Business Standard
Financial titans to converge at the BFSI Insight Summit
Key architects of India’s financial landscape — from top policymakers and regulators to fintech pioneers and market experts — will come together in Mumbai for the fifth edition of the annual Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit 2026, beginning...
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Acquisitions now a key growth lever: ITC CMD
ITC, a conglomerate once shy of acquisition, is stepping up the pace of inorganic expansion, with six deals in nearly five years and a seventh announced recently. In an interview with Business Standard at the company’s headquarters in Kolkata, ITC...
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RBI rejects T-bill bids as short-term yields surge
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday rejected all bids at the government’s treasury-bill (T-bill) auction, signalling discomfort with the sharp rise in short-term borrowing costs, dealers said. The yield on the benchmark 10year government bond...
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‘Jio IPO is landmark for Indian capital markets’
A day before the mega initial public offering (IPO) of Jio Platforms opens, its Managing Director Akash Ambani speaks about the company’s future, the implications of the stock market listing, the telecom sector’s demands from the government, satellite...
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Contractors face fines for accident-prone NH spots
Given the rising deaths from road accidents on national highways (NH), the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) has established a framework to impose penalties on contractors of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects for...
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Russia sanctions waiver a 60-day pause: Rubio
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s six-day tour, including a visit to India this week, comes as Washington reassesses the global consequences of sanctions and tariffs targeting buyers of Russian oil. His itinerary includes Reliance Industries...
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China’s non-tariff walls a major export hurdle: FM
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said China’s non-tariff barriers were the biggest hurdle for Indian exports, alleging that Beijing had denied market access to Indian products despite significant demand potential, including for...
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Sebi picks last 30-min method for settlement
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Thursday announced the much-awaited revisions to the closing auction session (CAS) framework, introducing changes to the settlement methodology, trading timings, and the transition of unexecuted...
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Fairfax to take reins at IDBI Bank
The government on Wednesday approved the sale of a 60.72 per cent stake in IDBI Bank, jointly held by the Government of India and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), to Toronto-based Fairfax Financial Holdings for ~52,878 crore (around $5.56...
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₹ rallies to 1-month high on RBI curbs, but banks remain uneasy
The rupee strengthened 0.5 per cent on Tuesday to a onemonth high, outperforming its Asian peers as measures by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to curb speculative bets helped support the currency. But the central bank’s latest foreign exchange curbs...
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Delhi in virtual lockdown
The curbs announced by the government on Saturday regarding the movement of people, in light of the protest called by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) and left students’ groups, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh...
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IPO is just the start of Jio journey: Akash Ambani
Reliance Jio’s upcoming initial public offering (IPO) has the potential to be the largest in the country and it will unlock shareholder value and growth, says company Chairman Akash Ambani in an interview with Gulveen Aulakh on the sidelines of the...
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EMIS to increase as RBI begins rate-hike cycle
Equated monthly instalments (EMIS) for retail and small business loans will rise after the six-member ratesetting panel of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) unanimously voted on Wednesday to raise the policy repo rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 5.5 per...
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Spot electricity prices double amid demand surge and coal crunch
India’s power sector is facing a growing squeeze as near-record electricity demand pushes spot power prices sharply higher, even as coal stocks at thermal power plants fall to critically low levels. At the Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), the average...
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GST Council may shun mid-year rate changes
The structure of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is expected to largely remain unchanged for at least five to six years once the GST Council, at its 57th meeting on Thursday, clears a slew of process reforms. Officials expect the rate structure to be...
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AI driving up global bond yields, a worry for EMS: DEA secy
Economic Affairs Secretary Anuradha Thakur on Sunday flagged a significant shift in the global capital landscape, stressing that global bond yields’ surge imposes fresh challenges for the price of capital for emerging markets, and can no longer just be...
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Affluent seniors turning metros into luxe retirement addresses
Senior living is emerging as a luxury residential segment in India’s Tier-i markets as mainstream developers look to enter the space, driven by rising affluence and changing family structures. Once largely associated with retirement communities...
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Anup Bagchi named CEO of HDFC Bank
HDFC Bank, the country’s largest private sector, has appointed ICICI group veteran Anup Bagchi as its next managing director and chief executive officer (MD & CEO), following the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’S) approval. Bagchi, who has been appointed...
