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.
PSB may get its first non-Sikh at the helm, vigilance clearances are awaited.
The Indian government has expressed its disagreement with the IMF staff's 'baseline' assumption that the 50 per cent US tariffs on its goods exports 'would remain in place indefinitely', based on which the staff pegged the country's GDP growth at 6.6 per cent this year, and pared its 2026-27 projection by 20 basis points to 6.2 per cent.
Who else will take on the might of Microsoft, Google, and Amazon if not the Adanis, Ambanis, Birlas, or Tatas?, asks R Jagannathan.
The Small Industries Development Bank of India will soon ink a strategic tie-up agreement with a commercial bank for extending direct credit facilities to the small-scale sector.
Sundararaman Ramamurthy has assumed charge as managing director and chief executive officer of leading stock exchange BSE. In a regulatory filing last year, BSE said that markets regulator Sebi has approved the appointment of Ramamurthy as its MD and CEO. "Sundararaman Ramamurthy has assumed charge as MD and CEO of BSE," the exchange said in a release on Wednesday.
'The dakiyas will be our partners, receiving credit proposals from micro-enterprises at the grassroots level.'
Several executives argue that UPI has the potential to grow tenfold, but warn that the absence of a monetisation model risks stagnating the real-time payments system, which has been recording all-time-high transaction volumes every year.
Housing demand should improve nationwide after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut the repo rate by a larger-than-expected 50 basis points (bps) on Friday, said real estate industry executives. The rate cut comes after housing sales in top Indian cities in the first quarter of 2025 dipped 28 per cent due to skyrocketing residential property prices and geopolitical headwinds, according to Anarock.
But the industry's chief executives remain confident of the long-term growth potential of NBFCs in India, given their specialised lending on the asset side, last-mile reach, and a well-capitalised balance sheet. "Over the years, NBFCs have faced many crises.
As RBI governor, Sanjay Malhotra will have to give the highest priority to the interest of the economy while deciding on the growth-inflation trade off at Mint Street.
'The market today is different -- more mature and conducive. As a national player, you can't not be in Mumbai. And competition is always good.'
For the first time, the Data Security Council of India assembled a joint task force to source threat intelligence at the origin and ensure coordinated action across the cybersecurity spectrum.
Developers based outside Mumbai are making a beeline for India's largest real estate market through redevelopment projects. These include Delhi-based DLF, Bengaluru-based Prestige Estates and Puravankara, Pune-based Kolte-Patil Developers and Vascon Engineers, and Hyderabad-based Ramky Estates.
Government has finalised the appointments of State Bank of India managing director A K Batra and former Industrial Development Bank of India deputy managing director T M Nagarajan, as the two new executive directors of Sebi.
Bandhan Bank has filed a draft red herring prospectus with Sebi for an IPO of up to 119 million equity shares, with face value of Rs 10 each.
Analysts are of the view that long-term investors could continue to hold the stock, irrespective of the MSCI development.
Learning from East Asia, India must reform its district administration with performance, accountability, and vision to achieve the goal of Viksit Bharat, points out Deepak Mishra.
After Chennai, it is Coimbatore, Madurai, and Tiruchirappalli, that are emerging as manufacturing hubs. Coimbatore is India's top Tier-II city in terms of the number of GCCs, according to a report by Cushman & Wakefield.
'Returning Indians can leverage their international skills and the strong funding environment for start-ups here.'
'Balancing tunnel developments with ecological realities is a major challenge and, when overlooked, can contribute to mishaps.'
Stung by the controversy over the sudden sacking of the Managing Director at India's largest microfinance institution, SKS Microfinance, lenders have decided to raise corporate governance issues at board meetings of other MFIs.
'MNCs now recognise India's capacity for innovation and its pivotal role in substantive contributions to global product development.'
Companies are drawn to the parks by the infrastructure and ready-to-occupy land.
'BSE has facilitated nearly Rs 35 trillion in capital raising across multiple segments.'
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved IndusInd Bank's request to form an executive committee to discharge the duties and responsibilities of the chief executive officer (CEO) for a period of maximum three months or till a new CEO takes charge, whichever is earlier.
With short-term rates firming up due to tight liquidity conditions, Indian corporates are opting to borrow long term to take advantage of the attractive rates by locking them in these uncertain times. The banking system has a liquidity deficit of over Rs 2 trillion. According to market participants, engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (L&T) raised Rs 1,500 crore through 10-year bonds in December 2024.
In a double-dose bid to boost growth and employment prospects, the Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved a Rs 2.07 trillion outlay for a research development and innovation (RDI) Scheme to fund private sector innovations, and an employment-linked incentive (ELI) to create over 35 million new jobs over the next two years.
Bandhan Bank is the first bank to be launched in eastern India post Independence.
For over a decade, HDFC Bank consistently outperformed industry growth rates in both deposits and advances, maintaining impeccable asset quality. Amid a landscape where other banks struggled with soaring non-performing assets (NPAs), HDFC Bank thrived, eventually surpassing ICICI Bank to become the largest private sector lender in India. Its net interest margin (NIM) remained stable in the range of 4.1-4.4 per cent.
'The choice is clear: We either embrace this transformation and cement our global leadership, or hesitate, lose ground, and fade into irrelevance.'
Co-lending deals between non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and banks are likely to rise after the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) decision to increase the risk weight on consumer credit, industry leaders and experts say. Smaller NBFCs, they add, may increasingly opt for co-lending as capital markets could become costlier for them. "Smaller NBFCs will be more comfortable with co-lending because they are geography-specific in terms of industry or customers.
