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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.BENGALURU: Prestige Group is preparing to launch a premium senior living brand, entering a fast-growing real estate segment, a top company executive said.The developer has identified land parcels in Bengaluru for its first projects, with an inaugural development likely in north Bengaluru. The brand will be unveiled alongside the first project launch. Prestige is also setting up a dedicated senior living vertical and has hired experienced professionals to lead the business.“We are keen to get into senior living but we plan to do it differently.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Embassy Office Parks Reit met its FY26 leasing guidance of 6.4 million square feet (msf), aided by organic expansions and acquisitions. Healthy leasing momentum across Bengaluru, Noida and Chennai assets helped portfolio occupancy rise 300 basis points (bps) year-on-year to 90% as of March.Global capability centres (GCCs) contributed about 60% to Embassy's total leasing, driven by technology, healthcare and BFSI sectors. With seven new GCC entrants in FY26, Embassy has 102 GCCs in its occupier portfolio of 280 corporates.The prospects for Grade A office spaces would be upbeat in FY27 given favourable demand-supply dynamics.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Concerned about the rising number of complaints over unfair sales practices in India’s insurance sector, the regulator is planning a major clean-up of how life, health and motor vehicle policies are sold by bringing out a discussion paper on proposed distribution reforms.The next phase of insurance reforms will focus less on headline liberalization and more on fixing structural inefficiencies in pricing, distribution and customer outcomes, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India chairman Ajay Seth said in an interview. IRDAI is also working with the Reserve Bank of India to tighten oversight of banks selling insurance products while pushing for a lower-cost and more transparent model, he said.“We are coordinating with the RBI to curb mis-selling through the bancassurance channel.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The Union road transport and highways ministry is recalibrating its highway-building strategy to focus on decongesting urban India, with plans to prioritize ring roads and bypass corridors around nearly 50 cities with populations exceeding one million, two people aware of the development said.The shift marks a departure from the earlier emphasis on long inter-city corridors under programmes such as Bharatmala, towards integrating highways with urban mobility needs.According to the first person quoted above, the new approach of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) will ensure that long-distance highway traffic is diverted outside dense city cores, enabling seamless freight movement while reducing congestion within cities. The broader objective is to lower logistics costs and support investment and growth.As per government estimates, the country’s logistics cost has already fallen from 13–14% of GDP a few years ago to close to 8% now, driven by GST reforms, FASTag, e-way bills, digital tracking systems, and the expansion of highways and freight corridors under PM Gati Shakti.Queries mailed to MoRTH and NHAI remained unanswered till press time.“The new highway construction strategy would keep at least around quarter of annual highway construction target of about 10,000 km for building bypasses and ring roads around cities with higher vehicle density.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The shift towards passive investing is one of the defining trends of this decade. According to NSE Indices’ Nifty Passive Insight report, released in March, assets under management (AUM) in passive schemes stood at ₹14.84 trillion as of end of February, up ninefold from ₹1.63 trillion in 2020.The passive universe now spans 677 schemes and 54 million folios, with 67% of AUM in equity, and more than half of that benchmarked to the Nifty 50.The foundation traces back to Nobel laureate William Sharpe, who argued in his 1991 paper The Arithmetic of Active Management that, after costs, the average actively managed dollar must underperform its passive counterpart.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Broking firm Sahi has raised about $33 million in a funding round led by venture capital firm Accel Global, more than tripling its valuation to about $200 million, the company’s top executives told Mint.Less than a year ago, it had raised funds at a valuation of $60 million.“It has come on the back of the trajectory of the business in terms of how fast we have been able to grow, but more importantly, it's the quality of the business,” said Dale Vaz, founder and chief executive, Sahi.Accel Global led the round with a $20 million investment, with the rest coming from existing investors Elevation Capital and Accel Partners India. This takes the company’s total funding to over $43 million in under 18 months of operations.Founded in December 2024 by former Swiggy chief technology officer Dale Vaz and ex-Kotak Securities executive Manish Jain, Sahi offers a chart-first interface with features like real-time Greeks, open-interest tracking, technical indicators and one-click execution.