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CAFE-III norms locked, may make EVS cheaper
India’s new fuel-efficiency norms could push carmakers to introduce smaller and cheaper electric vehicles (EVS), while potentially making larger, higher-emission petrol and diesel vehicles more expensive, as manufacturers rejig product and pricing...
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Airtel an institution; next gen can decide on other biz: Mittal
Bharti Airtel founder Sunil Bharti Mittal, who has crucially shaped India’s private sector telecom industry, is far from hanging up his boots but the 68-year-old entrepreneur is gradually laying the groundwork for the next generation to take the reins...
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After every difficulty, we emerged much stronger: ITC’S Sanjiv Puri
From a modest outpost of an overseas-owned company on Kolkata’s Radha Bazar Lane in 1910 to an Indian conglomerate straddling a spectrum of businesses from the imposing Virginia House on Chowringhee, ITC has come a long way in the past 116 years,...
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Rising US bond yields weigh on Indian stocks
Rising bond yields in the US and other advanced economies are making it tougher for Indian equities to attract foreign portfolio investors (FPIS), putting pressure on valuations and potentially weakening returns for domestic investors. The spread...
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‘In 1991, we faced both an economic as well as external relations crisis’
Shyam Saran was joint secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) from 1991 to 1992, when India’s balance of payments crisis peaked and the country decided to open up. He went on to become foreign secretary in 2004 and led the negotiations for the...
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75% traders may not face UPI levy: NPCI
Around three-fourths of India’s more than 60 million digital-payment-accepting merchants have never recorded a transaction of over ~2,000 and are insulated from the proposed levy on certain Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments, National Payments...
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Govt sets riders for funds to 3 stressed PSU insurers
The Centre has finalised a turnaround strategy for National Insurance Company (NICL), The Oriental Insurance Company (OICL) and United India Insurance Company (UICL), with the quantum and timing of any fresh equity support to be linked to improvements...
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Next consumption spurt hinges on wage growth: FM Sitharaman
Next phase of India’s consumption growth, the main driver of the economy, depends on wage growth and upward mobility, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday. “India stands at a structural inflection point: the next phase of consumption...
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RBI OMOS reduce liquidity to ~6 trn
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’S measures to absorb liquidity through bond sales have been gaining traction, with the banking system’s net liquidity falling to a surplus of around ~6 trillion from a record high of over ~11 trillion and the weighted...
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Economy airfares took off most since Covid in H12026; business class became cheaper
Economy-class airfares saw their sharpest increases since Covid-era fare caps were removed in August 2022 across almost all of India’s 20 busiest domestic routes in the first half (H1) of 2026, shows aviation analytics firm Cirium’s data reviewed by...
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MDR reset: Flat ~5 UPI fee on table for capital mkts
A flat fee of about ~5 could replace the 0.02 per cent merchant discount rate (MDR), capped at about ₹300, for capital-market transactions conducted through UPI, after stockbrokers raised concerns over the existing cap, according to people familiar...
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Tata Sons, Trusts face off over listing, Chandra’s third term
A decade after the board room battle at the Bombay House between Ratan Tata and Cyrus Mistry, another stormy meeting dealing with the top leadership took centrestage at the same venue on Thursday, leading to questions on whether this could result in a...
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MDR on UPI payments likely to unlock ~15K-21K cr revenue pool
The return of a merchant discount rate (MDR) on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions after six years could generate ~15,000-20,600 crore in annual revenue for India’s digital payments and banking ecosystem, according to brokerage estimates. A...
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RBI caveat limits bid to stall Tata Sons IPO
In an extraordinary move, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is learnt to have filed a caveat in the Bombay High Court in case there is a petition challenging its recent directive to Tata Sons on mandatory stock exchange listing. According to a source...
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Cosmetics from Pakistan breach Indian market, raise eyebrows
India’s drug regulatory authority, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), has issued a public health warning against the use of two “unauthorised” made-in-pakistan cosmetics: Goree beauty cream and Chandni whitening cream. In a...
