Walmart-owned digital payments app Phonepe on Thursday said it has raised $350 million at a valuation of $12 billion in a funding round led by private equity firm General Atlantic. "Marquee Global and Indian investors are also participating in the round," PhonePe said in a statement adding the investment marks the first tranche of an up to $1 billion total fundraise that commenced in January 2023. The fundraise follows PhonePe's recently announced change of domicile to India and full separation from Flipkart.
Purchase health insurance at an early age, before you incur a disease, as this makes access to health insurance difficult and raises the premium significantly.
The Reserve Bank of India has formulated strategic polices to enhance growth in banking sector.
"I would like to resign as an independent director of the bank with effect from January 27, 2020. Given an entity owned and controlled by me has made an application to the RBI for a universal banking license, I felt it was -- in the interest of propriety and corporate governance -- only appropriate that I stepped down from this role," Bansal said in his resignation letter, which was disclosed by Ujjivan SFB in the regulatory filing.
In a remarkable comeback, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have pumped Rs 1.7 lakh crore into the Indian equity markets in 2023, propelled by confidence in the country's robust economic fundamentals amid a challenging global landscape. The year 2023 has witnessed massive investment by FPIs, thanks to the sharp uptick in inflows of Rs 66,134 crore in December. Going forward, FPI flows are expected to be robust.
Amid intense scrutiny from short-sellers and regulators, Adani group stocks have seen a significant shift in their shareholder base: Relatively opaque foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have given way to more recognisable investors and broad-based funds. The list of large public shareholders - those directly holding at least 1 per cent - is now dominated by entities, such as the state-owned Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), US-based GQG Partners, Abu Dhabi-based International Holding Company, and Qatar Investment Authority's INQ Holding.
State Bank of India (SBI) wants to extend its footprint to 11,943 unbanked villages, with a population of at least 2,000, this financial year. The country's largest lender recently submitted its plan to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
There was an improvement in the eighties to an average of 5.6 per cent per annum. When even moderate growth became unsustainable, and there was a threat of collapse, India made a decisive shift in 1991.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said his government is using all channels including diplomatic to bring back high-profile economic offenders, leaving them with no option but to return to the country. Speaking at a symposium on credit flow and economic growth, he asked banks to support wealth and job creators with proactive lending while promising to stand by any loans given in right earnest. "In our attempt to bring back fugitive (economic offenders), we relied on policies and law and also used diplomatic channels.
What some of our leaders were up to on Monday and Tuesday.
Actively managed debt funds with the flexibility to go long on duration made a strong comeback on the returns chart in 2023, thanks to softening bond yields. The average one-year returns of floater, long-duration, gilt, and dynamic bond funds, which ranged between 2.3 per cent and 4.5 per cent at the end of 2022, now stand at over 7.2 per cent, with some schemes delivering over 8.5 per cent, according to data from Value Research. Debt fund returns are inversely related to yields of underlying investments, meaning a decline in yields is positive for funds.
.jpg)
During his last visit to India, Khosla had said the focus of Khosla Labs would be to fund innovations around Aadhaar.
'When manufacturing or even services cannot generate the kind of employment they are looking for, they prefer to be unemployed rather than under-employed.'
A healthy track record and 17 years of experience in financial services would be the key strengths of Edelweiss Financial Services in setting up a bank, says chairman and chief executive officer Rashesh Shah, in an interview with Business Standard.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the India-US Startup Konnect and share his vision on 'Start up India, Stand up India' as part of his US visit later this month.
The government plans to transfer all subsidies including food, fertiliser and kerosene, potentially taking direct payments to more than $60 billion.
'Investors with higher risk appetite and longer horizon (more than one year) can invest in longer-duration funds like corporate bond funds, long-duration funds and gilt funds for maximum gain.'
The apex bank has come out with a discussion paper on entry of new private banks to broaden the reach of banking in the country.
