Digital payments provider PhonePe has filed draft papers with markets regulator Sebi for its upcoming initial public offering (IPO) using the confidential pre-filing route. On Wednesday, the company's spokesperson said, "PhonePe Ltd has filed the Pre-filed Draft Red Herring Prospectus with Sebi and the stock exchanges, under...the Sebi ICDR Regulations in relation to the proposed initial public offering of its equity shares on the main board of the stock exchanges".
India's goods exports rebounded in July after two months of contraction, with outbound shipments rising 7.3 per cent to $37.24 billion, led by a surge in exports to the United States before the country's reciprocal tariff kicked in and bolstered by a recovery in exports to other key markets.
As AI deepfakes threaten star personas and commercial interests, celebrities approach the courts with personality rights petitions.
Companies like Flipkart, Amazon and Meesho as well as quick commerce ones like Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart may create hundreds of thousands of seasonal jobs for the coming festival season.
Zomato is at 5, Swiggy at 9, Blinkit at 10.
Zepto co-founder and CEO Aadit Palicha has accused the chief financial officer of a competing company of orchestrating a smear campaign against his quick commerce platform. In a LinkedIn post on late Sunday, Palicha, not taking names, alleged that the CFO of one of Zepto's competitor firms has been reaching out to Zepto's investors with unsubstantiated claims, distributing false financial data to journalists, and employing bots to spread negative narratives about Zepto on social media.
Food delivery aggregator Swiggy saw its loss widen for the fourth quarter (January-March) of financial year 2024-25 (Q4FY25). The firm reported a consolidated loss of Rs 1,081.1 crore for the quarter, compared to a loss of Rs 554.7 crore in the corresponding quarter of FY24.
In the hottest sector of AI, where most global VC funding is going currently, the country's record has not been anything to write home about.
Flipkart Group Chief Executive Kalyan Krishnamurthy on Monday said the firm was advancing preparations for a potential initial public offering (IPO) in India, which included shifting its holding company to India from Singapore. Speaking at an internal town hall, Krishnamurthy said the company's leadership structure is strengthening and that the steps toward relocating Flipkart's legal base to India are progressing as planned, according to people familiar with the matter.
'Regulatory challenges exist everywhere. What we look for is regulatory stability over time.'
'I do believe there will be a resolution in the next couple of months on the penal tariff and hopefully on the reciprocal tariff also.'
The IPO wave of 2025 is here, and it's bigger than ever. From fintech unicorns to financial powerhouses and infrastructure giants, some of India's biggest names are all set to make their stock market debut. PhonePe, Zepto, Tata Capital, NSE, NSDL, and JSW Cement are just a few of the highly awaited listings that have investors and analysts buzzing with excitement.
Logistics major Delhivery has had promising Q2FY25 results. The Q2FY25 consolidated revenue was Rs 2,190 crore (up 0.8 per cent quarter-on-quarter or Q-o-Q and 12.8 per cent year-on-year or Y-o-Y). Express parcel revenue was Rs 1,300 crore, (up 1.7 per cent Q-o-Q/7.3 per cent Y-o-Y) alongside better yield (+5 per cent Y-o-Y) in the segment.
Nepali students studying in India express anxiety and concern for their families back home amidst violent protests in Nepal, delaying travel plans and maintaining constant contact to ensure their safety.
The FMCG industry hopes for a revival in consumption growth in 2025 with some 'green shoots' already visible, after having a challenging year amid escalating input costs and a double-digit rise in food inflation, which ultimately slowed down the pace of the urban market growth in the second half of 2024. Soaring prices of commodities such as palm oil, coffee, cocoa and wheat forced FMCG players to go for a hike of 3 to 5 per cent or resort to shrinkflation by reducing pack sizes and grammage to retain attractive price points, fearing a volume loss.
India's Venture Capital (VC) ecosystem exhibited robust growth in 2024, with funding surging 43 per cent year-on-year to $13.7 billion, according to a report. This recovery was fuelled by a 45 per cent rise in deal activity, with 1,270 transactions recorded, reinforcing India's position as the second largest market for venture capital and growth funding in the Asia-Pacific region, the report by Bain & Company and IVCA said.
The volume growth of India's FMCG industry has slowed down in the March quarter to 5.1 per cent, driven by increased consumer purchases of small-value packs, according to the latest report from data analytics firm NielsenIQ. Volume growth is slowing across categories, and non-food segments are still outpacing food in the FMCG sector.
Hit by inflation, higher input costs and pricing measures, fast-moving consumer goods companies are expected to see a contraction in their gross margin and a modest-to-flat operating profit in the October-December quarter. Several FMCG makers are likely to log a low single-digit rise in their revenue, returning to the cycle of value-driven growth.
Qcom alone is expected to account for a 60 per cent surge in gig hiring, adding 1.5 million to 2 million roles.
Homegrown fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) major Dabur India is set to record low single-digit growth in consolidated revenue in the December quarter, it said in an update on Friday. The maker of Hajmola candy and Real fruit juice said rural consumption continued to be resilient and grow faster than urban in the third quarter.
Trade, defence cooperation and regional strategy had long formed the backbone of India-US ties, but the latest rift shows how quickly those pillars can be shaken by personal grievances and political optics.
'For tech fields like AI-DS, the US, Canada, UK, Germany and Australia are popular due to strong research and industry links', says rediffGURU Dr Karan Gupta.
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal's scathing remarks on Indian startup ecosystem and its innovation priorities have drawn sharp reaction from the industry, with Zepto CEO Aadit Palicha putting up a strong defence citing the company's contribution to jobs, FDI and terming it a "miracle in Indian innovation".
Something is cooking in online food delivery. After 15 years of grappling with the demands of the business - read cash burn - Gurugram-based Zomato reported its first profit in the first quarter of 2023-24 (FY24). Not satiated, it reported a profit in the following quarter as well: Of Rs 36 crore in the second quarter compared to Rs 2 crore in the first. A year ago, in the second quarter of FY23, it had reported a loss of Rs 251 crore.
Trump stated that Russia will face "severe economic consequences" if Putin doesn't show interest in de-escalating the Ukraine conflict.
In its highest ever reduction in seller fees, ecommerce giant Amazon India has introduced zero referral charges on over 12 million products on its platform that are priced below Rs 300. The move is aimed at boosting seller growth on Amazon.in and supporting hundreds of thousands small businesses across the country.
India's merchandise exports to the US rose by 16.93 per cent to $8.83 billion in May, while imports dipped by 5.76 per cent to $3.62 billion during the month, according to the commerce ministry data. During April-May, the country's exports to the US increased by 21.78 per cent to $17.25 billion, while imports rose by 25.8 per cent to $8.87 billion, the data showed.
Several food and grocery delivery firms witnessed their highest ever single-day orders on New Year eve, December 31. Zomato achieved a record-breaking number of orders on its app. The company carried out nearly as many orders on December 31 as the total for the equivalent day in the period from 2015 to 2020.
Trump reiterated that he is not negotiating on behalf of Ukraine, but rather aiming to bring the parties to the negotiating table.
Nearly 7 out of every 10 P2M UPI transactions take place in high frequency categories like groceries, restaurants, pharmacies, fuel service stations, bakeries and utility services such as electricity, gas, water and sanitation.
... catch up with Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto...
The stock of India's largest listed pure-play retail company, Avenue Supermarts (DMart), has slipped over 10 per cent from its monthly highs. A weak operational performance in the fourth quarter (January-March) of financial year 2024-25 (Q4FY25) and muted near-term outlook due to intense competitive pressures and higher costs could lead to downward momentum on the stock. While the stock dipped by 3.44 per cent in early trade on Monday, it recovered a bit to close 1.07 per cent lower at 4,017.
Food delivery app Swiggy on Wednesday launched a Rs 11,330-crore initial share sale, asking investors to take a pie of Indian middle class' rising propensity of online ordering. The company, which is present in over 650 cities and towns of the country, is launching the initial public offering (IPO) amid heightened concerns on urban demand slump, and the management stressed that it is unaffected by the broader trends in the economy. "We are also reading about it, but we are not seeing that yet in the business... So far, we have not seen the impact of demand on our business," its chief financial officer Rahul Bothra said.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has sought a meeting with quick-commerce (qcom) platforms like Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto on Tuesday to discuss issues regarding violations of food safety standards, according to sources familiar with the matter. This comes at a time when there have been issues raised about food safety standard violations by qcom platforms for packaged food products, including violations related to expiry and best before dates.
Quick commerce company Zepto has completed a reverse flip from Singapore to India to become an Indian parent's entity ahead of its proposed IPO. Its co-founder and CEO Aadit Palicha, in a post on LinkedIn, described it as a historic milestone for the Indian startup ecosystem and an inflection point that represents long-term confidence in the liquidity and depth of Indian capital markets.
Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies are expected to witness pressure on volumes in the October-December quarter. However, price hikes will help push up revenues, said brokerages.For India's largest engineering firm, Larsen and Toubro (L&T), the analysts expect a 20 per cent growth in consolidated revenue, and an 8.1 per cent core business Ebitda margin, up 40 bps from a year ago.
Marico reported consolidated revenue growth of 20 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) during the January-March quarter (Q4) of FY25. Domestic revenue surged 23 per cent Y-o-Y, while volume growth was 7 per cent. International growth stood at 11 per cent (16 per cent in constant currency growth).
'If Washington has to balance Chinese power, she will have to turn to the third biggest power in the world which is India.' 'The United States and India will have to work together in order to keep Chinese ambitions in check.'
India's internet economy is estimated to reach $1 trillion by 2030, primarily due to e-commerce, which is expected to be worth $325 billion and rank third globally, according to industry experts. Last year marked a crucial turning point for India's e-commerce sector, with notable changes in consumer trends, technology, and regulations. InGovern Research Services, a leading corporate governance advisory firm, hosted a virtual roundtable to deliberate on the notable developments in India's e-commerce sector in 2023, with a particular focus on the essential role of customer trust in fueling its ongoing expansion.
Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday reported a 2.4 per cent rise in its March quarter net profit as store rationalisation in retail business and improved margins in telecom helped offset weakness in mainstay oil and petrochemicals business and higher finance cost. Consolidated net profit of Rs 19,407 crore, or Rs 14.34 per share, in January-March - the fourth quarter of April 2024 to March 2025 fiscal (FY25) - was higher than Rs 18,951 crore, or Rs 14 a share, in the same period a year back, the company said in a statement.
