Presently, Marriott boasts 145 operational hotels in India, comprising around 27,000 rooms, with 10 new hotels having been inaugurated this year.
The Indian rupee strengthened by 9 paise to reach 82.61 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday. This was driven by positive domestic equity markets and robust macroeconomic data. India recorded a GDP growth rate of 7.8% in the April-June period, maintaining its position as the world's fastest-growing major economy.
The government is considering to put stock limit on chana (gram) considering the increase in its prices in recent weeks. So far, stock limits have been imposed on wheat, tur and urad. The government may also scrap the tender for import of masur considering that the importers are quoting exorbitant prices.
India's imports of cheap Russian oil declined for the third consecutive month in August due to reduced demand caused by monsoon rains and scheduled maintenance works. Indian refiners also cut shipments from Iraq by 10% in August. However, imports from Saudi Arabia saw a significant surge, rising 63% on month.
Chinese developer Country Garden Holdings Co has warned of a potential default on its debt and expressed concerns about staying in business after reporting a record loss of nearly $7bn for the first half of the year. The company stated that if its financial performance continues to deteriorate, it may not be able to meet its debt obligations, raising doubts about its ability to continue as a going concern.
The government is likely to put LPG (cooking gas supplied to households in cylinders) price on freeze for the rest of the year, after announcing a cut of Rs 200 per cylinder on Tuesday, providing a relief of over Rs 18,500 crore to consumers during the remaining seven months of the fiscal.
The expected incremental production under the scheme is pegged at Rs 3.35 lakh crore, said Union minister Vaishnaw. "India is emerging as a trusted supply chain partner and value added partner ... companies are happy to come to India for manufacturing and design," he said at a media briefing.
India's tech industry is decentralising from the seven major hubs, including metropolitan hubs, to 26 cities, with representation from tier-2 and tier-3 towns as well, the 220-page report titled "Emerging technology hubs of India" stated. About 60 per cent of graduates come from smaller cities in key fields, 30 per cent of whom relocate to tier-1 cities for employment after graduation.
Between January and March 2023, in India, over 1.9 million videos were removed for violating YouTube's Community Guidelines. In comparison, in the US, 6,54,968 videos were removed, Russia (4,91,933), and Brazil (4,49,759). "Since the earliest days as a company, our Community Guidelines have protected the YouTube community from harmful content. We enforce our policies using a combination of machine learning and human reviewers," YouTube said.
Indian shares ended near the session's low as a late slide in financials offset gains in IT stocks. The Nifty 50 index closed slightly higher, while the S&P BSE Sensex also rose marginally. Financials were dragged down by HDFC Bank, while IT stocks climbed on easing interest rate concerns in the US.
India is planning to auction around 100 critical mineral blocks within the next four months in order to secure domestic supplies for the green energy transition. The blocks contain minerals such as nickel, lithium, cobalt, platinum, and rare earths. The government aims to incentivize global and local miners by reimbursing half the cost of exploration.
The Congress has cited media reports suggesting that SEBI may let off the Adani conglomerate with "token fines" for "technical violations" to question the investigation into the Adani issue. The party alleges that this demonstrates India's transition to a "kleptocracy" and accuses the government of using investigative agencies to protect Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "close friends". The party is calling for a joint parliamentary committee probe to investigate the Adani issue.
Indian benchmark stock indices, the sensex and Nifty, closed higher for the second consecutive day, led by gains in metal, power, and select financial shares. However, losses in Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, and Airtel, along with foreign fund outflows, limited the gains. The sensex rose by 0.12% to settle at 65,075.82, while the Nifty gained 0.19% to end at 19,342.65.
Airtel Uganda is planning to raise $216 million in an initial public offering, which would be the nation's largest share sale. The IPO is priced at 100 shillings per share, valuing the telecommunications carrier at 4 trillion shillings. The company aims to sell a 20% stake, or 8 billion shares, on the Uganda Securities Exchange to meet regulatory requirements.
Europe's Corendon Airlines is introducing an adults-only seating area on its 10-hour flights between Amsterdam and Curacao. The area, called the "Only Adult" zone, will be located in the first 12 rows of the Airbus A350-900 and will be curtained off from the rest of the aircraft. Passengers will be charged an additional fee of 45 euros ($49) for a standard seat or $100 for an XL seat to sit in this zone
Indian ed-tech startup Byju's is undergoing restructuring, resulting in the resignation of Chief Business Officer Prathyusha Agarwal and two other senior executives. The company, which has faced legal and financial challenges, is consolidating its business into two key verticals - K-10 and Exam Prep.
Pyramid Technoplast functions as a prominent drum manufacturing enterprise, delivering an extensive array of packaging solutions. This industrial packaging firm specializes in crafting polymer-based molded items, primarily catering to packaging needs within the chemical, agrochemical, specialty chemical, and pharmaceutical sectors.
Under the new rule, the listed entity will have to obtain permission from all holders of non-convertible debt securities within 15 working days of receiving the notification of delisting. The present rule allows entities to delist by giving a prior intimation to the stock exchange about the meeting of the board of directors, where the proposal for a voluntary delisting is considered.
Terming Artificial Intelligence (AI) as the most exciting frontier of growth for Jio, Ambani outlined ambitious plans on this front at the 46th AGM of Reliance Industries. Ambani pledged the company's commitment to create up to 2,000 MW of AI-ready computing capacity, across both cloud and edge locations. A global AI revolution is reshaping the world and intelligent applications will redefine and revolutionise industries, economies, and even daily life, sooner than expected, he said.