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Wholesale changes have not happened in civil services: M Veerappa Moily
Q&A M Veerappa Moily was chief minister of Karnataka immediately after the economic reforms were unleashed in 1991. He has held various ministerial roles at the central level, too, including in the ministries of corporate affairs, law, and...
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‘The word control had become anathema for us in 1991’
Sudha Pillai was joint secretary in the Department of Company Affairs in 1991, when India liberalised its economy. She wrote the Cabinet note to amend the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP) Act, which was found to have curbed the animal...
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Telecom players weigh tariff hikes ahead of Jio IPO
India’s largest mobile operators are weighing a fresh round of headline tariff increases over the next two quarters, as Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea seek to bolster their return on investments ahead of a wave of capital spending,...
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US, EU strongly criticise India’s ‘trade barriers’
The United States (US) and the European Union (EU), India’s two largest trading partners, have flagged a range of regulatory and non-tariff barriers that they say are undermining the benefits of India’s efforts to open its economy and integrate with...
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Western freight corridor goes all the way, to cut transit time 60%
Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the ~73,000 crore Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) to the nation on Tuesday, closing a two-decade chapter in India’s infrastructure history — one that spanned 2,800 kilometres (km) and three prime...
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Interest limited, govt to review export schemes
The government is set to review the over ~25,000 crore Export Promotion Mission (EPM) rolled out in February 2026 after finding that exporters showed substantial interest only in two out of its 11 schemes, three persons aware of the development...
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Retail share in MF pie shrinks for 2nd year; HNIS ramp up bets
Retail investors’ share in mutual fund (MF) assets under management (AUM) has fallen for a second straight year, even as gross systematic investment plan (SIP) inflows continued to inch up, as weaker equity markets eroded the value of their holdings....
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30-day VRRR increases odds of rate hike in Oct
The chances of an interest rate hike, the first of this cycle, at the next monetary policy review scheduled for October 5-7 have increased after the Reserve Bank of India announced a 30-day variable rate reverse repo (VRRR) auction for a notified...
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1991 liberalisation made a break with the past: C Rangarajan
C Rangarajan, former governor of the Reserve Bank of India and chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, was a key member of the team that brought in the reforms in July 1991. As RBI deputy governor at the time, he oversaw a...
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FCNR(B) haul soars to $127 bn on final sprint
Inflows through the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’S) concessional swap facility reached $136.4 billion by August 31, with banks mobilising $127.2 billion in foreign currency non-resident (bank), or FCNR(B), deposits — far exceeding late market...
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Price decline lifts manufacturing’s real growth
Nominal growth in various segments of the economy is generally higher than real growth. However, that was not the case for manufacturing in the first quarter of the current financial year. Manufacturing grew 7.7 per cent at current prices, compared...
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7.8%: Q1 GDP rise beats hopes
Outpacing expectations by most forecasters, India’s economy grew at a robust 7.8 per cent in the June quarter of FY27, compared with 8.6 per cent in the preceding March quarter of FY26, despite geopolitical headwinds arising from the West Asia crisis,...
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‘Incomplete 1991 reforms failed to foster India’s industrialisation’
The 1991 reforms resulted from crisis management efforts spanning multiple governments, says Deepak Nayyar, who was the chief economic advisor to the government in the finance ministry during the governments led by V P Singh, Chandra Shekhar and P V...
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From BOP crisis to record reserves, RBI’S forex strategy pays dividends
From dwindling to just $1.2 billion in mid-1991 — barely enough to pay for a few weeks of essential imports — India’s foreign exchange (forex) reserves are at a record high today. The latest data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) shows that...
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Govt pulls the plug on ECLGS; banks in a fix
The government has terminated the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) 5.0 in just over three months of its launch, after the allocated ~2.5 trillion credit guarantee was fully exhausted. The scheme, launched on May 8 to help businesses...
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‘Neither Rao nor Singh could have brought in the 1991 reforms alone’
P Chidambaram served as the minister of state for commerce with independent charge in P V Narasimha Rao’s government when India rolled out the 1991 reforms. New trade and industrial policies were part of that package. Chidambaram reflects on what led...
