Private equity and venture capital investments dropped to $4.7 billion in April this year on heightened uncertainty and high valuation expectations of sellers, a report said on Monday. The overall amount invested is 6 per cent lower than the $4.9 billion recorded in April 2024, and 20 per cent lower than the $5.9 billion in March 2025, the report by industry body IVCA and consultancy firm EY, said.
Errors in filing income-tax returns frequently lead to scrutiny notices, additional liabilities, or delayed refunds.
The dispute between Aakash Educational Services Ltd (AESL) and edtech firm Byju's has escalated, with Aakash filing a sharply worded petition before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Bengaluru, alleging conflict of interest and professional misconduct by global consulting firm Ernst & Young (EY), according to court filings
Call centres, once the engine room of India's BPO exports, are evolving too. Depending on the complexity, 30 to 50 per cent of voice and chat volumes are now handled by conversational AI.
The move came against the backdrop of Turkiye backing Pakistan and its condemnation of India's strikes on terror camps in the neighbouring country and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir under Operation Sindoor.
President Droupadi Murmu's address to the nation on the eve of the 79th Independence Day.
'My job is to provide people with a bouquet of options they can choose from.'
Fundraising via initial public offers (IPOs) dropped 52.2 per cent to $147.2 billion in the first eight months of calendar year 2023 (CY23), suggests a recent report by GlobalData, a London-based analytics and consulting company. At the country level, the report suggests, India topped the charts with 152 transactions worth $3.8 billion during this period, primarily due to a higher number of SME IPOs, followed by the US with 99 deals totaling $16 billion, while China ranked third with 88 transactions worth $32.3 billion. "An analysis of GlobalData's Deals Database reveals that there were 750 IPO listings registered with an aggregate deal value of $147.2 billion in the first eight months of 2023 on the stock exchanges worldwide.
India topped the APAC region with 227 transactions in the first eight months of CY24. The US was second with 133 deals while China ranked third with 69 transactions.
Sections in the US State Department and Pentagon have always felt more comfortable dealing with all powerful Pakistani generals instead of elected civilians, points out Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
Deductions missed in Form 16 can still be claimed while filing ITR.
'The larger and more opaque this shadow economy becomes, especially online, the greater the risk to India's national security.'
'Trump has personally weighed in to overcome doubts and reservations about Pakistan among his top advisors.'
The strategy was straightforward - aggressively buy select Bank Nifty index stocks in the morning and sell them just as forcefully later in the day, triggering a sharp drop in share prices.
'That way you're not hostage just to US sort of exports to India.'
India witnessed a record-breaking surge in deal activity in February, with 226 M&A and private equity deals totaling $7.2 billion -- the highest monthly deal volume in the last three years, according to the Dealtracker report of Grant Thornton Bharat. "This represents a 67 per cent increase in volumes and a 5.4-fold increase in values compared to February 2024, while a 14 per cent increase over the previous month," it said.
Anticipating US action on tariffs, India seems to have made the first move by revamping its tariff structure by reducing the slabs to eight rates, points out Mukesh Butani.
Global cryptocurrency giant Binance has asserted that it never owned or controlled WazirX before or after the embattled Indian exchange was hacked in July that led to a security breach of more than $230 million. Binance added that there was no legal basis for the firm to be liable for claims made against the embattled crypto exchange. It refuted WazirX's claims that the global exchange owns the company, adding that it does not operate the platform.
'BSE has facilitated nearly Rs 35 trillion in capital raising across multiple segments.'
The US has sanctioned an Indian national based in the United Arab Emirates and two India-based entities for operating as part of Iran's shadow fleet and involved in shipping Iranian oil. The US Department of the Treasury said Jugwinder Singh Brar, who owns multiple shipping companies, operates as part of Iran's shadow fleet, which the US said is used to evade sanctions and transport Iranian oil. Brar also owns or controls India-based shipping company Global Tankers Private Limited and petrochemical sales company B and P Solutions Private Limited. The sanctions come as part of a US campaign of maximum pressure on Iran and target the country's petroleum and petrochemical sectors.
Unless something changes, Mr Trump is a huge threat right now, which is perhaps not being recognised fully, cautions Debashis Basu.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries has completed the merger of its media assets with the India business of global media house Walt Disney and formed a joint venture with a valuation of over Rs 70,000 crore. The JV will be one of the largest media and entertainment companies in India with a combined revenue of approximately Rs 26,000 crore and will be led by Nita Ambani as its chairperson, according to a joint statement.
Here's what you must know about the new rule, its implications, and whether it affects taxpayers' rights and privacy.
While a giant, it's a nimble-footed one, and is growing at a speed that even some of its private sector peers find enviable.
