Inderjit Bindra, who raised Indian cricket on the world stage in the 1990s and early years of this century, passed into the ages on Sunday. 26 years ago, Mr Bindra spoke at length to Rediff about his vision for Indian cricket, an interview which we republish in his memory.
Following Axis Max Life Insurance's second-quarter results for 2025-26, Sumit Madan, managing director and chief executive officer of the company, speaks to Aathira Varier and Subrata Panda/Business Standard about growth aspirations, strategies to offset the impact of the input tax credit (ITC) withdrawal, reverse merger plans, and more.
India is on track to exceed the $4 trillion milestone in 2025-26 (FY26), surpassing the $3.9 trillion gross domestic product (GDP) mark recorded at the end of March 2025, Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran said on Tuesday.
India's top IT services firms delivered single-digit revenue growth in April-June, capping off a mixed, somewhat-sobering quarter as macroeconomic instability and geopolitical tensions weighed on global tech demand and delayed client decisionmaking. Management commentary painted a mixed picture, caution prevailed, yet industry CEOs also emphasised cost optimisation, vendor consolidation, and opportunities in AI makeovers.
India's luxury auto market is rebounding after a slow start to 2025, with GST 2.0 emerging as the main catalyst.
Growth accelerated for Zomato operator Eternal in the second quarter of financial year 2026 (Q2FY26). Zomato's business to commerce (B2C) operations delivered a strong 57 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) rise in net order value (NOV) to Rs 23,164 crore while consolidated revenue soared 183 per cent Y-o-Y (90 per cent Q-o-Q) to Rs 13,590 crore during the period, with like-for-like (LFL) growth of 65 per cent, and acceleration in the quick commerce (QC) segment, which recorded NOV growth of 137 per cent Y-o-Y (27 per cent Q-o-Q).
India's industrial production growth slowed to a nine-month low of 1.2 per cent in May 2025 due to poor performance of manufacturing, mining and power sectors caused by the early onset of monsoon, according to official data released on mMonday. The factory output, measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), had expanded by 6.3 per cent in May 2024.
The projections in the cement industry are mixed. Prices and demand remained muted in the third quarter (October & November) and short term uptick doesn't seem likely. However, the second quarter of the financial year 2026 (Q2FY26) was good year-on-year (Y-o-Y) for many cement majors aided by base effect, and some analysts expect acceleration in earnings and volume in the next financial year, again aided by base effect.
With the rise in elderly population and increasing interest around the segment by developers, the senior living industry is poised to reach a market size of $8 billion by 2030 from the current $1.8 to $2 billion, according to a report by Association of Senior Living in India (ASLI) and JLL.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Manipur on September 13, interacting with internally displaced people and unveiling development projects worth Rs 8,500 crore. This marks his first visit since ethnic violence broke out in the state two years ago.
Highlighting India as the company's most important growth market, Fabricio Bloisi, group chief executive officer (CEO) of the Dutch technology investor Prosus signaled a sharp acceleration in artificial-intelligence investments across its portfolio in the country.
'Rate cut looks unlikely and there is reason to believe that the cycle is over.'
'If we don't become part of this, if we don't embrace this particular technology, millionaire brands might go down, which we cannot allow.'
The government bond yield curve is likely to flatten in the financial year 2027 (FY27) as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is expected to ease supply pressure in the ultra-long segment. In FY26 so far, reduced investments by insurance companies and pension funds pushed up yields on ultra-long tenor securities, steepening the curve.
India's economic growth slowed to 7.4 per cent in the March quarter, bringing down the annual growth rate to 6.5 per cent during 2024-25, according to official data released on Friday. The growth in the January-March period was lower than the 8.4 per cent expansion in the year-ago quarter.
Deloitte India on Thursday projected India's economy to grow 6.7-6.9 per cent in the current fiscal amid buoyant demand and policy reforms. Indian economy grew 7.8 per cent in the April-June quarter of current fiscal.
India will publish its revised Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for the 2035 period by December, Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said on Monday, while urging developed nations to achieve net zero targets ahead of their current timelines.
India's service sector activity accelerated slightly in April largely driven by a quicker increase in new order inflows, which also underpinned a faster expansion in employment, a monthly survey said on Tuesday. The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index reached 58.7 in April, up from 58.5 in March, indicating a sharp and stronger expansion in service sector output.
Packaged food major Nestle India posted better than expected September quarter results led by strong volume growth across its key segments. While there were margin pressures due to elevated raw material costs, there could be some relief with easing prices in the near term.
