Manojit Saha &Amp;Amp; Aathira Varier

Stories by Manojit Saha &Amp;Amp; Aathira Varier

'The daily numbers give me confidence'

'The daily numbers give me confidence'

Rediff.com   2 Jan 2024

'We have a plan to plough back a 'This year in the first half we had profits of more than Rs 31,000 crore.' significant amount of profits this financial year.' 'We have seen this organic plough back of profit is one of best ways to support the equity of the bank.'

Food inflation a concern: RBI's MPC

Food inflation a concern: RBI's MPC

Rediff.com   26 Dec 2023

All six members of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) monetary policy committee (MPC) expressed caution over food inflation during the December review, while two external members warned about high real interest rates as headline inflation approaches its target of 4 per cent. The central bank continued to maintain the status quo on both the repo rate and the stance in the December monetary policy. India's retail inflation in November rose to 5.5 per cent - its fastest pace in three months - due to higher food prices.

'We've invested in the growth of India'

'We've invested in the growth of India'

Rediff.com   22 Dec 2023

We are, therefore, setting up more branches in more tertiary terms, like tier 2 and tier 3 terms. Going forward, that is where the growth will come.

Banks lead QIP revival in 2023: Listed cos raised Rs 53,070 cr so far

Banks lead QIP revival in 2023: Listed cos raised Rs 53,070 cr so far

Rediff.com   20 Dec 2023

Fundraising through qualified institutional placement (QIP) has revived this year, led by commercial banks, after a lacklustre 2022. According to data compiled by Prime Database, Indian companies have raised Rs 53,070 crore in 2023 so far, of which seven banks - Union Bank of India, Indian Bank, Bank of India, Federal Bank, IDFC First Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, and J&K Bank - account for Rs 21,290 crore, or about 40 per cent. If other financial institutions are included, the figure surges to Rs 26,690 crore.

RBI's decision on connected lending may curb India Inc's powers

RBI's decision on connected lending may curb India Inc's powers

Rediff.com   18 Dec 2023

The decision by the Reserve Bank of India to introduce a unified regulatory framework on connected lending for all the regulated entities (RE) is expected to reduce the influence of business conglomerates in the Indian lending space, said bankers and experts. "Connected lending pertains to lending to related parties within the same business group. "While the RBI might appear more agreeable to allowing business conglomerates to own banking licenses, it deems it crucial to bolster regulations that would prevent conglomerate-owned banks from gaming the system," said Shivaji Thapliyal, head of research and lead analyst, YES Securities.

Do You Have Cyber Insurance?

Do You Have Cyber Insurance?

Rediff.com   15 Dec 2023

Cyber insurance policies cover ransomware attacks and the ensuing damages, including ransom payments, data restoration costs, forensic and other first-party costs, and loss of profit due to business interruption.

Talent Crunch Affects Bank's Cybersecurity Plans

Talent Crunch Affects Bank's Cybersecurity Plans

Rediff.com   14 Dec 2023

'We are also conducting ongoing training and grooming at the branch level to pre-empt such cyberattacks.'

RBL Bank's business trajectory remains intact

RBL Bank's business trajectory remains intact

Rediff.com   11 Dec 2023

'We are committed to achieving the targets we had outlined.'

Life insurance companies clock 25.28% drop in premiums

Life insurance companies clock 25.28% drop in premiums

Rediff.com   8 Dec 2023

The life insurance industry reported a 25.28 per cent decline in new business premium income in November 2023 to Rs 26,494.83 crore from Rs 34,588.8 crore recorded a year ago. The fall in group premium and change in taxation norms for policies with a higher ticket size dragged the premiums of the state-run Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and private insurers, respectively. According to the data released by the Life Insurance Council, the premium of private insurers slipped 9.33 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 10,360.29 crore from Rs 11,426.73 crore as a result of a change in product mix due to the measures taken to counter the impact of tax imposed on the premiums of Rs 5 lakh.

On a hat-trick: Will Das throw up another surprise?

On a hat-trick: Will Das throw up another surprise?

Rediff.com   7 Dec 2023

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das had stumped the market in the previous two policies - in August and in October - first with action and then with words. In August, it was the introduction of an incremental cash reserve ratio (I-CRR) to take out excess liquidity, which took the markets by surprise. In October, there was no action. Rather, what is known as "open mouth operation", Das' comment that the central bank might conduct open market operations (OMOs) by selling bonds tempered the euphoria in the bond markets after JP Morgan's inclusion of India in its Emerging Market Bond Index.

