Walmart-owned digital payments firm PhonePe has decided to halt its proposed acquisition of Goldman Sachs- and Xiaomi-backed ZestMoney, a Bengaluru-based buy now, pay later (BNPL) platform. The deal, which was poised to fetch anywhere between $150-200 million and $300 million, has hit a snag over lapses in due diligence, disagreements over valuation, sustainability of the business, and shareholding structure of ZestMoney, according to people familiar with the matter. The collapse of the deal is also being attributed to a slowdown in the financial technology (fintech) sector in the midst of a funding winter, difficult regulatory environment, and macroeconomic uncertainty, informed other sources.
The Reserve Bank on Friday said it will soon commence the pilot launch of e-rupee for specific use cases with a view to bolstering India's digital economy, making payment systems more efficient, and checking money laundering. In a concept note on Central Bank Digital Currency, the RBI said CBDC is aimed to complement, rather than replace, current forms of money and is envisaged to provide an additional payment avenue to users, not to replace the existing payment systems. "Supported by state-of-the-art payment systems of India that are affordable, accessible, convenient, efficient, safe and secure, the Digital Rupee (e?) system will further bolster India's digital economy, make the monetary and payment systems more efficient and contribute to furthering financial inclusion," the paper said.
Modi called business communities and governments to work together to ensure usage of ethical AI as "we have to sense the potential disruptions in different sectors. This problem has to be solved under the global framework."
'My wife, family members as well as members of the workers will be trustees.' 'The trust will take all decisions -- no family member can individually take any decision.'
Bulk of the medicine sales in the $22-24 billion domestic pharma market happens through offline retail chemists. With the entry of online pharmacies, this space has started to witness a shake-up. Sample this: Dawaa Dost, a Rajasthan based digital health start-up, generates medicine orders from 'kirana' stores and women self-help groups (SHGs) that operate in villages, and then service these orders through its affiliated network of pharmacies. Biddano, another health-tech start-up, has a platform that acts as an aggregator for neighbourhood chemist shops.
Amazon, however, claimed that it is just a service provider and doesn't own goods at any point of sale due to which it is not liable to pay this tax.
The company posted quarterly revenue of $50.6 billion.
Since the Covid pandemic, bicycle sales have surged, orders are pouring in, and stores are already feeling a shortage. 'I have not seen this kind of excitement around bicycles and you are talking to a 57-year-old man,' said Pankaj M Munjal, chairman and managing director, Hero Motors Company (HMC), the largest Indian bicycle producer;
Retailer bodies to demand govt action against I-Day sales offers, threaten legal action for breach of FDI rules.
'Revision of the base year for both CPI and GDP are long overdue.' 'The basic data that went into the 2011-2012 series were mainly from surveys done in 2011 or earlier.' 'We have since seen the emergence of new sectors like platform-based work and online marketing.' 'The employment surveys and the consumption surveys need to reflect these adequately.'
Instead of announcing new schemes, focus will be on those already announced and key sectors.
From sugar to car servicing firms, many companies, including Big Bazaar, Croma, Mahindra First Choice and Kaya Skin Clinic are offering discounts in a bid to ride on the festive fervour.
'India has always been a bottom-up stock-picking market, and as growth recovers with higher liquidity, mid and small-caps always tend to outperform.'
'As our per capita income increases and various demographic segments emerge, the need for various kinds of protection and risk covers will become even more explicit.'
'Given that debt AIFs, by nature, target a higher portfolio return, it is likely to attract investors like HNIs, family offices, etc, looking for a higher yield debt product.'
A new category of jobs will be created in 2014 due to the whole social networking blast, say experts.
Whoever can make acquiring smartphones more affordable will win the sales game.
You can soon buy your car or house sitting in front a television set. With Network 18 launching India's first home shopping channel Home Shop 18 in April, and Star TV group soon to join the fray, the home shopping channels are expected to be the next big thing for television broadcasters.
Department of investment and public asset management secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey on Tuesday said the weak debut of the country's largest insurer LIC on the bourses was due to unpredictable market conditions and suggested investors to hold on to the stock for long-term value.
Many small-scale start-ups are operational in this space for some years now. Larger players, too, seem to have realised the potential and are now entering into the fray, mostly through acquisitions.
Future Retail Ltd (FRL) on Wednesday said it is "committed" to reversal of takeover of its stores by Reliance Retail and will take all such action as may be necessary to seek value adjustments. The Kishore Biyani-led firm also said the action of the Reliance Group has come as a "surprise" to it. Moreover, the action of taking possession of its stores has "complicated" the positive scenario which had started building up after a CCI order in December 2021, FRL said in a regulatory filing.
There are loans to salaried people where the borrower is employed, but has failed to make repayment. Such loans would be identified and sold in a pool to ARCs.