Bandhan Financial Services, which is to start banking operations soon, has received a combined equity commitment of Rs 1,600 crore (Rs 16 billion) from International Finance Corp (IFC) and GIC, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund.
'We are cautious only on sub-sectors that have seen massive melt-up during the past six months.'
"Have just got the good news that due to the hard work of our teams and your cooperation, a consensus has been reached on New Delhi G20 Leaders Summit Declaration," Modi said while addressing the second session of the Summit at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.
The niche banks - small finance and payments banks -have been set up to further the regulator's objective of deepening financial inclusion.
"In response to India's payments data circular, we've built a system that stores payments-related data locally in India," WhatsApp spokesperson said in a statement.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have withdrawn over Rs 12,000 crore from Indian equities this month so far, mainly due to a sustained rise in US bond yields and the uncertain environment resulting from the Israel-Hamas conflict. However, the story takes an intriguing turn on observing FPI activity in Indian debt as they have infused over Rs 5,700 crore into the debt market during the period under review, data with the depositories showed. Going ahead, the trajectory of FPIs' investments in India will be influenced not only by global inflation and interest rate dynamics but also by the developments and intensity of the Israel-Hamas conflict, Himanshu Srivastava, associate director - manager research, Morningstar Investment Adviser India, said.
In a bid to step up financial inclusion, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has permitted all business correspondents (BCs) or representative of any one particular bank to conduct business for other banks as well.
Contributions to mutual fund schemes through systematic investment plans or SIPs remain unfazed from the market volatility in 2022 with inflow growing to Rs 1.5 lakh crore in 2022, a surge of 31 per cent from a year earlier, due to higher retail participation. In comparison, an inflow of Rs 1.14 lakh crore through the route was registered in 2021 and Rs 97,000 crore in 2020, data with the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) showed. Going ahead, SIP numbers are expected to continue to remain strong in 2023 as investors are increasingly appreciating the importance of regular investing through the route, Kaustubh Belapurkar, director - manager research at Morningstar Investment Adviser India, said.
Banks now ride on what is defined as a "banking outlet". This is a fixed-point service unit, manned by either the bank's staff or its business correspondent (BC), where all kinds of services - acceptance of deposits, encashment of cheques, cash withdrawal or lending of money - are provided for a minimum of four hours per day, for at least five days a week. Banks are now turning to reposition the manner in which they acquire customers, report Abhijit Lele and Raghu Mohan.
The challenge for the RBI in 2024 is likely to be less about containing elevated inflation and more about curbing excessive financial market exuberance and a 'problem of plenty', notes Sajjid Chinoy, Chief India Economist JP Morgan.
Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday lashed out at opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties over Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Udhayanidhi Stalin's remarks against 'Sanatan Dharma', accusing them of insulting 'Sanatan Dharma' for votebank and appeasement politics.
RBI's licensing norms require a bank to bring down promoter holding to 40 % within 3 years of operation - which, for Bandhan Bank, will be by Aug 23
Ajay Banga will be a 'transformative leader', who will bring expertise, experience, and innovation to the position of World Bank President, United States President Joe Biden has said after the top Indian-American business executive was confirmed as the new head of the international lender.
The RBI Governor had earlier cautioned the banks on the risks involved in just hunting for numbers, asking them not to compromise on core objectives of the programme.
Raghuram Rajan has appointed him as head of several committees soon after taking charge.
The venture is applying to the Reserve Bank of India for approvals.
Echoing similar views, CII too said the Prime Minister has given high importance to manufacturing and investment.
The RBI has created a stunted business model by which payment banks are supposed to shoulder the noble objective of financial inclusion without being able to make much money.
The decision of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to allow banks to engage companies with large retail outlets as business correspondents has the potential to change the future of financial inclusion and branch banking in India.
IMF MD Christine Lagarde hailed the government's latest Budget.
There are allegations that MFIs are charging exorbitant interest rates and using strong-arm tactics to recover the loans.
Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been invited to join the grouping.
