Rising stressed debt and past exposures like Reliance Capital, Yes Bank push EPFO to frame exit rules for its portfolio.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has projected a 6.9 per cent GDP growth for the current financial year, citing concerns over commodity prices and supply chain disruptions stemming from the West Asia crisis.
The life insurance industry recorded nearly 40 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth in new business premiums (NBP), aided by the rationalisation of goods and services tax (GST) on individual life insurance premiums, which has made policies more affordable for consumers.
Escalating geopolitical tensions in West Asia are beginning to disrupt India's automotive supply chain, leading to rising commodity prices, logistics bottlenecks, material shortages, and pressure on consumer demand, with two-wheeler makers already raising prices.
The Union Cabinet on Friday approved 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the insurance sector, a move that was welcomed by industry as it would help attract more capital and global expertise, while boosting insurance coverage in the country. A bill to amend the insurance law is likely to be tabled on Monday in Parliament, whose winter session is slated to conclude on December 19.
These losses increase insurance premiums for customers and reduce insurer margins on the other.
Cooperation Minister Amit Shah announces Bharat Taxi, a cooperative-led ride-hailing platform, has reached 2.13 million users and 231,000 drivers. The platform operates on a zero-commission model, prioritising driver welfare and expansion into Tier 2 and 3 cities.
rediffGURU Jinal Mehta answers readers' financial planning and health insurance queries
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said that raising the FDI limit to 100 per cent in the insurance sector will help attract more capital, improve competition and increase insurance penetration by making policies more affordable.
Ask rediffGURU Naveenn Kummar your insurance mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Lenders and shareholders of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) will meet on May 2 to demerge the firm's financial services business. This is expected to create a big player in segments including the NBFC (non-banking financial company) space with net worth of Rs 25,851 crore as of March 2022. According to the plan, RIL shareholders will get a share in the demerged entity for each one held in the company.
The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) in Thane has awarded a compensation of 64.75 lakh to the family of a Pune-based businessman who died in a road accident in 2022.
LIC offices will remain open during normal working hours on Tuesday for customer convenience, following an advisory from Irdai. CoinDCX commits to invest in cybersecurity infrastructure, and PayNearby introduces UPI QR-based cash withdrawals.
Uncertainty stemming from the US-Iran conflict has significantly impacted India's mutual fund industry, leading to a sharp decline in new fund offers (NFOs) in March, despite numerous regulatory approvals. This geopolitical tension, coupled with existing market strain and distributor hesitation, has dampened investor sentiment and affected overall inflows.
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.
West Asia conflict triggers sharp sell-off in Indian markets, with realty, banking and auto stocks leading losses amid energy shock fears.
Sebi is working with other regulators to expand the CAS framework.
The reduction in goods & services tax (GST) on individual life and health insurance premiums has been called a "landmark step" for making insurance affordable and inclusive. In a panel discussion at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit 2025, Anup Bagchi, managing director (MD) & chief executive officer (CEO) of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance; Mahesh Balasubramanian, MD & CEO of Kotak Life Insurance; Tarun Chugh, MD & CEO of Bajaj Life Insurance; and Ratnakar Patnaik, MD of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), listed what else the industry needs to reach more people.
...reopen for up to six months. Until then, the Strait stays nearly closed. The world pays. And no one, including the man who started this, can say when it ends, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War.
Ask rediffGURU Reetika Sharma your insurance, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
The exemption of individual life and health insurance premiums from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) enables the insurance industry to make products affordable and attractive, said Ajay Seth, chairman of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit 2025.
Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria emphasised the importance of Aadhaar in promoting good governance, transparency, and ease of living, highlighting its role in ensuring welfare benefits reach the intended recipients and strengthening the rural economy through Direct Benefit Transfer.
The All India Insurance Employees' Association has opposed the government directive seeking to open up top posts in the state-owned insurers to the private sector, saying this would lead to greater private influence and "eventual privatisation".
Canadian firm Manulife and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), an Indian automaker with interests in financial services, have signed an agreement to form a 50:50 life insurance joint venture (JV) with a total capital commitment of up to Rs 3,600 crore each totalling Rs 7,200 crore.
'Buy early and review the sum insured regularly.'
'Combining individual or family policies with corporate cover, along with top-ups and wellness programmes, can help maintain strong health protection throughout life.'
Paytm plans to launch mutual funds, insurance and banking services and s also providing the option to transact offline with a physical debit card
Bajaj Finserv - the holding company of Bajaj group's financial services business - has laid out plans for the next five years. During this period, it is eyeing 18-22 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in net profit at Rs 21,000-24,000 crore on a consolidated basis.
'Money is not just about greed or accumulation. It gives you freedom, dignity and choice. And you have every right to all three.'
The Hinduja Group plans to enter the financial services space in India with a bang. Apart from plans to set up life insurance, non-life insurance and asset management companies, the group is also working towards areas such as wealth management, broking and portfolio management services. The group has finalised its partners for setting up a holding company, which will have three business arms offering wealth management, broking and portfolio management services.
ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company has set a price band of Rs 2,061- Rs 2,165 per share for its Rs 10,600-crore initial public offering (IPO) that will open on Friday. At the upper end of the band, the country's largest asset manager will command a valuation of Rs 1.07 trillion.
In modern investing, transparency is more valuable than zero fees and not all investing app score big on this front, says Ramalingam Kalirajan.
Sectoral funds, focused exclusively on public sector banks (PSBs), have delivered the strongest returns among domestic mutual fund (MF) categories over the past six months. However, active banking funds have significantly lagged because of their heavy tilt towards private lenders.
Wipro is trying to strengthen its presence in the banking, financial services and insurance segment by increasing its revenue share on par with other leading Indian information technology service companies.
In a move aimed at curbing the mis-selling of financial products, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed banning incentives paid to bank staffers by third parties such as insurance companies and mutual fund houses for selling their products and services. It has also proposed that banks must ensure their user interfaces do not deploy "dark patterns" to lure customers.
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.
'Other sectors that manage the savings pools of Indians are giving tough competition to life insurance companies.'
Ecommerce (ecom) and quick commerce (qcom) platforms are expected to lead gig worker hiring in calendar year 2026 (CY26), adding nearly 1 million workers on the back of sustained demand for last-mile deliveries, higher order volumes, and continued expansion of dark stores into non-metropolitan cities, industry experts have said.
The continued MF buying has pushed the equity holding of MFs to over Rs 50 trillion for the first time.
'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.
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