'Applying AI to change the lives of Indians and at population scale -- just like we did with DPI [digital public infrastructure] -- is really where it's going to go.'
Commercial banks in India recorded their highest credit growth in two years, accelerating to 18.6 per cent year-on-year by June 27, while also mobilising nearly 7 trillion in deposits, marking the third-highest fortnightly deposit growth in 29 years.
Indian benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty extended their winning streak to a fourth consecutive day, driven by strong buying in blue-chip bank stocks and a decline in global crude oil prices. Fresh foreign fund inflows also contributed to the optimistic sentiment in the domestic equity market.
The Enforcement Directorate has frozen bank deposits of the Trinamool Congress worth Rs 440 crore under the anti-money laundering law. This action follows searches in a funds misappropriation case, with allegations of significant transfers to a private aviation company and the purchase of luxury aircraft.
Meghalaya has shown significant progress in digital transactions and financial inclusion, recording 32.76 crore digital transactions and nearly 10 lakh Jan Dhan accounts by 2025-26. Efforts like the JAM Trinity and financial literacy programmes have expanded banking access, with a high percentage of bank account holders adopting digital modes. The next phase focuses on enhancing financial literacy and cyber resilience, especially in rural areas.
The Enforcement Directorate has attached assets worth approximately Rs 112.90 crore, including a residential property in Texas, USA, in a money-laundering case. The case involves a Noida-based air-conditioner components manufacturer, LEEL Electricals Limited, and its promoters, accused of defrauding a consortium of banks led by SBI of Rs 376 crore through manipulated financial statements and siphoning off funds.
AI4Bharat at IIT Madras and Josh Talks AI have launched 'Voice of India', a multimodal AI evaluation platform designed to assess AI systems against Indian conditions, languages, accents, and dialects. This platform aims to provide scientifically rigorous, India-specific evaluations, covering areas like Voice AI, large language models, document processing, safety, cultural appropriateness, and Indian legal reasoning, to build trust and enable informed deployment decisions.
"With the leverage available, I believe the scheme remains reasonably attractive," said P D Singh, India and South Asia Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered Bank, regarding the Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Bank) or FCNR (B) deposits.
India's banking system liquidity has fallen into a deficit for the first time in nearly three months, prompting the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to inject 1.41 trillion through a seven-day variable rate repo (VRR) auction to ease the temporary tightness.
Air India has announced the appointment of Tewolde Gebremariam, former CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Group, as its new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, replacing Campbell Wilson. This strategic appointment comes as the airline navigates expansion amidst significant challenges.
India's foreign exchange reserves increased by USD 964 million to USD 675.157 billion in the week ending July 10, according to the Reserve Bank of India.
Public-sector banks (PSBs) have reported a substantial increase in non-interest income for Q1FY27, primarily driven by the sale of Priority Sector Lending Certificates (PSLCs) backed by their rapidly expanding gold loan portfolios. This strategy has allowed several lenders to book significant profits by exceeding priority sector lending targets.
RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra announced plans to launch long-lasting polymer currency notes by the next financial year. He also discussed the central bank's data-dependent approach to interest rates, its focus on aligning inflation with the 4 per cent target, and the orderly trajectory of the rupee amidst geopolitical tensions.
The asymmetry in deposit and credit growth is the biggest challenge before the Indian banking industry. For every 100 deposit that a bank mobilises, it needs to keep 3 with the banking regulator in the form of cash reserve ratio on which it doesn't earn any interest. Another 18 is used for buying government bonds (statutory liquidity ratio). This means, a bank is left with 79 for giving credit. Add to this, its capital which can be used for giving loans. Most banks are facing a fund crunch. They need to find ways to attract deposits if they want to sustain credit growth, explains Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
State Bank of India (SBI) reported a 13.73 per cent increase in its June quarter consolidated net profit, reaching Rs 24,113 crore, primarily due to improved core income and a decline in provisions for non-performing assets.
Indian benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, saw early gains driven by lower crude oil prices and buying in Reliance Industries, even as the Reserve Bank of India maintained its benchmark policy rate for the fourth consecutive meeting, reinforcing confidence in the domestic economy.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has maintained its benchmark policy rate at 5.25 per cent for the fourth consecutive meeting, prioritising clarity on inflation trends, particularly concerning energy costs and geopolitical developments.
LIC is the only brand in the Brand Finance India 100 2026 report that has a top five rank in both brand value and brand strength.
The Payments Council of India has confirmed that Unified Payments Interface (UPI) services will continue to be free for consumers and small merchants, despite a recent Lok Sabha Bill. This clarification addresses concerns about potential charges, emphasising that while a sustainable financial model for UPI infrastructure is being developed, transaction charges will not be passed on to users or small businesses.
The BCCI on Monday invited bids for the title sponsorship rights for its domestic and international home events, with the current agreement with IDFC FIRST Bank nearing the end of its tenure.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the implementation date for its revised loan recovery and agent engagement directions to January 1, 2027, from the previously proposed October 1, 2026, following stakeholder feedback.
