Average employee salaries in India are set to increase by 9 per cent in 2026, with a renewed focus on short-term incentives and skills-based systems, a report said on Wednesday. According to Mercer's Total Remuneration Survey 2026, organisations in India are shifting toward broader, more holistic value propositions and the top factors influencing salary increases include individual performance, inflation and the organisation's competitiveness in the job market, among others.
The BSE Sensex has been one of the top-performing areas of investment in the past 40 years, consistently delivering double-digit returns in rupee terms, beating assets such as global equities, precious metals, and fixed income.
Officials from both India and the US in the recent past have indicated that a "fair deal" will be concluded soon, with Indian officials holding that more formal rounds of talks are not needed.
Real GDP growth surprised on the upside in 2025, but weaker nominal growth, trade uncertainty, and soft demand signal a bumpier road ahead.
From Rs 73k to over Rs 1.2L between January-December 2025 -- is buying gold in 2026 still sensible?
Trai has ordered BFSI firms to move service and transaction calls to the 1600 series from 2026 to reduce spam, financial fraud, and rising digital arrest scams.
With a confident new generation of innovators, India now has the scale and self-belief to shape its own digital destiny marked by creation, observes Ajay Kumar chairman, UPSC.
A bill to repeal the MGNREGA and introduce a new rural employment law, the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), has been circulated among Lok Sabha members.
The Indian banking sector could be due for a rise in profitability after several quarters of net interest margin (NIM) compression. The Q2FY26 results suggest NIMs have bottomed out.
India's second-largest telecom service provider Bharti Airtel will call in March 2026 the final tranche of about Rs 15,741 crore from its 2021 rights issue of Rs 21,000 crore, proceeds from which will be used towards retiring majority of non-government-related debt.
Paytm (One 97 Communications Ltd), India's full-stack merchant payments leader serving MSMEs and enterprises, has launched a fully redesigned version of its flagship app, integrating artificial intelligence-driven features to streamline and personalise everyday transactions for its users.
Over 50 per cent, or 660 stocks, from the BSE 1000 index recorded negative returns during CY25.
'Solutions developed in India are being commercialised and offered globally because we're executing at scale, creating new markets and revenue streams.'
Prosus, the Amsterdam-based technology investor with net assets valued at over $200 billion spanning payments to e-commerce, has identified India as one of its most critical growth markets, and is increasing its strategic investments here.
"We currently manage collections for over 98 million retail and small-business loan accounts, covering a loan book of about $250 billion," says Rishabh Goel, cofounder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Credgenics, a software-as-a-service platform for debt collection. With more than 700 million smartphone users and over 450 million UPI users, digital access is everywhere.
Google on Tuesday announced funding support of USD 8 million to India's AI Centers of Excellence for health, agriculture, education, and sustainable cities, and committed USD 4,00,000 to support development of India's health foundation model.
A key blow for JioStar came from an unlikely source: The Indian government's ban on real-money gaming, the sector that had become cricket's biggest advertiser.
India's $280-billion IT industry heads into 2026, balancing visa-related headwinds and global trade uncertainty against its biggest-ever push into artificial intelligence and the rapid expansion of global capability centres (GCCs). Heightened scrutiny of the US H-1B visa programme - including a proposed $100,000 fee for new visas and concerns over a potential 25 per cent outsourcing tax - has complicated cross-border delivery for Indian firms, even as companies accelerate efforts to reduce reliance on onsite staffing.
India's new national accounts will leverage new data sources and surveys to enhance the measurement of the country's informal economy, and introduce double deflation methods across sectors, replacing the current system that relies on a single deflation mechanism in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) calculations.
'The first time India has seen two consecutive blockbuster IPO years.'
Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood announced the installation of air purifiers in 10,000 classrooms to combat pollution and ensure clean air for students, criticizing the previous government's approach.
In the month of May, the victim got a call from a person identifying himself as telecom department staffer Amit Kumar, who told her a SIM card had been bought with her personal details for use in criminal activities.
Leasing of retail space in shopping malls and high streets across India's top eight cities is estimated to rise 15 per cent to nearly 9 million sq ft this year on increased supply amid high demand from retailers, according to Cushman & Wakefield. The leasing of retail spaces stood at 7.8 million sq ft in 2024.
Public sector banks have written off loans worth Rs 6.15 lakh crore in the last five and a half years, Parliament was informed on Monday.
'Reinvention is not a hugely difficult task. With technology as available today, you can reinvent yourself pretty quickly.'
Adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in India's 64 million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) alone could unlock over $500 billion in economic value, but the country must pivot from an "adopt-first" to an "invent-first" mindset to realise this potential, according to a new report.
'I don't see how a company like OpenAI can honestly expect to generate revenue significant enough to maintain its spending habits via John and Jane Q. Public,' points out Sree Sreenivasan.
After a year of muted single-digit growth, hiring intent has returned to double digits at 11 per cent, up from 9.75 per cent last year, supported by formalisation and regional expansion, says a report. According to the India Decoding Jobs 2026 Report, launched by digital recruitment platform Taggd in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), sectors such as BFSI, manufacturing, and infrastructure are set to drive hiring momentum.
Overall economic activity continued to hold up in November with demand conditions remaining robust, thanks to strengthening urban demand, but manufacturing and rural demand showed some signs of deceleration even as services remained strong, according to an article on the State of the Economy written by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials in the central bank's December bulletin.
'The Indian consumer is moving so quickly and they have so many options.'
'We are in touch with industry to further compress the timelines.'
The Indian government has introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha to ban online games played with money, aiming to curb addiction, money laundering, and financial fraud. The bill also targets advertisements and financial transactions related to such games.
'There'll be extended periods where things aren't working in your favour. But if you believe in the cause profoundly, then you simply persevere.'
The convergence of artificial intelligence, evolving labour regulations and rising employee expectations will redefine how organisations manage pay, people and performance in the coming year, a report says.
The Mahindra XEV 9S isn't a sports car, it is a luxury family room on wheels. It prioritises comfort, tech, and ease of driving over corner-carving precision, says Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com.
'Exiting during corrections tends to lock in losses. Patient investors have benefited from holding through similar drawdowns in past cycles.'
The core dilemma remains: Why provide further stimulus to an economy that is already booming at an 8 per cent growth rate? asks Rajeswari Sengupta.
To digitise Customs processes, the Union finance ministry is planning to integrate the Indian Customs Electronic Gateway (ICEGATE), Risk Management System (RMS), and Indian Customs Electronic Data Interchange System (ICES) into a single unified national Customs platform, according to government sources.
'The impact will be minimal and it will only increase compliance cost on consent, data flows, localisation timelines, internal audits, data mapping, and new tooling.'
These losses increase insurance premiums for customers and reduce insurer margins on the other.
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