Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have invested Rs 25,300 crore through the anchor book for IPOs in 2024, surpassing the Rs 20,351 crore invested by domestic mutual funds (MFs). FPIs accounted for 46.6 per cent of shares sold in the anchor category, the highest share since 2021, according to PRIME Database.
Indian-origin tech companies cornered a fifth of all H-1B visas issued by the US with Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services leading the pack, an analysis of data from the US immigration department showed. According to data from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, in April-September 2024 period, out of the total 1.3 lakh H-1B visas issued to different employers, about 24,766 visas were issued to Indian-origin companies.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has entered into a partnership with the Startup Policy Forum (SPF), a premier industry organisation representing India's leading new-age companies.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has projected retail inflation at 4.2 percent for the next financial year beginning April while retaining the forecast for 2024-25 at 4.8 percent. The central bank attributed the expected easing of inflation to good kharif production, winter-easing in vegetable prices and favorable rabi crop prospects. However, the RBI also noted that continued uncertainty in global financial markets coupled with volatility in energy prices and adverse weather events presents upside risks to the inflation trajectory.
'The brand, the team, and the people have to make the transition from playing league matches to Test matches.'
Sebi is looking at introducing a system where an investor can sell shares as soon as they are allotted in an Initial Public Offering (IPO) to curb grey market activity, chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch said on Tuesday. The chief of the capital markets regulator also announced that the top two proxy advisory firms are on the verge of launching a portal which will be a repository of related party transactions and will be useful in judging the governance standards in a company for any stakeholder.
As Trade Minister Anand Sharma resists the WTO's attempts to nix India's food security initiative, Rediff.com's Uttam Ghosh offers his perspective.
Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com offers his take on the split between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena.
Deductions missed in Form 16 can still be claimed while filing ITR.
Uttam Ghosh compares the two events -- the labour ministry's ignorance and a young intellectual's incarceration -- and is mystified as many Indians are by what occurred.
Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com offers his unique perspective on the Patel agitation and the reservation issue.
Who will win the ugly war within the Samajwadi Party's ruling family? Who will emerge victorious in the unlikely battle at Bombay House, the Tatas HQ?
Call it bad luck or sheer irony, Ravindra Jadeja was part of three Indian Premier League franchises that were mired in controversy. Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com looks at the lighter side of things
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) withdrew Rs 14,790 crore ($1.8 billion) from financial stocks in the first half of August, driven by global risk aversion sparked by US recession fears. Additional factors contributing to the decline in banking stocks included subdued earnings growth in the June quarter, concerns about slowing deposit growth, and stricter liquidity norms imposed by the Reserve Bank of India.
'While investors believe in India's long-term growth story and resilience amid global uncertainty, they see near-term risks around the direction of a global trade war.'
Asset management companies launched 239 new fund offerings (NFOs) mobilising Rs 1.18 lakh crore in 2024, with sectoral or thematic equity funds emerging as the top choice of investors, according to a report by Germinate Investor Services Research. This was higher than 212 NFOs collecting Rs 63,854 crore in 2023 and 228 NFOs garnering Rs 62,187 crore in 2022.
The new business premium (NBP) of life insurance companies dropped 21.7 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 30,218.71 crore in December 2024 on the back of a steep fall in business. According to data published by the Life Insurance Council, LIC's premium dropped 41.15 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 13,523.87 crore while private insurers reported 7 per cent growth in NBP to Rs 16,694.85 crore as the industry absorbs the impact of the revised surrender value norms.
Gross GST collections grew 8.5 per cent to over Rs 1.82 lakh crore in November on account of increased sales spurred by the festive season.
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.
Investors should tilt their portfolios towards domestic-facing defensive sectors, which should help provide stability and shield them from geopolitical and tariff risks.
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.
The revised guidelines are aimed at curbing discretionary practices by field officers, especially the tendency to seek documents not mandated under the law.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) has asked at least 10 general and life insurance companies to submit a detailed road map for their listing strategies by the end of this month, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the matter. "The regulator met four life and six general insurers last month and asked them to provide their listing strategies by the end of February," said one of the sources.