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Indian basmati may get caught in US ‘economic onslaught’ on Iran
The Donald Trump administration’s “Operation Economic Outcast” — aimed at strangling the Iranian economy after nearly six months of war failed to deliver a decisive military outcome — could further squeeze India’s already dwindling trade with Iran and...
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Bombay Club fears were misplaced; family businesses raked it in after reforms
On November 10, 1993, a group of eight industrialists met the then finance minister Manmohan Singh and handed over a note raising concerns over the potentially adverse impact of the economic liberalisation of 1991 on their businesses. Referred to as...
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Vi close to securing SBI loan, but on a condition
India’s third-largest mobile telecom operator, Vodafone Idea (Vi), is believed to have moved closer to securing funding for its capital expenditure plan, with the country’s largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI), agreeing to sanction its share of...
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Home ministry asks Google to remove fake bank pages on Firebase
The government has asked Google to take down several Firebase web development accounts impersonating the websites and mobile apps of prominent public- and privatesector banks and other financial institutions, according to sources. The notices, sent by...
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Kolkata’s tryst with reforms: IT, retail gained but past glory elusive
In September 1994, West Bengal’s Left Front government attempted to turn the page on its economic record. Three years into India’s economic liberalisation, as the licence raj was unravelling, Chief Minister Jyoti Basu signalled a tentative opening to...
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Sailors weigh safe harbour against risky passage with higher pay
A seafarer can now choose to disembark before a ship enters the Strait of Hormuz. Another may refuse a voyage altogether and wait for a safer assignment. Those who agree to sail through the war zone, meanwhile, can command bonuses worth several months...
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More cash, less usage pose challenge for RBI
Despite the declining share of cash in individual transactions amid a growing adoption of digital payments, currency in circulation (CIC) continues to grow at double-digit rates. This combination is making future cash demand harder to predict and is...
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New factories, aircraft, AI hubs to test Tata group’s funding muscle
India’s biggest conglomerate is entering a capital-intensive investment cycle. In the first of a two-part series, Business Standard examines the funding needs of Tata Electronics, Air India, Agratas and Tata Digital — and the role Tata Sons may play in...
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Banks race for $ deposits as RBI curtails FCNR (B) window
After the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’S) surprise decision on Friday to close a concessional dollar-rupee swap facility earlier than originally announced, banks are preparing to intensify mobilisation of foreign currency non-resident (bank), or FCNR...
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Inflows over $52 bn, RBI opts to shut FCNR(B) tap
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to close its swap facility for foreign currency non-resident (bank), better known as FCNR(B), deposits one month ahead of schedule as inflows have risen rapidly, with banks already mobilising $52.3 billion...
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Tata Sons’ search for chair faces SRTT bump
The day after Bombay House shook the corporate world and beyond with the announcement of N Chandrasekaran (or Chandra as he’s popularly called) stepping down as Tata Sons chairman, the action shifted to Tata Trusts, the principal shareholder of the...
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Chandra decides to leave Bombay House
For N Chandrasekaran, who sent out a letter announcing his exit as the Tata Sons chairman to the board of directors at 11 am on Wednesday, the last six months may not have been easy. The short letter, summarising all the important points in four...
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Harness AI, build human oversight: RBI guv to banks
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra on Tuesday appealed to banks to harness artificial intelligence (AI) responsibly rather than treat it merely as a risk to be contained. He cautioned that responsibility for a bank’s decisions rests...
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‘Sunset industry’ that became the frame for India’s post-reforms growth
It was the steel ministry’s annual report for 1991-92 that captured a change in the mood. “Production of steel is no longer the preserve of the public sector,” it declared — a simple statement that heralded a new era. Under the New Industrial Policy...
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NSE’S closing auction skews MF NAVS, creates winners & losers
The pricing anomaly triggered by the National Stock Exchange’s new closing auction session (CAS) has spilled over into mutual fund (MF) schemes’ net asset values (NAVS), producing winners and losers among investors who transacted over the past two...
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Tax Bill to widen steps to attract foreign investment
The government is set to propose a fresh set of tax measures to attract long-term foreign investment, by widening the scope of the Income-tax (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026 to cover electronics manufacturing, data centres, rough diamond trading and...
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