Goods from sectors, including agriculture, precious stones, chemicals, pharma, medical devices, electricals, and machinery may get impacted if the US will go ahead with imposing reciprocal tariffs on Indian products, according to experts. They said that these sectors could face additional customs duties from the Trump administration because of the high tariff differential or gap, which is the difference between the import duties imposed by the US and India on a product.
Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal has expressed hope that the government and regulators will step in to ensure the sector remains a viable place for continued investments and asserted that the industry requires "long overdue" support to maintain its current 3+1 structure. In the latest annual report of Airtel, Mittal said as the sector's role in the economy becomes more pervasive, its challenges loom larger. Issues such as unsustainable pricing and low returns in a highly capital-intensive environment, coupled with legacy legal issues, "have extracted their toll", Mittal observed.
Bharti Airtel is expected to see its highest revenue growth, and subscriber addition during the third quarter (October-December) of FY25 among telcos, said analysts. The telco's top line in Q3 may see the fastest sequential growth at 5 per cent compared to 3 per cent for Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea (Vi). Airtel's annual mobile revenue growth would rise to 16 per cent, IIFL Capital said in an analyst note.
The telecommunications industry in India is one of the fastest growing sectors in the world. The booming telecom industry has been attracting large amount of investments in the country.
Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) reported a 25 per cent rise in net profit attributable to the owners of the company for the January-March quarter of 2024-25, owing to higher revenues and an exceptional gain. For the quarter under review, L&T posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 5,497.3 crore, while revenue rose 10.9 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 74,392.28 crore.
The government is expected to outline a policy framework for artificial intelligence (AI) at the annual India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2024, beginning Tuesday, officials said. Apart from industry participation, the four-day event will feature booths from over 15 ministries showcasing how AI is being integrated into their departments.
India's policy for agriculture trade must move commodity-by-commodity to gain maximum benefits as US President Donald Trump's 26 per cent tariff on exports from the country take effect, said agriculture economist Ashok Gulati in a recent policy paper.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd has spent $13 billion on acquisitions in the past five years across new energy, telecom, retail and media business to script a pivot away from core oil and petrochemicals business to clean energy and consumer facing verticals. Last week, Reliance bought oncology platform Karkinos Healthcare for Rs 375 crore, adding another stack to its diagnostic and digital healthcare ecosystem, Morgan Stanley said in a report.
Idea tops list of companies with high percentage of active subscribers.
The industry wants higher FDI in the telecom sector.
Benchmark BSE Sensex tanked 824 points to settle at a fresh seven-month low on Monday following heavy selling in IT and oil & gas shares amid weak global trends. The 30-share BSE barometer plunged by 824.29 points or 1.08 per cent to close at 75,366.17 with 23 of its constituents ending lower and seven with gains. During the day the index moved between a high of 75,925.72 and a low of 75,267.59.
With the government issuing 120 more licences to over 10 players that are expected to roll out their networks soon, telecom companies fear a major talent crunch over the next 12 to 18 months. Telecom HRD analysts said attrition rates across levels is expected to go up to 25 per cent from 18 to 20 per cent. Companies expect salaries to jump 15 to 40 per cent, depending on the level, as the great hunt for new recruits takes off.
When on October 24, the Supreme Court, on a petition moved by the government, ordered payment of past dues according to its new definition of AGR, the country's second-biggest carrier Vodafone-Idea Ltd warned of shut down if no relief is given. The total dues for the industry ran into a whopping Rs 1.47 lakh crore. For an industry that has come from 7-8 operators to just three private players and state-owned fourth operator, the warning by Vodafone-Idea sounded like a death knell.
In a big push to the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, the government has nearly doubled (increase of 81 per cent) the allocation in five key industry segments from Rs 8,405 crore in the Revised Estimate of FY24 to Rs 15,198 crore in the Interim Budget for FY25. The segments cover over eight PLI schemes, including mobile phones, IT hardware, pharma (PLIs for medical devices, intermediates and pharmaceuticals), food processing, telecom hardware and, auto and auto components. In FY24, DPIIT officials, however, said that the disbursements would be much higher at around Rs 11,000 crore than what has been budgeted for the year.
The Department of Telecommunications, which has been mandated to simplify the multifarious levies, would introduce the new regime in phases.
India's second richest person Gautam Adani received a total remuneration of Rs 9.26 crore in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024, lower than most industry peers as well as his own key executives.
Indian telecom seems to be getting back on its feet.
The government on Thursday announced fresh concessions for telecom players while singling out cellular operators for additional benefits in view of the heavy licence fee paid by them.
Given the escalating cost of doing business, the revenue opportunity is decreasing and consolidation is an inevitable part of the industry.
