Despite multiple headwinds at the start of 2023, the Indian markets delivered a strong performance, posting 19-20 per cent growth for the year. Even as new records were set, investor sentiment remains strong going into 2024, given the lower inflation, expectations of steady to lower interest rates, higher economic growth, and strong inflows. However, the overriding concern for most brokerages is valuations.
Edtech major Byju's may lay off up to 3,500 employees during the current fiscal as it looks to consolidate teams and enhance regional focus, sources privy to the development said. According to one of the sources, Byju's had "over hired" people at the time of Covid pandemic due to sudden jump in online education, but the demand has now receded, for which the company needs to do course correction. "There has been no retrenchment as of now.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has been ranked the third most-valued IT services brand globally, after Accenture and IBM, according to a report by Brand Finance. Four Indian IT services companies -- TCS, Infosys, HCL and Wipro -- secured spots in the top-10 global tally.
The National Association of Software Services Companies (Nasscom) on Tuesday launched the Talent Connect portal to bridge the gap between recruiters and digitally skilled and certified candidates. The portal, which has been in the work for the last 28 months has 100,000 candidates and companies such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tech Mahindra and Salesforce recruiting from it. The platform, for the first time, is also making an attempt to bridge the gap of skill-based talent to employers, rather than the current practice of academic focused talent base.
Digital literacy is emerging as the professional language of 2024. It is the ability to process complex data sets, deploy critical communication technologies appropriately and validate your importance at your workplace, explains Jagdeep Kochar, managing director, Baker & Taylor India.
'It will drive a lot of surrounding business, that is where we see some good projects coming in.'
Kotak Mahindra Bank on Saturday reported a 25 per cent growth in its March quarter net profit at Rs 5,302 crore, limited by a drop in the core income due to narrow interest margins. On a standalone basis, the city-headquartered lender's Q4 net profit grew 18 per cent to Rs 4,133 crore. The FY24 consolidated net profit grew 22 per cent to Rs 18,213 crore.
'They have since only tried to improve systems. Also, with regulatory guidance from time to time, we are in a position to assess a situation and react in time.'
With telecom disruptor Reliance Jio not raising tariffs, incumbents Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea are focusing on the minimum monthly recharge and higher first recharge offers to ensure they retain only loyal and revenue-incremental subscribers, reports Romita Majumdar.
'We are looking at the next target which is to be a $1 billion ARR firm in the next 4-5 years.'
Automotive (auto) major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), which is readying to launch nine sport utility vehicles (internal combustion engine/ICE), seven Born Electric Vehicles (BEVs), and seven light commercial vehicles by 2030, has outlined an investment of Rs 27,000 crore in its auto business between 2024-25 (FY25) and 2026-27 (FY27). Over the next three years, the company will deploy Rs 37,000 crore, including its auto business, farm business (Rs 5,000 crore), and service business (Rs 5,000 crore).
There was no smooth surge in middle class prosperity for foreign businesses to tap into because of the Indian economy was mismanaged, argues Debashis Basu.
'Every time a new tech comes in, there are a set of people who will predict that this will be the end of Indian IT and every time the Indian IT industry and overall technology providers have proven to be resilient.'
The retail broking industry's top line could more than double over the next five years, according to the estimates of consultancy firm Bain & Company. The industry, which facilitates stock market trading for investors, has already witnessed its revenues double from Rs 14,000 crore during 2018-19 (FY19) to Rs 27,000 crore in 2022-23 (FY23), reflecting an annualised growth rate of 17 per cent. "This growth has been fuelled by the emergence of India's mass-affluent and affluent segments, coupled with increasing financial literacy.
The Adani group has exited the financial services business by selling its entire 90 per cent stake in Adani Capital and Adani Housing to private equity (PE) firm Bain Capital for Rs 1,440 crore. The total valuation of the Adani financial services business stands at Rs 1,600 crore. Gaurav Gupta, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Adani firms will hold the rest of the stake.
The Centre is unlikely to offer new direct tax incentives for units operating in special economic zones (SEZs) and may instead allow the grandfathering of previous exemptions that such units were entitled to, according to proposed amendments to the SEZ Act, 2005, people aware of the matter said. The amendments, proposed by the commerce department, will soon be considered by the Cabinet for approval. This represents a departure from the department's earlier plan to introduce these changes through the Development Enterprises and Services Hubs (DESH) Bill, 2023, which faced strong criticism from the ministry of finance.
The fresh meat and seafood delivery startup Licious plans to set up 500 stores nationwide within the next five years as part of an omnichannel strategy. The aim is to attract new users in the offline channel and encourage them to transact online as well. The move would also help the company in its efforts to achieve profitability and go for an initial public offering (IPO) in the next 24 months, according to the sources.
