The minister tells Subhomoy Bhattacharjee that he wants to set up a financing corporation for the road and shipping sectors, which will throw up a business opportunity of Rs 25 lakh crore!
Computer science has been an evergreen choice among engineering aspirants. However, with the rise in AI, students are increasingly realising the potential of automation and robotics.
Backing embattled Adani Group, rating agency CRISIL Ratings on Friday said the conglomerate has sufficient liquidity and operational cash flows to meet debt obligations and committed capex and that there has been no negative actions so far by lenders and investors following the US indictment of group founder chairman. The Adani Group, which has the flexibility to reduce certain discretionary capital expenditure (capex) depending on developments in financial markets and future capital availability, has a healthy Ebitda and cash balance that reduces its dependence on external debt to sustain operations, it said in a bulletin.
In 2025 banks are in for challenges such as pressure on margins and slowing credit growth. With the likelihood of a repo rate cut in February or April, external benchmark-linked loans of banks will be repriced immediately. However, deposit rates are expected to adjust more gradually, which could impact the net interest margin (NIM) - a key measure of profitability for banks.
The Union Finance Ministry on Tuesday said that aggregate business of public sector banks (PSBs) has shown strong growth of 11 per cent in the first half of the financial year 2024-25 (H1FY25) to touch Rs 236 trillion. The operating and net profit were also robust. At Rs 1.5 trillion, operating profit grew by 14.4 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) while the net profit saw an impressive 25.6 per cent jump at Rs 85,520 crore in the first half of FY25.
Future Gaming and Hotel Services whose director is the lottery magnate Santiago Martin is the top purchaser of electoral bonds having purchased bonds worth Rs 1,368, according to data uploaded by the Election Commission of India on its website on Thursday.
India's e-commerce market alone is projected to reach $200 billion by 2026, making it a prime industry for ambitious entrepreneurs, explains rediffGURU Harsh Bharwani.
Billionaire Gautam Adani's group on Monday announced its exit from FMCG joint venture Adani Wilmar by selling its entire stake to the Singaporean partner and in the open market for an estimated over $2 billion in a first major deal since the US bribery indictment. In a statement, Adani Enterprises Ltd -- which held 43.94 per cent stake in Fortune brand cooking oil, wheat flour and other food product maker Adani Wilmar Ltd -- said it will sell 31.06 per cent stake to Wilmar International. About 13 per cent will be sold in the open market to meet minimum public shareholding requirements.
The most striking features of this Budget was its focus on simplification and improving the ease of doing business in India, asserts Kaku Nakhate.
While this will incur a revenue loss amounting to 0.2 per cent of GDP, it will provide a strong boost to consumer sentiment and spending, points out Rajani Sinha.
The combined net sales of 42 listed construction and capital goods companies that have declared their third-quarter results so far were down 2.3 per cent year-on-year in Q3FY21 while core operating profit was up just 4.9 per cent YoY during the quarter.
Public sector companies and some government departments have come in for severe criticism in the India Infrastructure Report 2003. The report says the inefficiencies of PSUs have provided private firms with a huge pricing advantage.
'Consider 40% to 50% in equities, 10% in gold as a hedge, and the remaining 30% to 40% split between multi-asset funds and hybrid funds.'
The one common theme across companies that have rewarded shareholders is consumption.
Reliance Industries Ltd has consolidated its balance sheet after the previous round of capex and is ready for the next level of growth, its chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani said outlining plans from net zero to roll-out of True5G telecom network and retail. In the firm's latest annual report, he said in the world of volatility and uncertainty, India is shining as a beacon of stability and prosperity.
With its age-old fascination for education, southern states have done better than the North. Start-ups, IT hubs, and industry majors setting up shop have changed the face of the South. Nearly 79% of global offices set up by international conglomerates in India are in the South. Almost 46% of tech unicorns are from the South. The GDP per person in the South is 4.2 times higher than the North. None of these indicators can be ignored by any central government, whatever the political compulsions, notes Ramesh Menon.
A tech architect must have certifications across ERP platforms (SAP, Oracle, Microsoft) and Cloud platforms (MS, Google, Low code SAAS platforms such as Salesforce, and ServiceNow).
The central bank's tough new rules spell major changes in the competitive landscape for financial services audits.
Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in India have moved into the slow lane, dropping 43 per cent in terms of deal value to touch $13.37 billion since January this year to date, compared to the same period in the last year. According to data sourced from Bloomberg, Indian companies reported deal value worth $23.5 billion between January and March 22, 2023. Data Infrastructure Trust's acquisition of American Tower Corporation's India telecom towers business for $2.5 billion was the top deal for the ongoing quarter so far, followed by the Highway Infrastructure Trust's acquisition of PNC Infratech's road projects for $1.08 billion.
Operating margins have been the primary driver of corporate earnings in India in recent quarters, despite revenue growth suffering from weak consumer demand. Companies across sectors have reported a sharp improvement in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) margins over the past two years, benefiting from lower commodity and energy prices. Higher margins more than compensated for slower revenue growth, resulting in double-digit growth in net profit for five consecutive quarters.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram has invited French companies to expand their activities in India, particularly in the infrastructure sector. \n
The government on Monday scrapped 30-month old windfall profit tax on domestically-produced crude oil and on export of jet fuel (ATF), diesel and petrol following a decline in international oil prices. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary tabled a notification in Rajya Sabha scrapping the levy on crude oil produced by firms like state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and exports of fuels done by companies like Reliance Industries Ltd.
The proposed exemption in customs duty on import of lithium, cobalt and other rare minerals in the Union Budget 2024-25 is likely to lower the battery production cost and help in making electric vehicles more affordable for the buyers, auto industry leaders said on Tuesday.
Besides Deepak Parekh, who heads financial institution HDFC, other committee members include key representatives of major banks and infrastructure finance institutions.
A lot depends on how Srei shapes up under the new administrator and his team, which is critical for investors' interest.
The Cabinet has cleared a Bill to set up a government-owned development finance institution (DFI) with initial paid-up capital of Rs 20,000 crore so that it can leverage around Rs 3 trillion from the markets in a few years to provide long-term funds to infrastructure projects as well as for development needs of the country. To put it in perspective, Rs 3 trillion constitutes slightly less than 3 per cent of the Rs 111 trillion to be spent on over 7,000 projects in the National Infrastructure Pipeline from 2019-20 to 2024-25. Besides, the government will give Rs 5,000 crore as grant to the institution, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday told the media after the Cabinet meeting.
'No Budget has so far has addressed the issue of the government's abysmal productivity of capital spending, improving which will be the big game changer. 'But, the government's tight lock on businesses, banks, education, and even essential services like transportation and large parts of infrastructure and healthcare is destroying capital year after year,' points out Debashis Basu.
InterGlobe Enterprises on Thursday said it along with Archer Aviation plans to launch an all-electric air taxi service across India in 2026. Once launched, the InterGlobe-Archer flight will aim to take passengers from Connaught Place in the national capital to Gurugram in Haryana in approximately 7 minutes whereas by road, the 27-kilometre-long trip will take 60-90 minutes, according to a release. Both companies have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the goal of partnering to launch and operate an all-electric air taxi service in India, subject to appropriate regulatory approvals and clearances.
'The focus needs to shift towards the ability to collect payments, particularly in tier-3 to tier-4 areas where acceptance is still lacking.'
In 2025, India's tech job market is thriving, with tech professionals seeing a 9.5% salary increase and roles like AI/ML architects earning up to Rs 95 lakh annually.
The only silver lining in March's performance -- which otherwise dragged down the financial year's momentum -- was a 6 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth compared to March of the previous year. This is largely due to incentives, festival-driven gains, and new launches.
Mathai George George Muthoot joined the family business as an office assistant and in 1979 he became the managing director and group chairman in February 1993.
Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited was the top donor to the Bharatiya Janata Party at Rs 584 crore and the Bharat Rashtra Samiti at Rs 195 crore.
'There's a misconception that all Rs 1 lakh crore will be spent immediately, leading to higher consumption of FMCG goods, travel, and vehicle purchases.' 'While some of this money will go toward consumption, not all of it will.' 'The impact depends on where people deploy their savings.'
If it was Andhra Pradesh last Budget, it's poll-bound Bihar that has now turned to Centre with a list of demands. How the NDA government is delivering on promises.
State Bank of India (SBI) and Macquarie Capital Group said on Wednesday they intended to raise a new $2 billion fund that would invest in direct infrastructure investment opportunities in India.A memorandum of understanding was signed by SBI and Macquarie to manage the proposed fund. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), as one of the fund's cornerstone investors, will also have a stake in the proposed fund management company.
Ask rediffGURU and PF and MF expert Janak Patel your mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Donald Trump is catering to the basest fears and prejudice of unenlightened Americans -- yes, there are those too, in sizeable enough numbers to elect one of their own as president. That would most certainly not Make America Great Again, asserts Shreekant Sambrani.
Do we have enough trained oncologists and medical professionals in India to man these over 4,500 beds in the public sector?