Tech and startup industry bodies have again pushed back against calls by telecom operators to bring over-the-top (OTT) services under a licensing regime similar to telcos, and open them up to taxation. Ahead of public consultations on the issue later this week, the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), Nasscom and the US India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), among others, have written to the government arguing against such efforts.
The DoT estimates that it will receive Rs 29,524 cr in revenue from the telecom industry in FY18, which is 38% less than the Budget revenue target of Rs 47,300 cr for FY18
Reliance Industries Ltd, whose offering of rock-bottom tariffs shook up the telecom industry, is looking to repeat the feat in the green energy business, where its billionaire chairman Mukesh Ambani sees promise to outshine all existing growth engines in 5-7 years. Having pledged Rs 6 lakh crore on green energy, Ambani says RIL will scale up investments in this business which will start going live in the next 12 months. "Over the next 12 months our investments across the Green Energy value chain will gradually start going live, scaling up over the next couple of years," Ambani, chairman and managing director of RIL, said in the company's latest annual report.
Subscriber churn costs operators heavily, retailers make Rs 7.7k cr a year.
Measures reportedly being mulled by the government to ease telecom industry's stress and fundraising may give Vodafone Idea the much-needed breather, but structural issue undermining the sector can be fixed only with "sizable" tariff hike for 4G prepaid customers, according to a note by Edelweiss. It further observed that as Voda Idea's large liabilities are falling due, and given the impending launch of JioPhone Next (whose rollout timeline has now been pushed to before Diwali), "the sooner the government measures as well as tariff hikes are rolled out, the better it is". It is pertinent to mention here that the telecom sector has been keenly watching out for the relief package, which could include redefinition of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) to exclude non-telecom items, cut in levies such as Spectrum Usage Charges and easier terms and conditions for surrendering radiowaves to the government.
Fitch Ratings on Monday said India's steady GDP growth outlook, improved banking sector's financial health and expected interest-rate cuts in 2025 will support credit access for corporates in FY26.
Reliance Industries Ltd on Monday reported a 5 per cent fall in the net profit for the July-September quarter, as weak oil refining and petrochemical business hurt operational performance.
The telecom industry is divided over the policies of former Communications Minister Dayanadhi Maran, who resigned on Sunday.
Essar Group co-founder Shashi Ruia has died after a prolonged illness. He was 80.
10 largecaps stocks which stand to gain from the Budget.
India and the United States will finalize the contours, schedule of negotiations, and terms of reference for a proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) during a three-day meeting beginning Tuesday. The agreement is expected to be finalized in two tranches, with the first phase focusing on goods trade. The US team, led by Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch, will be in India from March 25-29 to discuss the agreement. Both countries are aiming to conclude the first phase of the agreement by fall 2025.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to make this decade a "techade" for India and the push for 5G, semiconductors and transformation through digital services is going to boost the technology sector in the country, industry players said on Monday. Modi, in his speech on the 76th Independence Day, touched upon all-round development of technology in the country, from 5G to push for electronic chips, laying of optical fibre cable (OFC) network across villages and enablement of digital entrepreneurship in villages through Common Services Centres, making the present decade as "techade" for India. Homegrown mobile devices maker Lava International's Chairman and Managing Director Hari Om Rai said electronics and technology sectors create about $4 trillion of revenue.
Reliance Industries on Monday categorically denied any intent to bid for the UK telecom group, BT. RIL dismissed a report titled `Reliance mulling bid for UK's telco BT Group' as "completely speculative and baseless". "We categorically deny any intent to bid for the UK telecom group, BT, formerly British Telecom, as reported in the article...," Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) said in a communication to BSE.
Oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has surprised the street with a better than expected performance in its oil-to-chemicals (O2C) division in October-December 2024 (Q3FY25). RIL executives attributed it to favourable feedstock sourcing and higher volumes. However, they also listed cost optimisation and other measures.
Zomato emerged as the biggest gainer, followed by Reliance, Nestle, Asian Paints and Power Grid.
"There is a limit when it comes to tolerating abusive behaviour or working styles. Many (employees) find ways to quit," says career coach and rediffGURU Pradeep Pramanik.
Some of India's largest conglomerates are gearing up to either commission or commercially start the first phase of their new energy projects this year, according to company executives and analysts.
Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday reported a 27 per cent jump in its September quarter net profit as earnings from the oil and gas business rebounded, and a pick-up in fashion and grocery helped boost retail revenues. The oil-to-retail-to-telecom conglomerate's consolidated net profit of Rs 17,394 crore, or Rs 25.71 per share, in July-September - the second quarter of the current 2023-24 fiscal - was 27.3 per cent higher than Rs 13,656 crore, or Rs 19.92 a share, earning a year back, the company said in a statement. The net profit was also higher quarter-on-quarter compared to Rs 16,011 crore earnings in the preceding three months ended June 30.
Of Trump's reciprocal tariffs and trade deals
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances