In the backdrop of cement players refusing to cut prices, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday asked India Inc to look beyond their balance-sheets and play a role in helping the government ensure macro economic stability.
From offering office premises that can be converted into isolation wards to earmarking funds to be used for procuring kits, ventilators as well as personal protective equipment for health care workers, India Inc has put a united front to combat the unprecedented crisis facing the country.
Anil Agarwal breaks into big three; Anil Ambani group out of top 10; Essar, Adani lose out to JSW, Shiv Nadar & Motherson Sumi
Corporate India's net profit as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) dipped in the 2022-23 financial year (FY23) -- after rebounding sharply in FY22 -- amid a decline in global commodity prices. Top 500 companies' combined net profit stood at 4.1 per cent of the GDP for FY23, down from 4.3 per cent in the previous financial year when it had gone up from just 3.5 per cent in FY21. "The year-on-year (YoY) decline was led by global commodities, which contributed adversely to the ratio, while the financial sector contributed positively.
This was even as the country's economy grew by 7.3%.
The combined dividend payout by early-bird companies -- those that have declared their results for FY21 -- is up 8.9 per cent, lower than the 21.9 per cent rise in in FY20 but ahead of the underlying growth in India Inc business last year. Combined net sales of these early birds were down 1.8 per cent last financial year while net profit was up 27.3 per cent in FY21. Some top companies that have stepped up dividend payout in FY21 include Hindustan Unilever, Indus Towers, Tata Steel, Ultratech Cement, Larsen & Toubro, Dabur, Asian Paints, and UPL. In contrast, banks have skipped dividends under an RBI diktat while companies such as Marico, TCS, Maruti Suzuki, and Godrej Consumer are paying lower dividends for FY21.
India Inc's hiring activity was up 17 per cent in February with telecom and auto sectors leading the rebound, a report by leading job portal Naukri.com said.
The move to ban Rs 500 and 1000 notes may not curb the root cause of black money.
Prices of key inputs up 44% to 74%; analysts expect earnings squeeze after a quarter or two.
"The package addresses a wide range and should hopefully give boost to the slowing economy," said Amit Mitra, secretary general, FICCI. The chamber expected the government to review the impact of these measures and fine tune policies on a continuous basis. "We further hope that these measures would be followed by a series of measures as we go along and as the situation demands."
India's mergers & acquisitions (M&As) market recorded deals worth $45.44 billion in the first half of 2025, up nearly 3.3 per cent from a year ago, even as ultra large-ticket transactions remained subdued. During the first half, the 7.1 per cent rise in deal count to 1,614 signals continuing appetite among domestic conglomerates and private equity (PE) funds for mid-sized and smaller assets.
Exit polls have a way of going horribly wrong, as they did in 2004. And India Inc is hoping it stays that way this time, too. That's because industry is concerned that the fractured verdict predicted by various media channels on Thursday would mean continued uncertainty on the economic policy initiatives that need to be taken up on a war-footing.
A survey showed as much as 95 per cent of CEOs and MDs were against Sebi's mandatory guidelines the company's to declare their quarterly performance, Assocham said in a statement.
Law minister clears Sebi's regulation on put and call options.
Modern Indian women have come a long way from playing the stereotypical role of a housewife to donning the roles of CEOs in leading Indian and foreign companies.
'Increasing spends will lower project deferrals and protect project budgets'
If financials and oil sectors were removed, India Inc has done quite well.
India Inc's hiring activity picked up by 1.3 per cent in July with improvement in recruitment in IT, real estate and retail sectors, says a survey by job portal Naukri.com.
India Inc seems to be doing a good job of protecting investors' interests following a crackdown by the market regulator earlier this year, as the number of complaints relating to non-receipt of refunds and allotment letters have nearly halved.
Legal fees in such cases can go up to Rs 5 crore.
India Inc gave a thumbs up to the UPA-II's last Union Budget before the general elections next year and said Finance Minister P Chidambaram presented a "bold" and "growth-oriented" Budget.
The Business Confidence Index formulated by NCAER stood at a seven-year low of 91.4 points in January 2009, plummeting 41 per cent compared to a year ago period. On a quarterly basis, the index lost 24 per cent compared to October 2008. 'This (BCI) is the lowest since January 2002,' the NCAER said in its quarterly review of the business expectations survey. It said the slowdown in the markets appears to be a leading factor in influencing the fall in business expectations.
Corporate India is joining the AIDS battle.
The slowdown is showing on the balance-sheet. During the quarter ended March 2008, India Inc reported the lowest net profit growth in the last nine quarters, after the state-owned oil marketing and power companies declared poor results.
With political uncertainty reaching a new high, India Inc gets more anxious.
India Inc has suffered a massive loss of over Rs 43,000 crore (Rs 430 billion), in the recently concluded financial year due to non-availability and mismanagement of power, a study says.
Gandhi's remarks came on a day it emerged that the Election Commission has formally written to him on his allegations of rigging in the 2024 Maharashtra polls, saying all polls held by the poll panel strictly as per laws passed by Parliament and rules, and the entire exercise involves thousands of personnel, including booth-level agents appointed by political parties.
'This has become a necessity now to kick start the investment cycle'
The Railway Budget was a mixed bag for India Inc with industry bodies cautioning that the hike in freight charges will fuel inflation, while other chambers said some proposals if implemented could set the growth multiplier in motion.
India Inc has projected a better performance in the next six months on the back of a booming economy.\n\n
India Inc has lost all the gains of the current fiscal in its market value with a depreciation of close to Rs 2 trillion (about $50 billion) on Monday amid a fall of over 500 points in the benchmark Sensex in less than six hours of the day's trading.
Even the best of government policies rarely satisfy the corporate sector. So, it is perhaps surprising that the year 2006 saw a scheme over which all business houses -- big and small alike -- were falling head over heels.
As India Inc steps up the gas to expand in the global arena, it faces the risk of stumbling on frauds, the levels of which were far higher compared to global levels, according to international consulting firm Ernst and Young.
A study after the 2001 Gujarat earthquake had rated the industry's rehabilitation efforts as "poor".
The resurgence in confidence in Indian manufacturing was borne out by many examples of Indian companies going global.
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