For the startup ecosystem in India, the scorecard so far has been a mixed bag, observes Akhil Gupta.
Upcoming payment banks will lift lower income groups in distant villages.
This was among the few times that TCS had to deploy rapid application development mode, which means changes in the application happen on-the-go.
The poor and unbanked can take their rightful place as consumers of financial services only if the Modi government encourages different entities to advance the financial inclusion agenda, say Vikram Gandhi & Chandni Ohri.
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.
More companies with unconventional business models to get into messy legal hassles in India.
Funding winter and corporate governance woes separated the men from the boys in the country's startup space in 2023 that saw funds into the segment tapering to just around $8 billion. All said, investors are hopeful of strong growth of the maturing startup ecosystem in the new year. Edtech and health tech segments that grew exponentially during the pandemic plunged into an abyss of financial uncertainties, with several firms shuttering their business, and valuation of prominent players like BYJU'S and PharmEasy plummeting 85-90 per cent.
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.
Mudra Bank will be a Rs 20,000-crore institution, which would "primarily be responsible for refinancing all micro-finance institutions.
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.
This will be done across five cities - Delhi, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Bhopal, and Shillong. Thereafter, it will be scaled up and launched in 100 cities over a period of six months, said a senior government official.
When Vineet Mittal first got into solar power, sometime around 2009, and was planting solar panels in Gujarat, renewable energy looked like a sector ripe for startups. Renewables were clearly the future of energy, and the big boys - Mukesh Ambani's Reliance, Adani Group, and the Tatas - were focusing much more on coal and petroleum. Little did Mittal know that things were going to change drastically.
The Competition Commission of India has approved Tatas' proposal to acquire up to 64.3 per cent stake in BigBasket, a deal that will provide the diversified group a strong foothold in the fast-growing online grocery market.
'As our per capita income increases and various demographic segments emerge, the need for various kinds of protection and risk covers will become even more explicit.'
Companies are looking for an engaging hook, and sound is universally seen as a big emotional connector, finds Nikhat Hetavkar.
Chanda Kochhar is among the three Indians in Time's Most Influential list.
Office building should face north, north-east or north-west direction as it brings good luck and positive energy.
The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has proposed key exemptions to the current listing framework and measures for setting up holding companies (holdcos) and special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) to encourage domestic startups list at GIFT City, the country's only international financial services centre (IFSC). Under the current framework, to be eligible to list on IFSC exchanges, an issuing company should have operating revenue of at least $20 million in the preceding financial year and average pre-tax profits of at least $1 million during the preceding three financial years. An expert committee has noted these conditions have acted as hurdles to listing new-age companies, and they need a relook.
With the Swiss government showing eagerness to help India trace suspected black money hoarders, banks based in Switzerland appear to be losing traction among the wealthy Indian clients and could not get much business commitments during the just-ended WEF summit.
The proposed Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) to be issued by the Reserve Bank will play a critical role in improving the speed of transactions and reducing the cost of cash, a Deloitte report said on Wednesday. The Reserve Bank of India is planning to come out with a central bank-backed digital currency, using blockchain technology in 2022-23. As a financial services innovation, CBDCs are likely to play a pivotal role in shaping the 'future of value transfer', the report said, adding that most central banks worldwide are now in various stages of their evaluation of launching their national digital currencies.
The leaders said trade ties were still fragile
Information technology major Infosys and Liberty Global, a London-based telecom firm, signed a 1.5 billion (about $1.64 billion) deal for five years to evolve and scale up the telco's digital entertainment and connectivity platforms, the companies said in a joint statement on Tuesday. As part of the expanded collaboration agreement, the size of the contract will touch 2.3 billion (about $2.5 billion) if extended to 8 years. The collaboration allows Liberty Global to realise run-rate savings of over 100 million (about $109 million) per annum, inclusive of other savings and technology investments, Infosys said in a statement.
The Union Budget on Wednesday outlined several initiatives to drive India's technology agenda and boost digital infrastructure, including new centres of excellence for artificial intelligence, National Data Governance Policy, and Entity DigiLocker.
Snapdeal has been on the deal street for raising fresh funds in order to muscle up for the growing competition in e-commerce.
'I want to leave behind the bank stronger and better than when I took over.'
Modi and Albanese also reiterated their shared ambition for an early conclusion of the ambitious Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) that is expected to significantly expand bilateral trade ties.
While the market for satellite broadband currently is small, the potential is large as an estimated 30 per cent of the country does not have reliable terrestrial broadband services.
NavIC consists of a constellation of seven satellites and a network of ground stations and is touted to be more accurate than GPS.
They straddle many different (non-financial) lines of business with sometimes opaque overarching governance structures.
The credit guarantee cover under the scheme would be both transaction-based (for single eligible borrowers) and umbrella-based (for a group of eligible borrowers).
'Saying that Snapdeal is not doing well is beyond premature. Suggesting that someone has won or lost is myopic.'
As an entrepreneur the most important quality you have to have is that all consuming passion to become an entrepreneur.
'Continue with your SIPs to get the benefit of lower average prices in this challenging market environment.'
In a proposal to FinMin, the Banks Board Bureau suggests asset sales to PSUs within a deadline to recover bad loans.
State Bank of India (SBI) on Tuesday announced the launch of its first "state-of-the-art" dedicated branch for start-ups in the country here, to facilitate and support them. The branch launched by SBI chairman Dinesh Khara is located in Koramangala, which alongside neighbouring HSR Layout and Indiranagar are the biggest start-up hubs in the city. "...overall we are in a position to provide end-to-end services to start-ups, with that in mind this particular start-up branch is the first start-up branch we are starting, from the capital city of start-ups- Bengaluru.
India's sprawling digital public infrastructure received a glowing endorsement from billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates on Wednesday as he praised the country's "great" digital network, reliable and low-cost connectivity, and said this will be the cheapest 5G market. Under the G20 presidency of India, a session on 'Building resilient and inclusive economies- the Promise of Digital Public Infrastructure' was held on Wednesday in New Delhi, where the Microsoft co-founder spoke of India's digital identity Aadhaar, its payment infrastructure, and rapid strides that the country has taken in bringing more people into formal banking system. "India in particular, by laying the groundwork for digital public infrastucture starting with identity system, allows people to build on top of that.
India is on track to register its entire 1.25 billion population using its Aadhaar digital ID.
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