The quarterly manufacturing index by the industry body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Ficci) rose to an all-time high in the third quarter of financial year 2025-26 (Q3FY26), with 91 per cent of respondents reporting either higher or same production levels, against 87 per cent in the previous quarter.
Public sector banks' (PSBs') employee count grew for the first time in five years while private sector banks' staff strength saw a decline in 2024-25 (FY25), according to latest data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The employee count of state-owned lenders rose 0.22 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to 757,641 at the end of March 31, 2025 from 756,015 in FY24.
'India is often skipping legacy cycles and moving directly to advanced AI-driven operations.'
'My concern is that, although everything is expressed in monetary terms, you are effectively combining values that have been adjusted using different price measures.'
The aggregate net worth of the country's 176 dollar billionaires dropped to $984.2 billion during 2025, down from a record $1,036.2 billion at the end of December 2024.
'LIC will reduce but not fully exit its stake in IDBI Bank, which remains an important bancassurance partner,' says LIC of India' MD and CEO R Doraiswamy.
Business confidence in India Inc rose to a five-quarter high in December quarter of FY26, amid further reform expectations and steady domestic demand, a survey by industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) showed. The CII Business Confidence Index (BCI) rose for the third consecutive quarter to 66.5 in the December quarter from 66 in the preceding September quarter.
India is growing fast, but to keep growing strong, the government must make more things at home, create jobs, and spend money wisely, suggests Rajiv Memani, regional managing partner, Africa-India Region, EY.
Weakness in the information technology (IT) sector hiring has weighed on Info Edge (India) over the past year, leading to a 13 per cent correction in the stock during this period. While the company's 2025-26 (FY26) third-quarter (October-December/Q3) performance showed a marginal improvement, brokerages believe the IT hiring outlook remains weak due to macroeconomic uncertainty in the US.
The RBI will now charge banks different deposit insurance fees based on how risky they are, allowing safer banks to pay less premium.
The more things change, the more they remain the same for corporate India. In the April-June 2025 period (Q1FY26) - for the ninth consecutive quarter - listed companies witnessed only single-digit revenue growth, while their core earnings, excluding other income and one-time gains, contracted for the second time in four quarters. This comes as firms brace for the impact of 50 per cent US tariff on Indian goods.
Non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) such as Bajaj Finance, Shriram Finance, Muthoot Finance, and IIFL Finance have regained their growth momentum after losing market share to banks in the post-Covid period. The growth surge is being led by diversified lenders and gold-loan companies while development-finance institutions such as Power Finance Corporation (PFC), REC, and Housing & Urban Development Corporation (Hudco) continue to grow at a slower pace.
Analysts have sharply reduced cigarette maker ITC's earning estimates for the next two years, fearing a significant dent in the company's profitability and margins. This is owing to a steep hike in excise duty on tobacco by the government.
IT services firm HCLTech on Monday reported a 11.2 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 4,076 crore in the October-December quarter of FY26.
The BSE Smallcap index hit an over eight-month low of 47,627.96, falling 3 per cent in Tuesday's intraday trade amid selling pressure due to ongoing tariff-related concerns and rising geopolitical tensions.
The Budget allocation includes the construction of new lines and the purchase of locomotives, wagons, and coaches, among other works.
Bharat Electronics, Power Grid, NTPC and HDFC Bank were among the other major gainers. However, Infosys, Tata Steel, Eternal and Tech Mahindra were among the laggards.
Mastercard and Visa are introducing passkeys that will allow users to authenticate card payments with face scans or fingerprints, eliminating the need for one-time passwords (OTPs).
Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty closed higher on Thursday, helped by a rally in blue-chip Larsen & Toubro and the Economic Survey projecting the GDP growth of 6.8-7.2 per cent for the next fiscal.
'Given that India underperformed emerging markets by 28 per cent in 2025, the worst performance in over 30 years, the timing of the sharp STT hike could have been better.'
