India's smartphone market grew by three per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in volume in the third quarter (Q3) of calendar year 2024, while its value surged by 12 per cent Y-o-Y to reach an all-time record for a single quarter, according to a report by research firm Counterpoint. The value growth was driven by an ongoing premiumisation trend, while the increase in volume was driven by an earlier onset of the festival season compared to the previous year.
Days before Diwali, the monthly economic review by the finance ministry has highlighted moderation in urban demand, softening consumer sentiments and limited footfall as areas that need to be watched. In its review, released on Monday, the ministry also noted the early signs of artificial intelligence displacing workers, as described in anecdotal reports. The commentary from several large consumer goods companies, including Nestl India, Hindustan Unilever, and ITC, in their recent quarterly earnings, has been around a sluggish urban demand. Rural consumption, however, has mostly seen a revival, the companies pointed out.
India will place restrictions on foreign direct investment (FDI) in the national interest to ensure safeguards because of its location in a highly sensitive neighbourhood, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said during an interactive session at the Wharton Business School in the US on Tuesday. "I cannot blindly accept FDI simply because we need investment, unmindful of where it is coming from. "We want business, we want investment, but we also need some safeguards, because India is located in a neighbourhood that is very, very sensitive," Sitharaman said.
'It's the second-largest market for us after the US, and should be the largest market at some point.'
'We don't have to go abroad for anything.' 'Anyone who thinks we have a lot to learn from the US needs to have his head examined.' 'We are in a new era.'
A shortlist using artificial intelligence would be prepared to identify eligible candidates and match them to the suitable internship opportunity. The shortlist would be shared with the companies on Tuesday, October 15.
Internship opportunities have been posted by 193 companies, including Jubilant Foodworks, Maruti, Eicher Motor, L&T, Muthoot Finance and Reliance.
The National Informatics Centre uses AI to automate document analysis and detect fraud in government departments.
Bengaluru-based Sunny Gupta had been searching for a laptop for months. In August, while sitting at a coffee shop, he decided to order an Acer Predator laptop - typically priced between Rs 95,000 and Rs 2.5 lakh - through the quick-commerce (q-com) platform Flipkart Minutes. "It took exactly 13 minutes from payment to receiving it at the Starbucks I ordered it to," he wrote in a now-viral post on social media platform X.
'It took us 75 years to reach a per capita income of $2,730.' 'According to IMF projections, it will take only five years to add another $2,000.'
For food aggregator platform Swiggy, quick commerce (qcom) is proving to be a better growth opportunity than food delivery. Its qcom arm Instamart is rapidly outpacing its core food delivery vertical across several key financial metrics, the company's recently filed draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) shows.
The government does not seem keen on issuing fresh gold bonds given the overall cost and rising gold prices.
As quick commerce gains ground, emerging direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands are betting big on digital channels to drive growth. According to Aman Gupta, co-founder of wearables brand BoAt, new-age brands in India have been expanding at a much faster pace than expected, driven by digital channels like quick-commerce. "Investors doubted the potential of D2C brands when we started, but today there are multiple brands in the startup market that are growing on the shoulders of these digital channels," Gupta said while addressing a session at Razorpay's D2C and Retail Summit recently.
After making the model work in metro cities, players in the quick commerce sector are rapidly expanding their footprint into smaller tier 2 cities and markets beyond that ahead of the festival season.
The government is set to examine concerns over quick commerce companies potentially undermining businesses of local kirana stores, particularly in the context of the draft Digital Competition Bill, according to official sources. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs recently raised the issue with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs during discussions around the proposed legislation. "We need to assess if and how the Bill can address these concerns and explore further steps to include provisions to keep a check," a senior official stated.
The National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) will invite public comments on the revised International Standard on Auditing 600 (ISA 600) proposed to be adopted by publicly listed companies and non-public-sector banks, sources close to the development told Business Standard. The decision to take this "graded approach" for the adoption of the ISA, which is meant to rein in auditors often found hiding behind the audit reports signed off by subsidiary companies, was taken at a meeting of various financial sector regulators at NFRA's board meeting on Monday (August 26). The idea behind upgrading the Standards of Audit 600 currently followed by Indian auditors to ISA 600 is to plug current gaps, which have led to major audit lapses in the recent past.
Quick commerce major Zepto has raised $340 million in a follow-on financing round at a valuation of $5 billion as it gears up for an initial public offering (IPO). This is Zepto's third big-ticket fundraise within a year. With this, the company has raised more than $1 billion in 12 months.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Deputy Managing Director (MD) Gita Gopinath has condemned the "terrible and disturbing" incident of rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata. "Personally, it is terrible to have any event of this kind. It is disturbing," she told Business Standard in New Delhi.
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal's recent comments on large e-commerce players have reignited the debate about their impact on smaller offline retailers. On Wednesday, Goyal said that the rapid growth of e-commerce in India is a "cause for concern" and is diminishing the market share of small, mom-and-pop stores by offering high-margin products such as consumer electronics and apparel at discounted rates.
With the recent launch of smartwatches, home-grown smartphone maker Lava is looking to secure a strong foothold in the Indian wearables market. The company aims to capture up to 20 per cent of this segment over the next few years, according to a senior executive.
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