Shares of major private lenders, including HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank, experienced a sharp selloff after their June-quarter results indicated persistent pressure on net interest margins (NIMs), despite healthy credit growth. This decline overshadowed gains in ICICI Bank and Punjab National Bank (PNB), which reported resilient or stronger-than-expected earnings.
Despite sharp interest rate cuts expected in this financial year amid easy liquidity conditions, state-run banks are treading cautiously on their loan growth projections for FY26. Most large banks are projecting loan growth at 11-13 per cent, almost similar to the previous financial year.
Bank of Baroda has partnered with Reliance Jio to provide access to its mobile banking application, 'bob World Lite', for users of Jio feature phones, aiming to promote financial inclusion and digital payments.
Bharti Airtel added 7.64 trillion in value over the past five years, making it the biggest wealth creator in India's private sector, while the IT sector, including TCS, Infosys, and Wipro, collectively lost 8.5 trillion in value, according to the latest Burgundy Private Hurun India 500 report.
The Reserve Bank of India has cut repo rates, the rate at which it lends money to banks, by 75 basis points since January this year, but most banks have not lowered lending rates.
Global oil prices fell on Thursday to their lowest levels since before the outbreak of the Iran conflict, offering a significant economic tailwind for India, the world's third-largest crude importer, by easing inflation risks, reducing the import bill and improving the government's fiscal position.
Indian benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty closed marginally lower due to profit-taking, following the Reserve Bank of India's decision to keep the repo rate unchanged while lowering its growth expectations for the current fiscal year and forecasting higher inflation.
India plans to directly transfer cash benefits to bank accounts of people under various social welfare scheme over the next few years and is expanding the banking network.
India's privatisation push, once projected as a cornerstone of economic reform, has suffered another setback, with the Centre set to call off the IDBI Bank stake sale, highlighting the political and structural constraints shaping the country's disinvestment policy, experts say.
India is closely monitoring Sri Lanka's decision to offer foreign investors control of an airport near the China-controlled Hambantota port, as it could present a rare opening for Indian firms seeking strategic footholds in the Indian Ocean.
'If the war continue for a longer period of time, it is just a matter of time before the government will pass on some of the price increases.'
The central bank is yet to consider actions such as a rate hike or mobilising dollar inflows from non-resident Indians to boost forex reserves as it cannot afford to continue with them for long when the rupee's internationalisation tops its agenda, explains Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is set to present the Budget next month.
'Once the currency goes out of the hand, then possibly your major challenge is that it will not come back.'
The government's step to curtail fiscal deficit is helping the central bank's monetary policy, Rajan said.
Moody's Ratings has downgraded India's growth forecast for financial year 2026-27 (FY27) to 6 per cent from 6.8 per cent, attributing the revision to weaker consumption and industrial activity, elevated energy prices, and rising input costs stemming from the West Asia conflict.
The rupee has already shed around 3.3 percent over the last five sessions.
Banks will also consider requests from MSMEs for restructuring their stressed standard assets. So far, only 25 per cent of the around 1 million eligible MSMEs have taken benefit of the RBI's special dispensation.
Mint Road's proposals on banks' M&A funding are cautious even as entrants root for more elbow room, and weigh business models.
A special court in Mumbai has denied bail to Pune businessman Amit Thepade in a Rs 117-crore money laundering case, citing the serious threat economic offences pose to the country's financial health. The court highlighted substantial evidence linking Thepade to the crime under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
A special court in Mumbai has dropped corruption charges against Guruashish Construction and its directors in a multi-crore cheating case after the CBI found no public servants involved in the alleged graft.
A special court in Mumbai has denied bail to Pune businessman Amit Thepade in a Rs 117-crore money laundering case, citing the serious threat economic offences pose to the country's financial health.