Equity markets will take cues from the US tariff related developments, global trends and trading activity of foreign investors this week, analysts said.
The rate of unemployment in the country, measured in monthly term, rose to 5.6 per cent in May from 5.1 per cent in April this year mainly due to seasonal variation, showed the government data released on Monday.
Corporate earnings from blue-chips like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Donald Trump's swearing-in as the US President, and trading activity of foreign investors are the key factors to drive equity markets this week, analysts said. Trump will be sworn in as the US president for a second term on Monday. This week, several key Nifty-50 companies, including BPCL, HDFC Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Dr Reddy's, UltraTech Cement, JSW Steel and ICICI Bank are scheduled to announce their financial results.
'Right now, silver -- and especially platinum -- are very cheap compared to gold. If I were buying today, I would choose platinum.'
Uttam Ghosh offers his take on the decisions of airlines banning stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra for his alleged heckling television journalist Arnab Goswami aboard a flight on Tuesday.
Uttam Ghosh joins the vociferous debate on the Indian Citizen's Right to Privacy with his unique perspective on the issue.
Foreign direct investment in India jumped 47.8 per cent to $16.17 billion in April-June this fiscal on healthy inflows in services, computer, telecom and pharma sectors, according to government data. FDI inflows were at $10.94 billion in April-June 2023-24. The data showed that overseas inflows in May rose to $5.85 billion and in June to $5.41 billion from $2.67 billion and $3.16 billion, respectively, in the year-ago period.
The Indian economy is expected to be "a little weaker" in 2025 despite steady global growth, IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva has said. Georgieva also said she expects quite a lot of uncertainty in the world this year mainly around the trade policy of the US. In her annual media roundtable with a group of reporters on Friday, she said global growth is expected to be steady in 2025, but with regional divergence.
Purchase health insurance early while you are disease-free. 'It might become very difficult to get a comprehensive health cover for someone who has already had cancer.'
ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, NTPC, JSW Steel, State Bank of India and Adani Ports were the other big gainers. Asian Paints, Nestle, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Hindustan Unilever, Infosys and ITC were the other big laggards.
The Centre on Wednesday increased the Dearness Allowance (DA) by 3 percentage points effective from July 1 this year, benefitting more than 1 crore employees and pensioners ahead of the Diwali festival. The Union Cabinet has approved to increase Dearness Allowance (DA) to central government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners by three percentage points of the basic pay/pension ahead of Diwali, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said after the Cabinet meeting.
Alternative investment funds (AIFs) - investment vehicles favoured by the affluent - have topped $50 billion (Rs 4.3 trillion) in total investments for the first time during the April-June quarter, according to the latest data from the Securities and Exchange Board of India. The industry's commitments have approached Rs 12 trillion ($140 billion), marking a 40 per cent increase over the past year. The amount raised and deployed stood at Rs 4.74 trillion ($56 billion) and Rs 4.32 trillion ($51 billion), respectively, the data shows.
Macroeconomic data announcements, global trends and trading activity of foreign investors would be the major driving factors for the equity markets this week, according to analysts.
Shares worth over Rs 50,000 crore (or approximately $6 billion) are set to become freely tradable between now and April 10. Historically, such substantial volumes have been absorbed by a buoyant block-deal market.
Investor confidence in value mutual funds remains robust, with the category witnessing an inflow of Rs 1,556 crore in January, indicating a shift in their focus towards fundamentally strong yet undervalued stocks.
In Debasish Panda's last board meeting as chairperson of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai), the regulator approved the "R2" licence for Kamlesh Goyal and Prem Watsa-backed Value Attics Reinsurance, making it the first private-sector Indian reinsurer after GIC Re, the public-sector reinsurer. "The authority reviewed and approved the R2 application of Value Attics Reinsurance, making it the first private-sector reinsurer after GIC Re, the public-sector reinsurer.