Indian information technology (IT) services companies reported lacklustre growth in the second quarter, at a time when the macroeconomic environment did not deteriorate further. HCLTech emerged the best performer among India's top six IT services firms with a constant-currency growth rate of 4.6 per cent, even though uncertainties continued to persist.
The largest tranche came in July, in the wake of Operation Sindoor, with the DAC according acceptance of necessity -- or initial approval -- for 10 capital acquisition proposals amounting to approximately 1.05 trillion through indigenous sourcing.
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.
You can't be the second-most expensive market in the world and deliver just 10 per cent EPS growth, points out Akash Prakash.
'Foreign capital will continue to come directly into India, but companies have realised that GIFT City is a more cost-efficient way of channelling funds.'
India's industrial production growth accelerated to 5 per cent in January 2025, driven by a rebound in manufacturing activity, according to official data released on Wednesday.
India's manufacturing sector activity strengthened in October, buoyed by Goods and Services Tax relief, productivity gains and tech investment, even as international sales rose at a weaker pace, a monthly survey said on Monday.
UBS has turned bullish on emerging markets (EM), including India, as it finds benign macro trends, positive momentum in earnings revisions, and resilient EM currencies helping these economies sustain higher valuations and attracting flows. Among regions, it has upgraded Mainland China to 'attractive' and China Tech to 'most attractive', while downgrading Philippines to 'neutral'.
The technology major confirmed that a 'low single-digit percentage' of its 270,000 employees would be affected in the fourth quarter of 2025.
While Q2FY26 is expected to be mildly disappointing for the hospital sector, there's a lot of investor optimism for the future. This comes after a favourable revision in rates for Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) procedures, as well as expectations of rising occupancy and growth in average revenue per operating bed (ARPOB).
'Once the 60-plus population hits 20 to 30 per cent of the country, the demand for elderly-care treatments will surge -- cardiac, metabolic, neurological, and musculoskeletal medicines are going to dominate the market for the next several decades.'
As deposit growth lags credit expansion, Indian banks face shrinking low-cost Casa inflows, rising funding costs, and structural shifts driven by UPI, e-Kuber, and digital savings trends, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
India's manufacturing sector growth fell to a three-month low in May, restricted by inflationary pressures, softer demand and heightened geopolitical conditions, a monthly survey said on Monday. The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell from 58.2 in April to 57.6 in May, highlighting the weakest improvement in operating conditions since February.
Infosys said on Tuesday it is collaborating with Microsoft to jointly develop industry solutions that leverage Infosys Topaz, Azure OpenAI Service and Azure Cognitive Services. Both organisations are bringing together their respective artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to enhance enterprise functions with AI-enabled solutions across multiple industries. The integrated solutions are aimed at accelerating the rapid democratisation of data and intelligence that will help businesses increase productivity and drive new revenue growth.
Homegrown FMCG player Emami Ltd on Monday reported a 29.7 per cent decline in consolidated profit after tax at Rs 148.35 crore in the second quarter ended September 30, 2025, impacted by temporary trade disruption in expectation of GST rate cut and excessive rains affecting certain product categories.
Hindustan Unilever Ltd's (HUL's) second quarter 2025-26 (Q2FY26) consolidated revenue rose 2 per cent to Rs 16,250 crore, with low or flat volume growth. Demand remained stable but goods and services tax (GST) transition and prolonged monsoon hurt offtake.
Affordable homes, priced under Rs 40 lakh per unit, may not be attractive anymore, not just for developers but also for investors, with the segment seeing a 26 per cent price rise over three years since 2022 versus 40 per cent returns from luxury homes priced Rs 1.5 crore and above.
'There is so much growth to unlock at the intersection of high shopping intent and brand needs.'
About 85 per cent of the digital payment transactions take place through UPI in India, and the country can be a case study in inclusive, secure, and scalable Digital Public Platforms (DPPs), Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra has said. He was speaking at a "High-Level Dialogue on Forging Economic Resilience through Digital Public Platforms" organised by RBI on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC on Tuesday.
Adani Group said on Friday it will invest around Rs 1 trillion in various sectors of Andhra Pradesh over the next ten years, deepening its commitment in the state where it will partner with Google for an artificial intelligence (AI) hub in Visakhapatnam.
'Companies will need to revisit compensation structures, contracts, staffing models, and human resources system.'