LIC is world's fourth-largest insurer: S&P Global

LIC is world's fourth-largest insurer: S&P Global

Rediff.com   6 Dec 2023

Insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is the fourth largest insurer in the world, according to a ranking based on life and accident & health reserves of companies in 2022 by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The state-owned insurer is ranked after Allianz SE, China Life Insurance Company, and Nippon Life Insurance Company. According to the report, LIC's reserves stood at $503.7 billion. Germany's Allianz SE ($750.20 billion), China Life Insurance Company ($616.90 billion) and Nippon Life Insurance Company ($536.80 billion) are the top three insurance companies in the world.

'There is huge demand for home loans'

'There is huge demand for home loans'

Rediff.com   2 Dec 2023

'We started affordable housing loans that has good traction and the books have grown to Rs 750 crore as of the end of last quarter.'

Can Your Bank Avoid Cyber Attacks?

Can Your Bank Avoid Cyber Attacks?

Rediff.com   1 Dec 2023

The Union finance ministry will meet CEOs of public sector banks to discuss issues related to cybersecurity in the wake of the Rs 820 crore (Rs 8.2 billion) fraud that hit Kolkata-based UCO Bank last month.

RBI's new risk-weight rules likely to spur co-lending by banks, NBFCs

RBI's new risk-weight rules likely to spur co-lending by banks, NBFCs

Rediff.com   29 Nov 2023

Co-lending deals between non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and banks are likely to rise after the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) decision to increase the risk weight on consumer credit, industry leaders and experts say. Smaller NBFCs, they add, may increasingly opt for co-lending as capital markets could become costlier for them. "Smaller NBFCs will be more comfortable with co-lending because they are geography-specific in terms of industry or customers.

High-value insurance policies in the slow lane after tax overhaul

High-value insurance policies in the slow lane after tax overhaul

Rediff.com   28 Nov 2023

High-value insurance policies experienced muted growth in the first six months of the current financial year after the Centre decided to tax such products in this year's Budget. Simultaneously, there has been a marked improvement in the growth of policies with premiums of 'less than Rs 5 lakh', mainly originating from smaller cities. During this year's Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed that insurance policies (excluding unit linked insurance plans or ULIPs) with an aggregate premium exceeding Rs 5 lakh, and the maturity amount, would not be exempt from tax.

Why HDFC Bank Is On A Hiring Spree

Why HDFC Bank Is On A Hiring Spree

Rediff.com   15 Nov 2023

Between March 2022 and September 2023, HDFC Bank added 56,310 employees.

Bad air quality may breathe fresh life into health insurance business

Bad air quality may breathe fresh life into health insurance business

Rediff.com   14 Nov 2023

General insurance companies are likely to see a surge in demand for health insurance in the coming months due to falling air quality in the country. The health insurance segment has registered a strong growth after the pandemic due to higher awareness. In the first half of financial year 2023-24, the segment grew by 24.4 per cent to Rs 54,713.52 crore from Rs 43,981.54 crore in H1FY23, driving growth of the non-life insurance industry.

'We are seeing growth in retail health insurance'

'We are seeing growth in retail health insurance'

Rediff.com   9 Nov 2023

'Pandemic has triggered interest and awareness among the people about the need for healthcare.'

As of now Mobikwik has no plans to enter banking space

As of now Mobikwik has no plans to enter banking space

Rediff.com   8 Nov 2023

'We are focused on playing on our strengths, which are technology, and building a large profitable business by working with banks as well as non-banks and NBFCs for loans.'

HDFC Bank 2.0 under Sashidhar Jagdishan: Steady beginning, miles to go

HDFC Bank 2.0 under Sashidhar Jagdishan: Steady beginning, miles to go

Rediff.com   6 Nov 2023

Sashidhar Jagdishan, managing director and chief executive officer of HDFC Bank, the largest private-sector lender of the country, has just completed his first term. The period October 2020-October 2023 was a roller coaster, and the second one, which started on October 27, could be more interesting as the lender absorbs the impact of the merger of HDFC, which was integrated on July 1, and moves to the next growth phase. Soon after he took over the reins from Aditya Puri on October 27, 2020, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) debarred HDFC Bank from enrolling new credit card customers and launching new products under the Digital 2.0 programme due to repeated outages on its mobile-banking and internet-banking platforms.