristiano Amon had announced the AI-focused $150 million fund at the India AI Impact Summit held in Delhi last month.

Mint.The email sent last week by David Udell, group president for Asia Pacific, said Sharma would take on broader regional responsibilities as the hotel chain sharpens its focus on growth across the region.In the communication, Udell said India represents a significant long-term growth opportunity for Hyatt.Hyatt has been expanding aggressively in Asia Pacific, particularly in markets such as India, where demand for premium travel and luxury experiences has risen sharply in recent years. It currently has 85 hotels in the country under various brands.In 2025, Mint reported that Hyatt Hotels planned to expand its footprint in India and Southwest Asia to tap growing domestic demand for experience-led travel.

Rising tensions between the US and Iran have pushed global energy prices higher, bringing ceramic tile manufacturers under pressure.

War never brings good news. But the West Asian geopolitical crisis has halted an information technology (IT) sector-led sell-off in domestic office real estate investment trusts (Reits) as investors flock toward defensive, income-generating assets amid volatility.Reits have held up better than the broader market so far this year, falling around 2% on average year-to-date, while the benchmark Nifty 50 is down about 7%.Analysts attribute this resilience to the quasi-debt nature of these trusts.

Escalating tensions in the Middle East have pushed crude prices into the spotlight, making it the single biggest trigger for the recent sell-off in Indian equities.Brent crude prices experienced a sharp spike and a violent reversal on Monday, skyrocketing to nearly $120 per barrel before settling under $100 amid rising tensions in West Asia, supply constraints, and fears of a prolonged conflict.A blockade at the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point that carries about a fifth of global oil, has reignited supply shock fears, lifting crude prices and heightening risks for import-dependent economies such as India’s. Oil and related energy stocks in India have therefore come into sharp focus.Today, we take a closer look at small cap companies in India’s oil industry.

New Delhi: For the first time, nearly a third of all laptops being sold in India are being shipped with the ‘Made in India’ tag. This rise, which has played out over the past two years, has happened as government incentives have pushed electronics manufacturers to focus on the segment and diversify from mobile-led revenue.In March 2024, less than 5% of all laptops being sold in India were being assembled locally, analysts and industry executives said.

Mint has seen, was also marked to petroleum secretary Neeraj Mittal.According to Singh, the continued stoppage of LPG and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies to tower manufacturing units is likely to adversely impact the telecom tower manufacturing supply chain and may lead to delays in ongoing and planned tower rollout activities. “This could consequently affect efforts aimed at strengthening telecom networks and expanding connectivity, particularly in uncovered and capacity-constrained areas,” he said.In an order dated 5 March, the petroleum ministry directed all public-sector OMCs to ensure that LPG procured is supplied and marketed only to consumers of domestic LPG.

Mint spoke to said the same—inquiries have thinned, with no explanation about what has changed. IndiaMART has been their entire digital existence. But somewhere between a buyer’s question and an AI agent’s answer, their phones have begun to ring less often.IndiaMART, India’s largest business-to-business (B2B) marketplace, was built on a single premise: helping buyers find sellers.

domestic LPG production, a move that could further tighten fuel availability for commercial users such as restaurants.Mint explains what the order says, why restaurants are concerned and how the industry is responding.The issue stems from an order issued by the ministry of petroleum and natural gas on 5 March directing oil refining companies to prioritize propane and butane streams for LPG production and supply it to the three public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs)—Indian Oil Corp. Ltd, Bharat Petroleum Corp.

In 123 BCE, Gaius Gracchus passed the lex frumentaria, a law mandating that the Roman state sell grain to citizens at a fixed below-market price. The aim was modest: stabilize food prices, protect the poor. Within two generations, it had become free distribution.

Mint.India’s hotel industry is entering a an expansion cycle which is fuelled by domestic travel and the increasing shift of independent hotels to branded operators. "Domestic travel will remain the main driver of demand as India has 100 million people travelling and international inflow will only be a bonus," Baljee said.The company has 120 operational hotels, and 48 are in the pipeline.

Looking for companies with strong moats and pricing power is crucial because these businesses can protect profits and grow consistently over long periods.A moat refers to a durable competitive advantage—such as strong brands, high switching costs, or dominant distribution—that keeps competitors from easily taking market share.Companies with moats can maintain high margins and steady returns on capital, even during economic downturns.Here are three stocks with strong moats and pricing power. This editorial is not a stock recommendation.Titan Company is one of India’s leading consumer brands, known primarily for watches, jewellery, and eyewear.

Mint explains.A report by US security research firm Soufan Center underlined that the US Department of War (formerly Department of Defense) used Anthropic’s Claude, embedded in Palantir’s battlefield intelligence suite Maven Smart System, to identify sharp targets during its strikes on Iran, called Operation Epic Fury. The uses also included simulating battlefield situations and strategies.

Fintech Moneyview is hunkering down on a lending model just as digital lending peers such as Paytm and KreditBee are either moving away from it or focusing on growth in other models.In its draft IPO prospectus, the Bengaluru-based startup revealed plans to substantially expand default loss guarantee (DLG) arrangements with lending partners as part of its credit distribution strategy. A default loss guarantee allows a partner, such as a fintech, to compensate a regulated entity, such as a bank or NBFC, for loan defaults.The move comes even as financial institutions have been reassessing such guarantees after the Reserve Bank of India introduced guidelines in mid-2023 that capped DLG exposure at 5% of a loan portfolio and required board approval.Paytm, a listed fintech platform that began DLG-backed loans in 2024, began retreating from the arrangement due to high costs by mid-2025.

Two of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, a chemical manufacturer, and an auto giant have established internal artificial intelligence (AI) teams and opened centres to increase automation across their businesses, as the technology’s rapid pace continues to upend business operations worldwide.Over the last 18 months, Swiss life sciences major Novartis International AG and Texas-based chemical manufacturer Celanese Corporation started AI councils to identify segments that can be automated. Indiana-based Eli Lilly and Co.

New Delhi: India has tightened access to domestic cooking gas as the escalating conflict in West Asia threatens fuel supplies and drives volatility in global energy markets.The Centre has prioritized household LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) consumption, and introduced a lock-in period between cylinder bookings, two people aware of the matter said.“The priority for LPG supply in this situation is domestic consumers. Further, in order to curb hoarding of cooking gas, a 25-day lock-in period has been implemented,” one of the two people mentioned above said on condition of anonymity.

Indian equities endured a punishing, volatile start to the week. While the Sensex initially plummeted more than 2,400 points and Nifty 50 broke below the 23,800 support level on Monday, a late tug-of-war saw the Nifty fight back to reclaim the psychologically important 24,000 mark.This bruising session comes as the geopolitical landscape undergoes a dramatic shift.