“Since launch, we’ve been able to onboard about 400,000 demat accounts.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Once upon a time, a U.S. president asked his aides for one thing before his trip to Beijing: a chance to be seen as a regular guy.It was 2005, a relatively warm chapter in U.S.-China relations, and George W. Bush was a passionate mountain biker.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.As the Nifty 50 crashed more than 11% in March amid escalating tensions between the US, Iran and Israel, equity funds slashed their cash holdings throughout the month, aggressively buying into stocks at beaten-down prices. This widespread reduction in liquidity highlighted how differently fund managers utilize "dry powder" during a crisis.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Mumbai: India’s second-biggest overseas acquisition was stitched together over three months of near-daily negotiations between the bidder, the seller and their bankers, said a banker aware of the details behind the transaction.Mumbai-based Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd on Monday said in an exchange filing it will acquire US-headquartered Organon & Co for about $11.75 billion. This is the largest overseas deal by an Indian company since Tata Steel acquired UK-based Corus Group for $12 billion in 2007.The deal was always pitched at around $12 billion from both sides, with negotiations neither exceeding nor materially falling from that level, the person cited above said on the condition of anonymity.“The deal was out in the market sometime late 2025, and Sun was very interested because it gave them access to more than 100 countries across the world and also complemented the product suite,” said the banker.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL), the commercial arm of Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), has raised satellite bandwidth prices by 20%, effective 1 April, marking its first revision in a decade and signalling a reset in how scarce orbital capacity is priced amid shifting demand.The increase, communicated to customers in a letter dated 18 September, reviewed by Mint, will affect broadcasters, direct-to-home (DTH) platforms and companies leasing capacity for TV distribution, connectivity for ATMs and remote areas, maritime and defence projects, and enterprise communications.The move comes as demand dynamics shift, with traditional DTH usage weakening even as aviation, maritime and defence applications seek capacity, prompting a long-delayed pricing correction.“NSIL management has decided to revise the pricing of Ku-band capacity in three satellites—Gsat-31, Gsat-10 and Gsat-16. This is the first price revision of government satellites after 2016.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.A decade has passed since India began rebuilding inclusive and progressive infrastructure for women, with the gender budget hitting ₹5 trillion in 2026-27. This represents around 9% of the Centre’s total expenditure.While the push for women’s inclusion through higher expenditure is visible, and millions of women are part of several schemes encompassing self-help groups, small businesses, and employment, among others, several gaps remain that raise questions about whether these benefits are just on paper.Data shows that over 50 million women beneficiaries are under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), and over 100 million under self-help groups, but very few are registered businesses—the share of formally registered enterprises run by women was just 20.5% in 2023-24, marginally up from 17.5% in 2021-22.While the gender budget has grown in size, the internal architecture suggests a shifting focus towards livelihood rather than women-led industrialization.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.For those who have faced a shortage of small-value notes and coins in their wallets, the next three months could bring a change.India’s largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI), is looking to install dozens of cash and coin dispensers by the end of June, as it leads an initiative by the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to ease access to low-denomination paper money and coins.The state-owned lender plans to install 60 such machines in markets and other high-traffic areas where demand for change is high, according to four people familiar with the development and a document seen by Mint.The rollout will cover branches with currency chests in cities such as Bengaluru, Pune, Amravati, Chandigarh, Vellore, and Shimla, among others. The idea is to cover 13-14 states, the person said.“If the bank sees usage pickup at these machines, it will gradually increase the number.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.A nationwide shortage of Diet Coke is creating an opportunity for India’s direct-to-consumer zero-sugar beverage brands to win new customers as supply disruptions leave multinational soda makers short on shelves this summer.With demand for low-calorie drinks rising during the peak summer months of April and May, newer beverage companies are using the disruption to attract consumers who may not find their usual diet cola, betting that temporary shortages could translate into repeat purchases, industry executives told Mint.For many of these startups, including Paper Boat Zero, Chinni Kum, Zyro, and Jimmy's, the disruption has been less severe because a large part of their portfolio is sold in PET bottles rather than aluminium cans.Ankur Bhatia, founder of Jimmy’s, said the company’s bottle-based packaging has given it a ‘tactical edge’ because shortages in aluminium cans have worsened as beer and soft drink makers compete for the same production capacity. “The can-making lines are the same.