The approach of digital public infrastructure (DPI), which has gained global prominence, can also help in area of climate adaptation and mitigation going forward, chairman and co-founder of Infosys and the founding chairman of UIDAI, Nandan Nilekani said.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) equity inflows dropped 34% to $10.9 billion during the June quarter from the year-ago period, government data showed. Amid an aggressive investment pitch by India, government officials said companies are holding back on fresh funding due to the slowdown in Europe and the US, which have been aggravated by geopolitical tensions.
The report released by real estate consultant Knight Frank India in association with the National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) stated this estimated real estate output value will contribute 15.5 per cent to the total economic output in 2047 from existing 7.3 per cent. Private equity investments in the Indian real estate sector have consistently grown over the past two decades.
The Indian govt has taken a decisive step to curb the export of basmati rice priced below $1,200 per tonne. This measure is intended to counter the illicit practice of disguising non-basmati rice as premium basmati rice for unlawful shipment.
Foreign investors have slowed down their inflows into Indian equities in August due to higher crude oil prices, resurfacing inflation risks, and rising US bond yields. FPIs invested a net amount of Rs 10,689 crore in Indian equities this month, compared to over Rs 40,000 crore in each of the past three months.
The government is expected to take up the issue of penal charges levied by banks for non-maintenance of minimum balance with the Reserve Bank of India, as these yielded Rs 21,000 for state-run and private lenders over the last five years. While a government official insisted that state-run banks such as SBI do not adopt such practices, he acknowledged the problem and said the issue will be taken up with RBI.
The government is initiating fresh measures to ensure that rice prices remain under control and overall inflation comes down. On Friday, the Centre imposed 20% export duty on parboiled rice (rice partially boiled with husk), barely a week after imposing 40% duty on exports of onion. Besides, it is expected to notify a minimum export price (MEP) for basmati rice, pegged at $1,200 (Rs 99,000) a tonne.
Last month, India surprised buyers by imposing a ban on exports of widely consumed non-basmati white rice, following a ban on broken rice exports last year. The ban prompted some buyers to increase purchases of parboiled rice and lifted its prices to record highs, said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trade house.
Zepto, an instant grocery startup founded by a duo of Stanford University dropouts, both 20, raised fresh funds at a $1.4 billion valuation, creating a rare Indian unicorn amid a gloomy venture funding climate.StepStone Group, Goodwater Capital and others invested a combined $200 million in the Mumbai-based company, it said Friday in a statement. Zepto said it’s on track to turn profitable within 15 months and intends to go public in two to three years.
RIL is concentrating on augmenting the efficiency of its modules, aiming to elevate the Heterojunction Technology (HJT) module efficiency from the present 23% to 26% by 2026.
The once notable average salary growth has come down from the range of 50-100% to a more modest 35-40% for “hot skill” sets.
The EPFO's apex decision-making body, the central board of trustees, authorized the organization during its late March meeting to consider reinvesting the redemption proceeds derived from its ETF investments.
The Indian Sugar Mill Association (ISMA) has refuted reports that the government is about to ban the export of sugar. ISMA called it premature assumptions. This comes after news agency Reuters reported, quoting unnamed government officials, that the export of the sweetener could be banned from October.
Reliance Industries has partnered with Oberoi Hotels to jointly manage three properties in India and the UK. These include the Anant Vilas Hotel in Mumbai, the Stoke Park in the UK, and a planned project in Gujarat.
India's monetary policy committee (MPC) will closely monitor factors affecting inflation and take necessary action, but expects recent food price increases to be temporary. The committee highlighted risks to inflation from El Nino conditions, global food prices, and uneven monsoon distribution. The MPC kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.50% in a unanimous decision.
Subway would sell itself to private equity Roark Capital for $9.55 billion after agreeing to attach conditions to some of the windfall the two families that own it will get, sources said, ending a long-drawn auction that saw several competing bids.These conditions, known as an earn-out, defer payment on part of the deal consideration, the sources familiar with the matter said.
SpiceJet has told a court that it is "struggling to stay afloat" as it faces a payment to its former owner. SpiceJet lost an arbitration case in 2018 and was ordered to pay $70 million plus interest. The former owner, Kalanithi Maran, claims he is still owed $48 million. SpiceJet offered to deposit $9.08 million within 10 days, but the judge ordered the airline to pay $12 million by Sept. 10.
Adani Group, led by Gautam Adani, has reported record profits in Q2, driven by its infrastructure and renewable energy businesses. The conglomerate's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization rose 42% compared to the same period last year, reaching INR 235 billion ($2.8 billion), the highest for a single quarter.
The estimated range of GDP growth stood between 7.5% and 8.5% in the poll. This GDP growth will be a step up from the 7.2% growth in the previous fiscal year and the 6.1% growth in the preceding March quarter.
Indian space-sector companies have seen a rally in stocks ahead of the lunar landing of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft. Thirteen companies involved in supplying equipment for the mission have added over $2.5 billion in market value this week. This includes companies such as Linde India, Centum Electronics, and Avantel.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the embattled crypto mogul, has allegedly been denied vegan meals and access to prescription medication in jail, according to his lawyers. They argue that they need better access to Bankman-Fried to build his defense case ahead of his October fraud trial.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has conducted searches at the office of GTL Infrastructure Ltd (GTIL) in Mumbai after registering an FIR against the company and unidentified officials of banks in a loan-fraud case of over Rs 4,000 crore. The banks are accused of assigning dues of Rs 3,224 crore of GTIL to an asset reconstruction firm for Rs 1,867 crore without securing their loans from collateral securities.India extended a mandate to power plants to import coal until March as the driest August in more than a century pushed electricity demand to...