Abhishek Boinpally who was allegedly lobbying for certain liquor businessmen based in southern India was called for questioning on Sunday.
Seattle is not only the first American city to ban caste discrimination but is the first jurisdiction at any level globally outside South Asia to do so.
Offline retailers are feeling the Omicron January chill as consumers are apprehensive about venturing out in the midst of rising Covid cases across the country. Covid restrictions, as well as concerns over the new virus variant, are seeing shoppers pull back from the high streets and shopping malls, clearly cautious about streaming into stores and choosing to self-censor instead. Offline retailers' hopes of a bumper End-Of-Season Sale (EOSS) and Republic Day (R-Day) Sale to compensate for losses over the pandemic have been dashed. Fewer trips to malls mean lower footfall and sales, resulting in higher piling of stock - and possibly higher discounts.
'The actions of Indian monetary authorities will depend on how quickly they want the inflation to come down to 4 per cent.'
For longer tenure products, they offer higher returns compared to other instruments. But for shorter tenures, things are getting tighter for investors.
The battle for subscribers in the direct-to-home space is set to get hotter, with new player Big TV expected to fire a price war. Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group's Big TV will be commercially launched sometime in May and is looking at tying up over 5 to 5.5 million subscribers even before its launch.
Debt-ridden Future Group is now focusing on saving and rebuilding firms such as -- Future Lifestyle Fashions, Future Supply Chain Solutions, Future Consumer and Future Enterprises, after the Rs 24,713-crore deal with Reliance Retail was rejected by secured creditors, according to industry sources. However, Future Group's flagship firm Future Retail Ltd (FRL), which has nearly Rs 18,000 crore debt, is bound to face the corporate insolvency resolution process before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Other companies like Future Enterprises Ltd (FEL), Future Lifestyle Fashions Ltd (FLFL), Future Supply Chain Solutions Ltd (FSCSL), Future Consumer Ltd (FCL) can sustain on their own and can be rebuilt by restructuring their liabilities with the help of current lenders and investors, said an industry source close to the Future Group.
Walmart, the world's largest retailer, is tripling its sourcing from India to about $10 billion a year by 2027, said Judith McKenna, president, and chief executive officer of Walmart International, the segment which includes the company's operations outside the US. "To achieve this, we are growing our sourcing team in India," said McKenna, during a fireside chat with YourStory founder Shradha Sharma at Converge@Walmart, the flagship event of Walmart Global Tech India. "Walmart has a 20-year history of sourcing from India and already exports more than $3 billion worth of Made-in-India goods each year to 14 markets worldwide." McKenna said the company has expertise in processes such as international standards and demand forecasting that businesses need to get ready to export.
Encouraging results for the fourth quarter of the 2022-23 financial year (Q4FY23) have led to a big surge in the share price of DLF. The realty major closed FY23 with Rs 15,000 crore (up 107 per cent year-on-year or YoY) of pre-sales, leading to cash generation of Rs 2,500 crore (up 14 per cent YoY) and reduced net debt by Rs 1,960 crore YoY. The launch of The Arbour project in Q4FY23 alone drove sales of Rs 8,000 crore in the quarter.
Disney-Star is positioning IPL as a "big-screen experience" where families and friends can come together over a game of cricket, much the way football is consumed in Europe and other parts of the world.
The reason? Price of open cell panels has gone up 15%. One of the main components in the manufacturing of TV sets, open cells contribute to 60%-65% of the manufacturing cost.
'In 2022, active management, long-short strategies, multi-asset strategies, and asset allocation strategies need to be considered to meet long-term investment goals.'
In Mumbai, Reliance Health Venture has already acquired the Mandke hospital, which will be converted into a 650-bed super specialty hospital with six divisions.
Grocery retailer Big Apple said on Friday it will invest Rs 45 crore (Rs 450 million) to more than double its stores in Delhi and NCR as part of its plan to have a pan-India presence by 2008-09.
Other fashion formats such as 'Central' mall chain, 'Brand Factory' and 'Fashion at Big Bazaar' remain under Future Group and eye expansion
A dipstick survey of a bunch of small shops in Mumbai shows that the growth in their sales this season has been much less: under 15 per cent compared to 30 per cent in the previous years. "The malls have taken away our customers. They have a larger a variety of products which they are able to push through a plethora of schemes and very visible display," said Rajesh Shah, the owner of a kirana store in Andheri.
Sectors which attracted big-ticket investments were real estate, energy, banking and start-ups
In a bid to further cool down edible oil prices and curb hoarding, the Centre on Friday extended stock limits on edible oils and oilseeds till June 30. Besides, the government has specified the stock limits that have to be imposed by states that have not implemented the earlier order on the limits. In October 2021, the ministry of consumer affairs had imposed stock limits till March 2022 and left the decision to states to decide on the stock limits based on available stock and consumption pattern.