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The rise of artificial intelligence-powered self-learning tools is forcing India’s upskilling companies to redesign their programmes to attract a broader, non-technical learner base.Upskilling firms such as Great Learning, Temasek-backed upGrad and Prosus-backed Eruditus, among others, have introduced no-code tracks within existing skilling programmes and launched targeted courses for non-technical learners in areas that previously required coding knowledge, the firms told Mint.This comes amid rapid improvements in generative AI models, which are increasingly capable of performing tasks that once required months of technical training.Learners are now wary of sitting through three to six-month-long courses for something that can be done in minutes using AI, said Arjun Nair, co-founder of Great Learning, which was formerly a Byju’s group company.“The models have become dramatically better. Whether it is Claude, Gemini, or OpenAI models, their capabilities have improved sharply in the last three to six months,” Nair said.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Investors who timed the metal rally well seem to have made quick gains, especially in aluminium stocks. Shares of most aluminium producers are now trading just a notch below their lifetime highs, reflecting enthusiasm in the sector.National Aluminium Co is 0.6% shy of its all-time high.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Reliance Industries Ltd’s (RIL) consolidated Ebitda inched up just 0.7% year-on-year to ₹44,141 crore in the March quarter (Q4FY26). Ordinarily, that wouldn’t cheer investors—but given the impact of the West Asia war on the O2C (oil-to-chemicals) segment, it is a reasonably good outcome.The O2C business, which contributed one-third of RIL’s total Ebitda in the quarter, faced crude availability constraints and a surge in costs such as freight and insurance.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Shriram Finance’s March quarter (Q4FY26) results are steady, but it is treading with caution amid macro-economic concerns, such as elevated crude prices and expectations of a dull monsoon this year, which could hurt rural demand.Shriram reported in-line net interest income (NII), but operating expenses came in lower than expected, leading pre-provisioning operating profit (PPoP) to beat consensus by 5%, said a report by Nuvama Research.NII increased by 21% year-on-year to ₹6,751 crore. Assets under management (AUM) rose by 15% year-on-year to ₹3 trillion, aided by an uptick in commercial vehicles (CVs), passenger vehicles (PVs), farm equipment and gold.Shriram still has a heavy dependence on CVs, which contributed 46.9% of its total AUM versus 45% last year, and grew by 19.5%.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Meta Platforms just offered a glimpse at what it thinks the future of work looks like: training and supervising artificial-intelligence systems to do what used to be your job. And that’s if you still have a job at all.The social-media company has been unusually aggressive, even by the standards of Silicon Valley, at pushing to incorporate AI into its employees’ workflows and using it to streamline and accelerate its operations.Already this year, it has started grading employees in performance reviews on their AI use; created ultraflat teams with almost no managers; and begun to develop a so-called CEO agent to assist Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg in performing his job.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.After HCL Technologies, Infosys also let down the Street with weaker-than-anticipated FY27 revenue growth guidance, reinforcing concerns about a slowing IT cycle.The stock fell over 5% on Friday, sliding to a new 52-week low of ₹1,167.80. Revenue guidance from large IT firms tends to set the tone for investor expectations for the sector.Geo-political conflicts and AI-led deflation are likely dampeners to growth in FY27, reflected in Infosys’s underwhelming revenue guidance of 1.5%-3.5% CC (1.25–3.25% in organic CC).

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) has proposed launching weekly index options for its bullion derivative index, the MCX Bulldex, according to two people familiar with the matter. The proposal is currently in the early stages of discussion within a regulatory committee, they added."The matter is being discussed in the commodity derivatives advisory committee (CDAC) of Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India) but no decision has been taken yet.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Indian equity markets remained under pressure on 23 April, as rising crude oil prices, continued foreign fund outflows and weak Asian cues weighed on investor sentiment.The Sensex fell 852 points to 77,664, while the Nifty slipped 205 points to close at 24,173. Market breadth stayed negative, with most sectoral indices ending in the red.Despite intermittent rebounds, the broader trend remains fragile.