'Flush with funds, lending became a cash management exercise.' 'Road projects, power generation plants, airports etc were financed left and right with apparently no regard for the projects' ability to repay,' explains S Muralidharan, former managing director, BNP Paribas.
It is a pity that he does not take his youth influencer role more seriously and align his brand endorsements more responsibly, notes Kanika Datta.
Check the Fortune 500 listings, and you will find that the largest companies in the world tend to be in five or six key businesses: energy, automobiles, telecom, IT, banking and retailing.
Happily, it does not require the world to hold a mirror up for us. We can look at ourselves and understand easily if we choose to be honest about where we find ourselves three quarters of a century after Independence, asserts Aakar Patel.
The Indian rupee, which has depreciated 1.1 per cent so far in August, is expected to decline further on the back of a strengthening US dollar and a weakening Chinese yuan, according to a Business Standard poll of analysts. The Indian rupee hit an all-time low recently, closing at 83.15 per dollar. Five of the 10 respondents said the Indian currency might touch 83.5 per dollar in August itself, while others said the worst could be over.
Stating some consolidation in the banking system was inevitable, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday said India must have two or three world size banks.
India's huge digital prowess and potential will play a huge role in enabling digital lending, says Romita Majumdar.
'Whatever else may or may not happen, China and its people are likely to pay a very heavy price for the lack of transparency of its Communist regime,' predicts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
With the spate of businesses turning their attention to Ayodhya, land rates have shot up, in some pockets by as much as 10 times. Whether one walks into a hotel lobby or sits down for a meal, land deals are being discussed at every other table -- one on one or among groups.
North Block is concerned that when India is trying to attract more investment, putting up restrictions on audit firms could create an avoidable bad advertisement.
Don't be surprised if growth in the second half of the financial year drops below 4%, which is where it was in the year before the pandemic, warns T N Ninan.
PEs and VCs are taking a closer look at their bouquet of investments. Leading voices in the sector are categorical that cash-burn rates -- that's blowing up equity to acquire market share -- as a business model can't continue to be the polestar.
David Bedingham said it is a dream to score a hundred in front of friends and family as he owes them a lot.
Fitch Ratings on Wednesday cut India's growth forecast to 10 per cent for the current fiscal, from 12.8 per cent estimated earlier, due to slowing recovery post second wave of COVID-19, and said rapid vaccination could support a sustainable revival in business and consumer confidence. In a report, the global rating agency said the challenges for banking sector posed by the coronavirus pandemic have increased due to a virulent second wave in the first quarter of the financial year ending March 2022 (FY22). "Fitch Ratings revised down India's real GDP for FY22 by 280bp to 10 per cent, underlining our belief that renewed restrictions have slowed recovery efforts and left banks with a moderately worse outlook for business and revenue generation in FY22," it said. Fitch believes that rapid vaccination could support a sustainable revival in business and consumer confidence; however, without it, economic recovery would remain vulnerable to further waves and lockdowns.
A slew of Indian firms, including Flipkart, Byju's and Zomato, is building a path to profitability and diversifying into newer business segments ahead of mega-IPO plans.
'One way of doing this could be offering credit guarantee to the banks, say 10 per cent, for fresh loans given to micro, small and medium enterprises,' observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
A key government official involved in initiatives to make doing business in the country easier said improving the ranking to 50th in a year was not possible but the country could certainly do that over two years.
If a 5% to 10% fall in the equity market gives you sleepless nights, you are not cut out for a 75% to 80% allocation to equities and must reduce it.
Stating that open markets mean more opportunities, Modi said during the last six years the government has made many efforts to make the Indian economy more open and reform oriented.
Jeswin Aldrin, who had already qualified for the championships, however missed the cut.
Almost every country in the world just signed on to the #ParisAgreement on climate change
The evolving RBI-government relationship, a reversal in the interest rate cycle and return to profitability will dominate bankers' conversation this year, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
'Saying that Snapdeal is not doing well is beyond premature. Suggesting that someone has won or lost is myopic.'
Modi is keen to get more investments into Gujarat.
Noting that India has 'limitless possibilities and countless opportunities', Modi urged the BRICS business leaders to take advantage of them.
Discussions are on in government about how to make the process simpler for the poor and more cost-effective for telecom operators, says Subhomoy Bhattacharjee.
'The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code is neither beneficial to banks nor helpful for the borrower.' 'Genuine people who are caught in economic stagnation will lose everything and thousands will lose jobs.'
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd climbed two spots to No. 53 on Forbes' latest Global 2000 list of public companies worldwide. Forbes Global 2000 ranks the largest companies in the world using four metrics: sales, profits, assets and market value, Forbes said releasing the 2022 ranking of the world's top 2,000 companies. Reliance is the top-ranked Indian firm on the list, followed by State Bank of India at No. 105, HDFC Bank at No. 153 and ICICI Bank at No. 204.
'We will see a lot of investments from the private sector.' 'As long as we are not impacted by some global events, I think we will be in a strong place.'
In March this year, Worldline India launched Vabox (Voice Alert Box): merchants will now get instant audio alerts on the settlement of UPI (Unified Payments Interface) payments via QR codes in languages of their choice when customers check out. "They needn't worry whether the amount has been credited to their account," says Gulshan Pruthi, the firm's executive vice-president. The French payments giant will roll out 500,000 Vaboxes in the initial phase.
'With technology advancing rapidly, the need for branches is declining.'
Financial institutions are 300 times more vulnerable to cyberattacks than any other industry.
Tech Mahindra was the top loser in the Sensex pack, crashing over 9 per cent, followed by Kotak Bank, Axis Bank, TCS, Infosys and HUL. On the other hand, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finance and Titan were the gainers.
Haven't they heard about the 'Tale of Two Brothers'? asks Suveen Sinha.
In webcast address to India, Microsoft CEO says Azure seeing 'incredible' momentum here, with technology adaption racing in unprecedented ways.
India worked in close partnership with the World Bank to improve its position, says NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant.
The exploration and production assets of Essar Oil will not be part of the Rosneft deal and would continue to remain with the Group.
