India's mergers & acquisitions (M&As) market recorded deals worth $45.44 billion in the first half of 2025, up nearly 3.3 per cent from a year ago, even as ultra large-ticket transactions remained subdued. During the first half, the 7.1 per cent rise in deal count to 1,614 signals continuing appetite among domestic conglomerates and private equity (PE) funds for mid-sized and smaller assets.
The IPO wave of 2025 is here, and it's bigger than ever. From fintech unicorns to financial powerhouses and infrastructure giants, some of India's biggest names are all set to make their stock market debut. PhonePe, Zepto, Tata Capital, NSE, NSDL, and JSW Cement are just a few of the highly awaited listings that have investors and analysts buzzing with excitement.
Several Indian banks have alerted their customers not to download apps from any source other than official app stores. Banking customers are being targeted by a new type of mobile banking malware campaign using SOVA Android Trojan. This malware captures the credentials when users log onto their net-banking apps and access bank accounts. The new version of SOVA appears to be targeting more than 200 mobile applications, including banking apps and crypto wallets.
The government is set to initiate consultations with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to devise a new security clearance framework for screening potential bidders of public sector banks (PSBs) as it kick-starts the privatisation process, beginning with the strategic divestment of IDBI Bank. As the government is moving ahead with strategic divestment of IDBI Bank and is looking to privatise two PSBs, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) is looking to put in place an appropriate framework as the potential buyers will have to meet the RBI's fit and proper criteria, said an official. The process of bank privatisation would be different from the sale of any other public sector undertaking (PSU), and more restrictions and measures will have to be put in place, the official said.
The government-appointed Satyam board had recently said that it secured Rs 600-crore (Rs 6-billion) bank loans, which would help it fulfil its immediate fund requirements. The lender's board, which met on January 23 to take a call on the IHFL sale, had deferred the decision, citing the need for more information about prospective buyers.
The investigating agency is examining the documents.
The cost of deposits is on the rise, but banks can't raise interest rate on close to 60% of their loan books, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal on Friday issued notices to Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd (ZEEL) over the petitions filed by IDBI Bank and AXIS Finance against an NCLT order that approved the media company's merger with Culver Max Entertainment. However, a two-member NCLAT bench comprising chairman Justice Ashok Bhushan and Member Arun Baroka declined to grant any stay over the merger process during the pendency of the hearing. The appellate tribunal (NCLAT) has directed to list both petitions on January 8 for hearing, directing Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd to file a reply.
Not all public sector banks are back in the black, but their collective net profit for the year is Rs 32,346 crore against a Rs 9,013 crore loss in the previous year, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Better protection for depositors and investors was one of the chief considerations in Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introducing, on Friday, the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, in the Lok Sabha to amend four pieces of legislation. This amendment is also to improve audit quality in public-sector banks (PSBs), offer consistency in reporting by banks to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and provide for an increase in the tenure of directors in cooperative banks.
Dewan Housing bid below advisor's valuation; high exposure posing problems.
>It's not easy to predict the market. But there are at least two positive factors to back the PSU banks, explains Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The Indian government has appointed Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey as the new chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Pandey, a 1987-batch IAS officer, will replace Madhabi Puri Buch, whose three-year tenure ends on February 28. Pandey's appointment comes at a time when the markets are experiencing bear pressure due to withdrawals by foreign institutional investors (FIIs). Pandey has extensive experience in the finance ministry, having served as the longest-serving secretary in the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) and the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE). He also played a key role in the framing of the 2025-26 Budget and the drafting of the new Income Tax Bill. Pandey's appointment is for an initial period of three years.
The government is believed to have approved the proposal of granting tax benefits to IDBI in the first five years after its conversion into a bank to ensure that it continues its development financing role.
The 100-stock largecap basket of Mutual funds (MFs) has seen a major reshuffle in the latest semi-annual reclassification with seven midcap stocks and four new listings earning the largecap tag. According to a report from Nuvama Alternative & Quantitative Research, the midcap stocks that have been upgraded include CG Power, Rail Vikas Nigam, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, Polycab India, Indus Towers, Cummins India, and Info Edge.
Sources said Mallya has also been asked to furnish documents related to his personal finances
The bank is open to float a rights offer, subject to government approval, IDBI Chairman and Managing Director Yogesh Agarwal said in a response to a shareholder's query at its annual general meeting in Mumbai today.'We need capital to grow. Rights issue is definitely on the cards. We are hopeful of bringing the rights issue by the end of the financial year, Agarwal said.
Car loans from ICICI Bank, the country's largest private sector lender, would be 50-75 basis points (bps) cheaper, while those from IDBI Bank would cost 100 bps less.
Seasoned bureaucrat and a stickler for rules Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey will be at the helm of capital market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), for three years. The 1987-batch Odisha-cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, Pandey, would replace Madhabi Puri Buch, whose three-year term ends on Friday.
The coming years could be exciting for Bandhan Bank, IDBI Bank, IDFC First Bank, Federal Bank, and CSB Bank.
We'll need to wait a couple of years to see how many restructured loans turn bad and whether some banks fall victim to their obsession for growth, explains Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Plans joint venture with private ATM service providers.
However, the likely impact of strike may not be much excluding few areas, said SBI.
The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine unions, on Tuesday gave a call for a two-day strike from March 15 to protest against the proposed privatisation of two state-owned lenders. In the Union Budget presented last week, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the privatisation of two Public Sector Banks (PSBs) as part of its disinvestment plan. The government has already privatised IDBI Bank by selling its majority stake in the lender to LIC in 2019 and merged 14 public sector banks in the last four years.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) brass, including its Governor Sanjay Malhotra, on Tuesday told a Parliamentary panel that it was "optimistic" about the impact of the US tariffs on the Indian economy and, in long-run, it could benefit the country due to dipping trade relations between the US and China.
ED is probing Mallya and KFA under anti-money laundering laws in connection with a Rs 900 crore (Rs 9 billion) loan default of IDBI bank
Government is considering conversion of the country's biggest financial institution, IDBI, into a bank, Minister of State for Finance Anandrao Adsul said on Monday.
If the earnings in the first quarter of the current financial year are an indication, most banks, particularly those majority-owned by the government, have fared well, reveals Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Unlike any other national asset, which is typically sold to the highest bidder, the profile of the bidder is the most important criterion for a licence to bank, and even for acquiring more than 5 per cent stake, explains Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
'Inter-ministerial coordination, information on the proposed PSUs, and due diligence are taking longer than expected to conclude the process.'
IDBI Bank, UTI Bank, Citibank and Standard Chartered Bank on Wednesday came together to launch an independent shared automatic teller machine network, covering six million cardholders in 100 cities of India.