Between FY18 and FY24, it doubled its balance sheet. Despite being a late entrant in some segments, it has been able to grab market share, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
RBI's interest rate decision, quarterly earnings and global cues would be the major driving factors for equity markets this week, analysts said adding that the impact of the Union Budget could linger on this week. Trading activity of foreign investors will also be a key driver for the markets, experts noted. "US and India's manufacturing PMI for January to be released on Monday, will be the key macro data to watch out for.
Munich-based Allianz will explore new opportunities in the Indian insurance market not only as an investor but also as an operator, the company told Business Standard on Tuesday. "India will continue to be one of Allianz's main growth markets, and Allianz will explore new opportunities to further grow its participation in the Indian insurance market in the future, not only as an investor but also as an operator," the company said.
The $22.8 billion CK Hutchison ports deal intensifies geopolitical tensions between the US and China. Chinese media has already called it 'a betrayal of all Chinese people'. Shyam G Menon explains how the proposed sale will reshapes global trade infrastructure.
European Union (EU) companies operating in India want New Delhi to streamline or remove non-tariff barriers such as Quality Control Orders (QCOs), complex Customs procedures; simplify labelling, testing, and import procedures; and facilitate cross-border digital transactions without data localisation constraints. These are results of a Business Sentiment Survey, 2025 conducted by the Federation of European Business in India (FEBI) ahead of resumption of negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) between both the sides scheduled to be concluded by year-end.
India saw growth of around 213 per cent in the number of real-time payments processed over the past year.
Gross GST collections rose by 9.1 per cent to about Rs 1.84 lakh crore in February, boosted by domestic consumption and indicating potential economic revival. As per the official data released on Saturday, on a gross basis, mop up from Central GST stood at Rs 35,204 crore, State GST at Rs 43,704 crore, Integrated GST at Rs 90,870 crore and compensation cess of Rs 13,868 crore.
The net leasing of Grade-A commercial office space in India will stagnate this financial year at 32-34 million square feet, with global uncertainties brewing caution among key tenant categories, according to the latest Crisil Ratings report. Major seven cities in India - Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), National Capital Region (NCR) and Pune - had Grade-A office space with an operational stock of around 705 million square feet as of March 2023. India's commercial office space is dominated by technology companies, with information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services (ITeS) companies occupying 42-45 per cent of the operational stock.
Trump's sweeping tariffs and penalties on China-built ships have turned global shipping into the front line of economic war, observes Shyam G Menon.
Nasdaq-listed Cognizant Technology Solutions has signed a definitive agreement to acquire global engineering company Belcan for about $1.3 billion (Rs 10,853.7 crore) in cash and stock. The transaction is expected to close in the September quarter. The total consideration includes $1.19 billion (Rs 9,935.31 crore) in cash and 1.47 million Cognizant shares, valued at $97 million (Rs 809.53 crore) based on the information technology services provider's closing share price on June 7, 2024.
Institutional investments in Indian real estate have seen a strong start to 2025, with inflows reaching $ 1.3 billion in the first quarter - a 31 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase. This growth was primarily driven by domestic investments, which accounted for 60 per cent of the total inflows during the quarter. With $ 0.8 billion inflows, domestic investments saw a 75 per cent annual rise and were largely focused on industrial & warehousing and office segments.
India's flexible (flex) office segment, having breached pre-pandemic levels, is thriving as corporates, startups, multinational corporations, and global capability centres (GCCs) expand in India, seeking low-capital yet Grade A plug-and-play facilities. In the first quarter (Q1) of 2025, the flex office segment continued to grow, with flex space leasing rising by 22 per cent to 2.2 million square feet (msf), according to Colliers.
The number of cyberfraud cases has skyrocketed from 2,677 in 1999-2000 to 29,082 in FY24 -- more than a 10-fold increase. The RBI pegs digital payment frauds at Rs 1,457 crore in FY24, up more than five times in a year. It's not just the number of frauds. What's alarming is the growing sophistication of the fraudsters, exposing the vulnerabilities within the financial system, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Viacom18 Media (Viacom18), and The Walt Disney Company announced on Thursday that they have completed the merger of Viacom18's media and JioCinema businesses into Star India (SIPL), creating a mega joint venture valued at Rs 70,352 crore. The new entity will be guided by three chief executive officers (CEOs), "who will lead the company into a new era of ambition and disruption", according to a joint statement. Kevin Vaz will lead the entertainment division across all platforms, Kiran Mani will head the combined digital division, and Sanjog Gupta will oversee the sports operations.
India SME Forum, an organisation for small and medium businesses, has called for creating a dedicated fund of Rs 5000 crore for the export capacity development, promotion, and marketing of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in its Budget recommendation. The forum for MSMEs with over 98,000 members said that to enhance India's global competitiveness and increase its market share in global exports, it was "crucial to increase the number of active exporters and enable at least 3-4 lakh first-time micro, small, and medium exporters while supporting them in promoting Indian products globally."
