Samie Modak, Shivani Shinde, Sohini Das

Stories by Samie Modak, Shivani Shinde, Sohini Das

TCS likely to offer 7-8% salary hike to offsite staffers

TCS likely to offer 7-8% salary hike to offsite staffers

Rediff.com   26 Mar 2024

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's largest IT services firm, is planning to increase salaries by an average of 7-8 per cent for its offsite employees and 2-4 per cent for its onsite staffers in 2024-25. High performers can expect a raise of 12-15 per cent. The company, which had a headcount of 603,305 as of December 31, 2023, will be closely looking at the promotions and the process may also get pushed to the first quarter of FY25, revealed a source on condition of anonymity, because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

'Midcaps, Smallcaps: Exercise Caution'

'Midcaps, Smallcaps: Exercise Caution'

Rediff.com   21 Mar 2024

'While Indian markets are indeed not inexpensive, the valuations of largecap stocks are still a considerable distance from being overstretched.'

Bharti Airtel, State Bank of India, Zomato on Jefferies hotlist for 5 years

Bharti Airtel, State Bank of India, Zomato on Jefferies hotlist for 5 years

Rediff.com   19 Mar 2024

Jefferies has identified 11 stocks set to benefit from long-term macro trends like capital expenditures, government manufacturing initiatives, and financialisation.

Google Restricts AI Use for India Election

Google Restricts AI Use for India Election

Rediff.com   14 Mar 2024

Google is also working with the Election Commission of India to enable people to easily discover critical voting information on its search platform -- like, how to register and how to vote -- in both English and Hindi.

Use of Indian languages key for increasing internet access in India: Report

Use of Indian languages key for increasing internet access in India: Report

Rediff.com   13 Mar 2024

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.

'In the long run, thanks to AI, we will need less talent'

'In the long run, thanks to AI, we will need less talent'

Rediff.com   12 Mar 2024

'If creative jobs can get disrupted, then left brain jobs like coding are easily disrupted. We are going through the journey of huge disruption.'

Skoda to drive in Brezza, Sonet rival in H1FY25

Skoda to drive in Brezza, Sonet rival in H1FY25

Rediff.com   28 Feb 2024

koda Auto India is set to drive in a new car by the first half of next year to reach its target of 100,000 unit annual sales in the country by 2026. The compact sports utility vehicle (SUV) will be positioned against the likes of Maruti Brezza, Hyundai Venue, and Kia Sonet, and would be competitively priced, a senior company official said. koda will also export the car to right-hand-drive markets like Australia, New Zealand and the Asean nations.

India-listed multinational arms outclass parent firms' valuations

India-listed multinational arms outclass parent firms' valuations

Rediff.com   28 Feb 2024

It's not only the Indian markets that command a valuation premium over their global peers; shares of subsidiaries of India-listed multinational companies (MNCs) also trade at rich valuations compared to their parent companies. An analysis of 12-month forward price-to-earnings (P/E) and price-to-book (P/B) multiples of domestically listed MNCs shows that most quotes have a premium ranging from 2.1x to 6x that of their parent. Similarly, P/B, in most cases, is significantly higher in the domestic market.

'The formulations business been a growth driver'

'The formulations business been a growth driver'

Rediff.com   24 Feb 2024

'However, we have seen weakness in our active pharmaceutical ingredients business.'

Majority of Capgemini's 2 billion euros investment in AI coming to India

Majority of Capgemini's 2 billion euros investment in AI coming to India

Rediff.com   22 Feb 2024

A bulk of the Paris-headquartered IT major Capgemini's proposed euro 2 billion investment over three years in artificial intelligence (AI) is coming to India, a top official of the company said here on Wednesday. The three areas where the European tech major is investing are talent acquisitions, talent reskilling and for partnerships and creating a centre of excellence (CoE). "We have announced we will be training 100,000 people by the first half of 2024.