Coforge's planned $2.35 billion all-stock acquisition of US-based Encora has divided the Street, with a few brokerages terming it a "strategically positive" but execution-heavy bet while others raising valuation concerns.
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.
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) reported encouraging results for the April-June quarter (Q1) of FY26. The net premium income of India's largest life insurer was Rs 1.2 trillion, up 5 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), in Q1. Renewal premium grew 6 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 59,900 crore, while first-year and single premium grew 1 per cent and 4 per cent Y-o-Y respectively to Rs 7,500 crore and Rs 51,900 crore.
Private sector lender IDFC First Bank has lowered its savings account rates and introduced new slabs for small and medium balance categories, effective January 9, 2025, as per its website. The interest slabs and rates for higher balance accounts remain unchanged. Despite the revision, the bank continues to offer one of the highest savings account interest rates in the industry among mid-sized banks.
The information technology (IT) services industry may be headed for another year of sluggish growth. Based on the results of the top five IT services companies for the first quarter of 2025-26 (Q1FY26), analysts say the possibility of hitting high single-digit revenue growth in FY26 looks unlikely.
The gold loan portfolio across the system has nearly doubled to Rs 15.6 lakh crore in two years to November 2025, as a spike in prices of the precious commodity encouraged lenders to increase their exposures to the safer segment, a report said on Wednesday.
The stock of the country's largest beer maker, United Breweries (UBBL), is trading at 25-month lows given multiple headwinds related to volumes, regulatory issues, and margin trajectory. After a muted second quarter (July-September) of 2025-26 (Q2FY26), brokerages also expect the company's Q3FY26 performance to be underwhelming.
The imposition of safeguard duty, an uptick in exports, and an increase in input cost are driving steel prices higher. The latest round of price increase took place on Friday, with some steel mills increasing hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices by ~500-750 a tonne, according to price reporting and market intelligence firm BigMint. HRC is a benchmark for flat steel.
The proposed trade deal with the 27-nation European Union (EU) is expected to provide zero-duty access to the $95 billion European market for Indian textile and apparel manufacturers. Currently, India's share of the European market is just 6 per cent, or $5.5 billion.
Jewellery makers are set to post strong revenue growth in the 2025-26 (FY26) October-December quarter (Q3), supported by a robust wedding season and rising value growth, even as volumes decline.
FMCG major Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) on Thursday reported a two-fold jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 6,603 crore in the December quarter of FY'26, on a year-on-year basis, driven by a one-off positive impact from the demerger of its ice cream business.
HCLTech reported flat net income of Rs 4,235 crore in the second quarter of 2025-26 (Q2FY26) compared to last year, even as its revenue was up 10.7 per cent to Rs 31,492 crore helped by financial services and technology business verticals.
India's third-largest telecom operator Vodafone Idea (Vi) has secured a 10-year breather on adjusted gross revenue (AGR) payments from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). This is expected to ease pressure on its balance sheet and enable the company to raise bank debt for capital expenditure.
State Bank of India on Saturday reported an all-time high profit of Rs 21,028 crore in December quarter FY26 on a standalone basis.
HCLTech expects its recent large acquisitions to contribute about 1.5 per cent to revenue in 2026-27 (FY27), Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director C Vijayakumar said, as the company looks to build newer revenue streams in a subdued macroeconomic environment.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched a strong attack on Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party, accusing them of compromising India's interests on the world stage and selling out farmers and the poor during their time in power.
India has completely protected the interests of its agriculture and dairy sector in the India-US trade agreement.
India is the second-most-preferred destination among chief executive officers planning international investments - up from the fifth spot last year, according to PwC's 29th Annual Global CEO Survey released on Tuesday. The United States is their first choice.
Skoda India is focusing on cleaner fuel options, including CNG and EVs, while compact SUV Kylaq drives volumes, expands first-time buyers and strengthens the brand in India's competitive market
India's nuclear energy share in total installed capacity remains limited, fluctuating between 1.9 per cent and 2.9 per cent from FY10 to FY24.
