India's journey with 5G still has a long way to go. The country ranked 33 out of 39 in the 5G Connectivity Index for the second quarter of 2024, released by GSMA Intelligence. However, in areas like 5G revenue growth, data affordability, and video quality, India ranks among the best in the world.
In the June quarter of 2024-2025, smartphone exports hit $2 billion, well ahead of non-industrial diamond exports, which stood at $1.44 billion.
Lithium-ion cells, primarily imported from China, are likely to become cheaper following punitive tariffs imposed by the US on Chinese battery cells.
Truck movements across the India-Bangladesh border are on the rise, with increasing rentals signalling a trade recovery between the two South Asian nations. Yet, geopolitical tension looms large, with Bangladesh now under an interim government for nearly two months.
'In India, managers and the leadership almost glorify overworking.'
Two young men jostle in a rickshaw as it clatters along a narrow, bustling lane of North Kolkata, each with a leg dangling over the side of the vehicle, a bulging sack of cosmetics nestled between them. The protagonists here are the founders of Emami - Radhe Shyam Agarwal and Radhe Shyam Goenka - childhood friends who gave up cushy corporate jobs to build a fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company. From a 200-square-foot rented space on Muktaram Babu Street in North Kolkata, brand Emami stepped into the competitive world of FMCG 50 years back, armed with just three products: Vanishing cream, talcum powder, and cold cream.
Bajaj Auto has become the top player in India's electric vehicle market by monthly volumes, across all categories, with over 25,000 sales and registrations in September. This comes on the back of a big push in expanding distribution by the company and steady demand of electric three-wheelers. In September, the company - according to the latest Vahan data - recorded sales of 17,570 electric two-wheelers, 4,575 three-wheelers, and 3,000 Yulu low-speed electric bikes (based on company sales numbers), which do not require a licence and are not registered on Vahan.
The funding environment in India for startups is improving this year if one were to go by Bain & Company estimates. Five private equity (PE) investors that come on top on the criterion of deal size collectively put in $9 billion in the first half of 2024, surpassing their outlay for last calendar year, when it was $8 billion. At the top of the list is Swedish firm EQT, which acquired US-based and listed Perficient at an enterprise value of $3 billion, the deal being done by the Indian wing of the company. It has also added to its list by putting in $500 million in WSO2, a "software as a service" company, increasing its tally to $3.5 billion.
18% cent GST on iPhones continues to weigh heavily on the final cost to Indian consumers, limiting the impact of price cuts.
'The Bengali middle class, who never fully embraced Mamata Banerjee's policies, are now expressing their deep-seated frustration by spilling out on to the streets.'
The Labour government in the UK has cleared the decks for a 500 million grant to Tata Steel, paving the way for decarbonisation of the company's British business and a sustainable financial future. In a statement, Tata Steel said that it has signed a 500 million Grant Funding Agreement (GFA) with the UK government, allowing it to "proceed at pace with the project to install a state-of-the-art electric arc furnace (EAF) at the Port Talbot steelworks in Wales". This is part of the 1.25 billion green steel project in Port Talbot, of which Tata Steel's investment is to the tune of 750 million.
The government's two-year-old production-linked incentive (PLI) for air conditioner (AC) components has boosted domestic production, with average value addition or localisation increasing from 25 per cent to 55 per cent now, according to the scheme's beneficiaries. Last year, 10 million ACs were manufactured and sold in India and the number is expected to reach 14 million in 2024, according to industry estimates. Domestic production is expected to hit 30 million by 2030.
West Bengal is home to 43,000 Durga Pujas, and the business around it is a major economic driver.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) is looking at a proposal to generate 1.5-2 direct jobs for every Rs 1 crore invested by companies under the proposed electronic components production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme. If this plan fructifies, a Rs 10,000 crore investment under the proposed PLI scheme would bring with it the expectation of creating 15,000-20,000 direct jobs in electronic components sector.
The bulk of Indian carriers flying to Dubai are low-cost carriers, which include IndiGo, Air India Express, and SpiceJet.
The country's legacy two-wheeler giants - Bajaj Auto and TVS - are fighting a neck-and-neck battle for market share, with the former threatening to dislodging its rival soon. The Pune-based giant, which was trailing far behind TVS just two months ago in e-two-wheelers (e2Ws), has upped the ante. It has increased its market share based on Vahan registrations from 11.6 per cent in June (when it sold only 9,046 electric two wheelers) to 19.3 per cent (when it sold 14,977 this month till August 30).
Passenger traffic to Lakshadweep more than doubled from April to June this year.
The new visa-free regime allows travellers to stay for up to 60 days instead of only 15 earlier.
State-owned mining giant, Coal India, is hoping to recover around 75-80 per cent of its liabilities from customers with whom it has long-term fuel supply agreements (FSAs) after the Supreme Court (SC) allowed states to recover dues retrospectively. A legal recourse, however, is underway. "We are impacted in two states - Jharkhand and Odisha.
Just over a three-hour flight from Delhi, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Georgia have seen a big jump in visitors.
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