AI framework to be presented by July: MoS IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar

AI framework to be presented by July: MoS IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Rediff.com   21 Feb 2024

Calling out the need for a global consultative approach towards the creation of regulations around artificial intelligence (AI), Rajeev Chandrasekhar, minister of state for information technology, said India has taken the lead in framing such regulations. He also stated that these frameworks will be presented by June-July this year. "India has taken the lead in creating this draft paper.

Tax poser in the way of Hyundai local arm listing

Tax poser in the way of Hyundai local arm listing

Rediff.com   15 Feb 2024

South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor Company is considering tax implications of listing its Indian unit before taking a final call, according to sources privy to the development. Hyundai Motor is mulling an initial public offering (IPO) for its Indian arm to raise around $3 billion (at a valuation of up to $30 billion), and talks are in the early stages between the company and bankers, banking sources revealed. Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL), however, declined to comment on the development.

Rooftop solar charges up electric vehicle boom in India's smaller cities

Rooftop solar charges up electric vehicle boom in India's smaller cities

Rediff.com   12 Feb 2024

The push given to rooftop solar installation in the Interim Budget ties in with its high rate of adoption in Tier-II and -III cities of India. If original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the automobile industry, government, and the solar sector are to be believed, in cities of Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Kerala, 45-50 per cent of electric-vehicle (EV) users are employing rooftop power to charge their vehicles. This is compared to the national average of 25 per cent, say industry sources.

'The more we automate, the more work will come'

'The more we automate, the more work will come'

Rediff.com   10 Feb 2024

'We do not see people getting reduced, but because of automation, we will do more work.'

Wipro set to cut hundreds of jobs

Wipro set to cut hundreds of jobs

Rediff.com   8 Feb 2024

After startups and Big Tech, the layoff season may have begun at the $245 billion Indian information-technology (IT) industry. Bengaluru-based IT major Wipro is looking to cut hundreds of jobs, targeting mid-level employees working onsite as the company looks to improve margins, according to a media report, citing two sources. The company has said it is aligning its business and talent to the changing market environment.

GOOD News! No Drug Price Hike In 2024

GOOD News! No Drug Price Hike In 2024

Rediff.com   6 Feb 2024

For the consumer, there would be practically no impact on prices of essential medicines this year.

FPI lobby flags concerns on T+0 settlement cycle

FPI lobby flags concerns on T+0 settlement cycle

Rediff.com   31 Jan 2024

Asia Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association (Asifma) has raised concerns about the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) proposal to introduce a T+0 settlement cycle. The industry association of top foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) has stated that this move could give rise to several issues, including the bifurcation of the market, liquidity fragmentation, and deterioration of market quality. In a discussion paper floated last month, Sebi has proposed a separate same-day settlement cycle that will run parallel to the existing T+1 cycle, where trades are settled the next day.

Q3 result preview: US, India to aid revenue growth for Pharma Inc

Q3 result preview: US, India to aid revenue growth for Pharma Inc

Rediff.com   30 Jan 2024

The pharmaceuticals sector is expected to post a revenue growth of around 13.5 per cent and a net profit growth of 30.3 per cent for the third quarter of 2023-24 (FY24), riding on the approval for niche drugs in the US market, fall in raw material prices and correction in shipping rates. In the healthcare segment, hospitals are expected to post revenue growth of 13 per cent during the coverage, while net profit growth would be around 37 per cent, ICICI Securities said in a note. However, the performance may not be comparable on a sequential basis due to the offset of the festive season in Q3FY24, the analysts noted.

How AI Is Transforming Auto Manufacturing

How AI Is Transforming Auto Manufacturing

Rediff.com   30 Jan 2024

'From data on enquiries, we can build what we call a data lake or a data warehouse where data is classified into various cohorts and then we use AI and ML tools to predict demand down the line.'

'GenAI is going to be the tip of the arrow for HCLTech'

'GenAI is going to be the tip of the arrow for HCLTech'

Rediff.com   29 Jan 2024

'It will drive a lot of surrounding business, that is where we see some good projects coming in.'