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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.Lose weight quickly, and it often shows up on the face first. As fat disappears, the skin can sag, accentuating signs of ageing.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Blackstone-backed Bagmane Prime Office Reit, which is set to launch its ₹3,405-crore initial public offering (IPO) next week, expects strong leasing momentum led by global capability centres (GCCs) as it looks to acquire assets and grow its portfolio, CEO Richard Hugh Andrew said.The IPO, which opens on 5 May, comprises an issue of fresh shares worth ₹2,390 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) worth up to ₹1,015 crore by a Blackstone affiliate. The proceeds from the new shares will be used to part-fund the acquisitions of Luxor at Bagmane Capital Tech Park, a million sq ft completed asset, and a 93% stake in Bagmane Rio Business Park, a 1.1 million sq. ft leased building.India currently has four listed office Reits—Mindspace Business Parks Reit, Embassy Office Parks Reit, Brookfield India Real Estate Trust (Biret) and Knowledge Realty Trust.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Kongara Ramesh is a man of many obsessions. A self taught homeopath, like scores of practitioners in India, he has treated tens of thousands, free of cost. A school dropout, he is also the creator of a handful of unique varieties of mangoes, India’s most beloved fruit.Ramesh is, what you may call, a seasoned plant breeder.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: Indian Bank expects steady balance-sheet growth in fiscal year 2026-27 (FY27) but warned that margins could remain under pressure as deposit costs stay elevated and funding growth lags credit demand.“The cost of deposit is not going down, that is the major concern. Credit growth has been outpacing deposit growth since the last so many quarters, so there, of course, will be some bearing on cost of deposit,” managing director and chief executive officer Binod Kumar said.The bank’s ability to cut deposit rates is constrained by the need to keep deposit mobilization in line with credit growth.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Many Indians rely on recurring payments to manage everything from systematic investment plan (SIP) installments and insurance premiums to credit card bills. However, until recently, there was a major pain point for transactions above ₹15,000 done through cards or UPI: the requirement for a one-time password (OTP).

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.In hotels across India, not much looks different at the first look. The check-ins are the same, the wedding crowds have not gone away and the weekend rush in Goa or Jaipur continues.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.How should you invest now that Kevin Warsh is almost certain to be the next Federal Reserve chair? The short answer: Stay the course.Warsh is headed for Senate confirmation and is likely to take over from Jerome Powell in mid-May. His first meeting leading the Federal Open Market Committee will be in June.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.It has been almost two decades since the late Shinzo Abe [former prime minister of Japan] stood in India’s parliament and told the assembled legislators that “it is incumbent upon us two democracies, Japan and India, to carry out the pursuit of freedom and prosperity in the region.” Abe defined their task as protecting freedom of navigation in what he was perhaps the first to call the Indo-Pacific. That task has gotten only more urgent as America withdraws—or, more recently, imposes blockades on crucial straits—and China pushes harder against the first island chain.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.IT TAKES ONLY a brief chat with the organisers of Black Hat Asia to realise this is no ordinary conference. Whereas most professional get-togethers invite their guests to piggyback on the hotel Wi-Fi, Black Hat builds the network for its annual conferences in Las Vegas, London and Singapore from scratch, installing switches, access points, firewalls and monitoring sensors before the conference opens.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Bajaj Finance continued its streak of consistency in the March quarter (Q4FY26), with the non-banking financial company again delivering an over 20% growth in assets under management (AUM). This time, its AUM surpassed the ₹5-trillion milestone while it also maintained its sector-leading profitability metrics.Net profit rose 22% year-on-year (y-o-y) to ₹5,550 crore, supported by 20% growth in net interest income and a sharp moderation in credit costs.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The Strait of Hormuz chokehold inflames oil prices and causes jitters in India. In a seeming upturn, the Iranian ambassador to India met journalists on 13 April to say there is continual engagement with the Indian government. He is also reported to have said no Indian ships had been charged for passage through the strait.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.At his Senate confirmation hearing last week, Kevin Warsh told lawmakers that the Federal Reserve needed a serious shaking up, with “messier meetings” and “a good family fight” at an institution that has cultivated discipline and consensus.He may be getting all of that and more.On Wednesday afternoon, the man he’s set to replace as Fed chair, Jerome Powell, announced he wouldn’t be leaving right away. Three of Powell’s colleagues delivered a pointed warning that they are in no mood to cut rates anytime soon.Every Fed chair for the past 75 years has left the central bank when his or her successor took over.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Tencent-backed audio platform Pocket FM has revived plans to raise fresh capital, targeting $100 million-$120 million at a valuation of $1.5 billion-$2 billion, according to two people familiar with the matter. This marks a second attempt by Pocket FM, which had explored fundraising about nine months ago but failed to close the round amid investor concerns over backing a loss-making business.Mint had earlier reported that Goldman Sachs was advising on the previous mandate.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.India’s stock market is back near levels last seen almost two decades ago, with the market cap-to-GDP ratio, or the Buffett Indicator, at 137.70% in 2025—its highest since 146.52% in 2007, according to Mint’s analysis of Bloomberg data.While a high ratio can signal ‘expensive’ valuations in a textbook sense, several market participants say, this time, it may point to a different narrative.Even as India’s market cap-to-GDP ratio hovers near its 2007-08 bull run peak, the backdrop today is markedly different.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Shares of state-owned miner Coal India Ltd (CIL) rose around 7%, hitting its 52-week high of ₹491.25 on Thursday, after robust March quarter (Q4FY26) performance.Investor interest also seems to be driven by the recent rise in temperatures. As per the government data, peak power demand rose to 256 GW on 25 April, breaching the previous peak of 250 GW hit on 30 May 2024.Electricity consumption during 1-27 April grew sharply by 9% year-on-year (y-o-y).

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.IIM Ahmedabad's venture platform IIMA Ventures has averaged six to eight exits from its startup portfolio every yearsince the financial year 2012-13 (FY13)—a pace of returns that outstrips even some of India's leading venture capital funds.IIMA Ventures exited Pune-based Unbox Robotics earlier this year when the warehouse automation startup raised $28 million in its Series B round led by ICICI Venture. It was among the first institutional backers of the company, writing an $80,000 ( ₹75 lakh) cheque when it raised a $500,000 seed round back in 2020.