As order books gain from India's increased capital outlay, some large capital goods and engineering companies are together spending over Rs 11,500 crore in creating new facilities, data shows. Nine engineering and capital goods companies, where data was available, including Siemens, Larsen & Tourbo (L&T) and KEC International, have a combined capital expenditure (capex) of about Rs 11,500 crore or more. Others such as ABB India and Thermax Global are also adding capacities.
Coal-to-airports conglomerate Adani group is set to make a splash in the tech world. The group is considering the creation of customised artificial intelligence (AI) models for commercial prospects and consolidating digital services on a super app, according to people in the know. The Adani One app, part of its consumer-facing businesses, is reportedly in talks to expand into e-commerce and digital payments, according to a Financial Times report.
Why are financial-technology (fintech) players moving back to India, or doing the reverse-flipping?
Financial technology (fintech) firms PhonePe and BharatPe announced on Sunday that they have settled long-standing legal disputes regarding the use of the trademark with the suffix 'Pe' in their brand names. The settlement concludes five-year-long legal disputes across multiple courts. Both companies have decided to withdraw all opposition against each other in the Trade Marks Registry.
The regulatory gap between crypto firms registered with the Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-India) and unregistered offshore entities is expected to narrow, industry players said, after global crypto players Binance and KuCoin received approvals to register with India's anti-money laundering unit.
'During times of adversity, a brick becomes better than a stone. That is how I look at the election season.'
To increase the adoption of credit on United Payments Interface (UPI), National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is looking at an interchange fee for transactions lower than that for a credit-card transaction. Sources in the know said these charges could be 1-1.2 per cent. Fintech participants concur with the view that the interchange fee is expected to be lower than that for a credit-card transaction.
As Mumbai's real estate and electric vehicle penetration grows, two of the city's private power distribution companies, Adani Electricity and Tata Power, are eyeing a bigger business pie, particularly betting on high-value customers. Adani Electricity Mumbai (AEML), the subsidiary which houses Adani Energy Solutions' Mumbai distribution business, recorded a six per cent growth in total units sold in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), the company's presentation shows. This gain came at over 13 per cent growth in the year-ago period.
'For smaller merchants, there should be a process that is digital and a minimum KYC journey should be allowed.'
'It's dull because this time the election is spread over such a long period.'
Adani Power, part of the Adani group, plans to add close to 6 gigawatts (Gw) of new power assets in the next five years, according to an investor presentation by the company. That is clearly meant to ride on India's burgeoning power demand. But there is another side to it: All of this new capacity is expected to be thermal power, or power produced from coal.
'China is somewhat disappointing in its recovery, and slow growth, and India is reporting strong growth numbers.'
As March draws to a close, two consecutive long weekend opportunities - Holi and Good Friday - are driving up hotel occupancy and airfares across major routes. According to travel platform Cleartrip, hotel bookings have seen a 3.5 times spike for the Holi weekend, while a 3.7 times spike has been visible in the Good Friday weekend.
Nearly 665 million Indians or 45 per cent of the rural population did not have access to the internet as of 2023. Difficulty in understanding internet procedures, insufficient awareness of its benefits, and a lack of interest have emerged as the top reasons for a gap in internet penetration in rural India, according to a joint report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Kantar. "The proficiency of English in rural India is very low. While we have content in Hindi, the internet is English-heavy.
Engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (L&T) is preparing the ground to begin the commercial sale of electrolysers in September, which would be 50 per cent cheaper than its European counterparts, a senior company executive has said. An electrolyser is a key equipment required for the generation of green hydrogen. Last quarter, L&T manufactured its first electrolyser as a prototype.
'This was earlier driven by industries and the commercial sector.'
Of the top four companies, which collectively hold more than half of India's market share, two have pitted Shah Rukh Khan and Sunny Deol against each other.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on Thursday issued orders restraining commercial transactions routed through intermediaries by a card network. The central bank, without naming the card network, said the intermediary with an arrangement with the network, did not have the authorisation to function under the Payment and Settlement Systems (PSS) Act. This led the regulator to suspend the arrangement till further notice.
'The private sector will look to the budget to check whether there are any headwinds or tailwinds.'
Following the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) action against Paytm Payments Bank, participants in the fintech ecosystem have turned their attention to giving priority to compliance with regulatory norms. Fintech industry players say the episode will ensure adherence to such measures. Executives Business Standard spoke to said companies should have clarity on their requirements.