Industries such as aviation and hospitality have many silos within them and Aionos, the joint venture between Interglobe Enterprises (IGE) and Assago Group, is an attempt to bridge them and boost efficiencies using artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, Rahul Bhatia told Business Standard on Tuesday. Bhatia, the Group Managing Director of IGE, serves as the majority shareholder in India's largest airline, IndiGo. Additionally, IGE operates 21 hotels under the Ibis brand and runs a logistics company called Movin.
Tata Consultancy Services has expanded its partnership with Google Cloud for generative AI offerings, the company said on Monday. Under the partnership, TCS will leverage Google Cloud's generative AI services to design and deploy custom-tailored business solutions for the clients. "Our launch partnership with Google Cloud on generative AI enables us to rapidly create value for our customers.
The country's largest IT services company TCS on Wednesday said it has 250 staffers in Israel and stressed that the ongoing conflict will not have any major impact on its business. The company said it is in constant touch with all staffers, and at present, the focus is their safety and to look at how they help the communities they live in. It has initiated business continuity plans wherever necessary to ensure that the customers do not get impacted, TCS chief operating officer N Ganapathy Subramaniam told reporters, adding that it does not expect any major impact of the war on its business.
The bank has 1.8 lakh customers with no-frills accounts, which provide basic banking services without the need to maintain a large minimum balance.
Krithi Krithivasan is the kind of person one might look to when the need is to calm things down and put things back on track.
Amazon India has decided to shut down 'Amazon Distribution', according to sources. This follows its recent decision to shut its food delivery and edtech offerings. The moves are part of the annual operating planning review process amid global macroeconomic uncertainty. The e-commerce giant is looking to focus on its core businesses, sources said.
Uber Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dara Khosrowshahi sees India as one of the toughest markets and a standard to succeed in any other part of the world. One of the biggest challenges for the ride-hailing firm, according to Khosrowshahi, is the expectation of Indian consumers for more services at lower spending. "India is one of the toughest markets out there.
Mercedes-Benz India is aiming to post double-digit growth in sales volume during 2024 as it plans to launch over 12 car models during the year, says its managing director and CEO Santosh Iyer. The German carmaker, which leads the luxury car market in the country, recorded 10 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth to 17,408 units in 2023. "For 2023, we always said that the growth would be in double digits.
Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Tuesday posted a 49.2 per cent jump in its consolidated net profit to Rs 3,005.6 crore for the January-March quarter of 2022-23 on the back of new 4G customers and strong growth in average revenue per user (ARPU). The company had recorded a net profit of Rs 2,007.8 crore in the same period a year ago. Bharti Airtel's consolidated revenue from operations grew by 14.31 per cent to Rs 36,009 crore during the reported quarter from Rs 31,500.3 crore in the March 2022 quarter.
'I found it unbelievable that L&T said 45,000 jobs were waiting to be filled because of unavailability of suitable skillsets.' 'So, when the Opposition sweepingly says there are no jobs, I'm sorry... I'm not saying it's raining jobs, but there are jobs. The (skill) gap has to be bridged.'
A total of 829 candidates have qualified for civil services, including the Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service, the Union Public Service Commission announced
Why are financial-technology (fintech) players moving back to India, or doing the reverse-flipping?
Future Group aims to increase customer spends - average of Rs 20,000 over 10 visits at its stores in a year
'It will dictate the flow of funds into the index. We will maintain caution on mid/smallcaps.'
Why is the RBI harsh on Paytm Payments Bank? Why did it give Rana Kapoor of Yes Bank Ltd such a long rope?Often, it's a long investigation process, but the RBI doesn't discuss this openly since that can threaten financial sector stability, explains Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Indian IT services company Infosys on Thursday said all its employees in Israel are safe. Amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, Infosys CEO and MD Salil Parekh said its employees in Israel are primarily locals but declined to comment on the exact staff strength there. The company further said it is "saddened" by the situation unfolding in the region.
In the last couple of months, top Indian IT services providers, including TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCL Tech have announced setting up cyber threat management centres in the US and Europe.
'We want to prove to the world that they will get the best code written from a small place like Wayanad.'
As Indian IT service entities mature into multi-billion dollar organisations employing thousands, the pressure has increased on them from clients to identify and solve customer problems than working on predefined parameters.
'It is necessary to have a person at the top who can make strict decisions without hesitation. Modiji has done that.'
As many as 80-85 per cent Paytm wallet users will not face any disruption because of regulatory actions, and the remaining users have been advised to link their apps to other banks, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Wednesday. The Reserve Bank of India on January 31 barred Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) from accepting deposits, credit transactions, or top-ups in any customer accounts.
Regulators must learn from past mistakes and act swiftly to prevent Big Tech from monopolising the AI ecosystem, argue Payal Malik and Nikita Jain.
HDFC Bank has reshuffled the portfolios of its senior management team. This is the first major rejig after the amalgamation of HDFC Ltd on July 1. "The runway for our growth is large. This change is being done to bring in a very sharp focus on leveraging what we have built and for enhanced execution," said Sashidhar Jagdishan, managing director and chief executive of HDFC Bank, explaining the reason for this overhaul.