Some banks made it clear that banks have to make commercial decisions. "There is a limit to which we can reduce the deposit rates because of competing investment products such as small savings instruments," said a bank chief. With banks unable to lower deposits rates, lending rates were unlikely to drop significantly. A banker is said to have talked about the fact that companies that are unable to sustain themselves during the present downturn would face many risks.
The BSE Sensex and the Nifty 50 declined around 4.5 per cent each since the start of the West Asia conflict.
'Unless banks focus on the Rs 10-15 lakh loan segment, growing affordable housing will remain a challenge.'
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) short dollar forward positions rose by $6 billion in September - the first increase in seven months - indicating the central bank's readiness to defend the rupee in the forward market amid pressure on the currency, latest data showed. The net short dollar position stood at $59.4 billion at the end of September, up from $53.4 billion in August.
State-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) is willing to dilute a 30-40 per cent stake in its upcoming greenfield refinery in Andhra Pradesh, with Gulf energy major Saudi Aramco and upstream player Oil India Ltd (OIL) likely to join as partners, a senior BPCL executive said.
'Bank has a robust capital adequacy base. Along with balance sheet preparation, the bank is focusing on strengthening risk management for the new regime.'
Sanctioning Russian oil would have led to a sharp surge in oil prices to above $80 per barrel levels, which would impact pump prices in the US ahead of midterm elections next year.
Senior bankers anticipate discussions on issues related to technology, cyber security, and customer protection.
"We currently manage collections for over 98 million retail and small-business loan accounts, covering a loan book of about $250 billion," says Rishabh Goel, cofounder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Credgenics, a software-as-a-service platform for debt collection. With more than 700 million smartphone users and over 450 million UPI users, digital access is everywhere.
A plea that the banking regulator's stress should be on the strategic role of boards and an increase in the remuneration of independent directors were among the issues put forward to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) top brass in its interaction with the full boards of state-run banks held on Monday. The meeting, the first leg of first-of-its-kind interactions with the boards of state-run banks, will now be followed by those of private banks in Mumbai on May 29. The RBI's press release, issued late on Monday, did not refer to the specific points that found mention in the deliberations, but top sources told Business Standard the twin concerns were taken up in the open-house interaction with the banking regulator's brass.
The target was for banks to sell Rs 2 trillion worth of non-performing assets to NARCL, the so-called 'bad bank, by 2021-2022. Only 10 per cent of this has been executed.
In FY23, the State Bank of India (SBI) reported a 57.4 per cent jump in its net profit to Rs 55,684.17 crore. But the chairman of the country's largest bank, Dinesh Khara's annual pay for this creditable performance was just Rs 37 lakh (his peers at state-run banks are no better off). Look at his private bank rivals - most pocketed in excess of Rs 7 crore annually - plus stock options.
Heavy rains caused severe waterlogging, traffic jams, and disruptions to local train services in Mumbai. Schools and colleges were closed due to a 'red alert' issued by the IMD.
The Reserve Bank on Wednesday said the amalgamation of Lakshmi Vilas Bank with DBS Bank India will come into force from November 27 and the moratorium imposed on the crisis-ridden lender will be removed on that day. The RBI issued the statement within hours of the Cabinet clearing the Scheme of Amalgamation of Lakshmi Vilas Bank Limited (LVB) with DBS Bank India Limited (DBIL).
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's call for making lending rates affordable may not resonate anytime soon as banks still struggle with margin compression, and await clues from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on liquidity and rate action. Hinting that any lending rate cut was some time away, State Bank of India (SBI) managing director Vinay M Tonse said there was still some aggression in the market regarding deposit pricing.
Raising overseas debt has become prohibitively expensive due to the depreciating rupee.
They need to have 15 years of mainstream banking experience
India is working closely with Belgium to extradite fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi, who was arrested in Antwerp on Saturday based on a formal request from the Indian government. Choksi is wanted by Indian probe agencies in connection with a Rs 13,500-crore bank loan fraud case involving the Punjab National Bank (PNB). His nephew, Nirav Modi, is also facing extradition proceedings in the UK.