Despite aggressive expansion, India's solar power sector faces significant hurdles from rising regional disparities in installed capacity and a looming manufacturing glut due to overcapacity in domestic solar equipment production, potentially leading to consolidation and pricing pressures.
Inflows into foreign currency non-resident (bank), or FCNR (B), deposits have significantly underperformed market expectations, leading to a more than 1 per cent depreciation of the rupee against the dollar this week. Analysts point to fading RBI support measures, tepid interest due to rising global bond yields, and narrowing interest rate spreads compared to 2013 as key challenges.
The Reserve Bank of India's concessional swap facility, designed to boost foreign currency inflows, has successfully attracted USD 40.82 billion by July 31, 2026, with a significant portion coming from Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Bank) deposits.
Indian stock market indices closed on a mixed note, with the Sensex gaining 374 points driven by buying in Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank, while the Nifty remained flat. This divergence is attributed to a new Closing Auction Session (CAS) mechanism introduced by stock exchanges, impacting market liquidity and price discovery.
India's outward foreign direct investment (FDI) plummeted by 47.9 per cent year-on-year to $3 billion in June 2026, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), with declines across equity, debt, and guarantee commitments.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) maintained its key policy rates for the fourth consecutive time, keeping the repo rate at 5.25 per cent, while the benchmark BSE Sensex closed 152 points higher in a volatile session, recovering from an intraday dip.
A World Bank report highlights how Artificial Intelligence-powered weather forecasts have enabled small farmers in Telangana, India, to save up to USD 560 by adapting their farming practices to specific risks. The report, "The Promise of Artificial Intelligence," advocates for developing countries to rapidly adopt small, low-cost AI tools to enhance productivity, improve government services, and avoid missing out on the AI revolution.
The Reserve Bank of India has marginally increased its GDP forecast for the current fiscal to 6.7 per cent while slightly lowering the inflation projection to 5 per cent. The central bank noted that while domestic economic activity shows resilience, global turbulence, particularly re-escalating conflicts and volatile oil prices, continues to pose risks to the inflation outlook.
The Supreme Court has directed the Reserve Bank of India to prepare a standard operating procedure (SOP) within four weeks to deal with bank accounts linked to cyber frauds, including mule accounts. This directive is part of a broader effort to strengthen responses to cyber-enabled financial frauds, with the court also urging states and UTs to adopt and operationalise grievance redressal and money restoration modules.
Indian left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav has signed an eight-game deal with Yorkshire for the ongoing English county season, participating in both the Metro Bank One Day Cup and the Rothesay County Championship. Concurrently, uncapped Indian all-rounder Ashutosh Sharma made an impressive debut for Hampshire, taking three wickets in a one-day match against Yorkshire.
That means making it easier to invest, protecting investors through predictable rules, and avoiding policy reversals after investments have been made, notes Rajeswari Sengupta.
Gold futures saw a significant rise for the second consecutive day, driven by strong overseas market rallies, increased safe-haven demand due to geopolitical uncertainties, and a weaker US dollar. This surge coincided with the Reserve Bank of India's decision to maintain its repo rate, reflecting a focus on growth amidst global inflation concerns and easing oil prices.
A bipartisan group of US Senators has agreed to fast-track a bill allowing the President to impose sanctions on major purchasers of oil from Russia and Iran. This legislation, known as the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, aims to restrict funding for Russia's war efforts and Iran's energy and weapons sectors, potentially impacting countries like China and India through tariffs and other restrictions.
Emirates NBD Bank has successfully acquired a 60 per cent majority stake in RBL Bank through a primary capital infusion of approximately USD 2.75 billion, marking the largest foreign direct investment in India's banking sector.
Moody's Analytics predicts India will remain the fastest-growing major economy in 2026 and 2027, but its pace will moderate due to a global slowdown, geopolitical risks, and financial market volatility, despite the boost from AI demand.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is widely expected to keep its benchmark repo rate unchanged in the August monetary policy review, with economists citing elevated inflation risks and the pending closure of the FCNR(B) deposit scheme as key factors. Most anticipate a 'Neutral' policy stance but with a hawkish tone due to geopolitical tensions, high crude oil prices, and an uneven monsoon.
"Our endeavour is to bring headline inflation in line with the target over the medium term," said RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra, addressing concerns about the central bank's policy stance and economic outlook.
India's foreign exchange reserves increased by USD 7.26 billion to USD 674.193 billion for the week ending July 3, as reported by the Reserve Bank of India. This surge follows a previous week's drop and comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeals to conserve forex.
Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata group, continues to be classified as an 'upper-layer non-banking financial company' (NBFC) by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), despite its application to deregister as an NBFC-Core Investment Company (CIC) remaining under consideration. This classification subjects it to enhanced regulation and a mandatory listing requirement, which remains uncertain.
