All stories by Sachin P Mampatta
Wilful Defaulters Dues Rise To Rs 100 Crores Per Day
Rediff.com17 Nov 2023Wilful defaulters owe SBI Rs 80,000 crore. 10 nationalised banks are owed another Rs 1.5 trillion.
Select unsecured loans up by nearly Rs 7 trillion since 2019
Rediff.com16 Oct 2023People are availing far more of certain kinds of unsecured loans than was the case before the pandemic. Bank lending for buying consumer durables and funding of credit cards and other personal loans have risen by Rs 6.9 trillion between August 2019 and August 2023, shows a Business Standard analysis of data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). These loans are typically unsecured, which means they are provided without collateral.
Why Odds Are Against New Mutual Funds
Rediff.com21 Sep 2023Meaningful market share would go to those who have the distribution strength to push their products, such as banks.
China's Economy Is Weakening!
Rediff.com6 Sep 2023Unemployment has been rising among the young, with authorities suspending data disclosures after youth unemployment crossed 20 per cent.
Skin in the game: MFs have bet over Rs 80,000 cr on their own schemes
Rediff.com2 Sep 2023When billionaire Warren Buffet started his first fund in 1956 with eleven investors, he invested a token amount of $100 of his own money as "skin in the game". Buffet denies it but he is credited with coming up with the term describing those running a fund risk some of their own money in it. The mutual fund (MF) industry has more than Rs 81,200 crore riding on its schemes, shows a Business Standard analysis of data on sponsor and associate contributions from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi).
How Many Letters Does The Post Office Still Deliver?
Rediff.com28 Aug 2023Nearly two million postcards and eight million letters pass through India's post offices daily.
Foreign players' share in private sector capex declines
Rediff.com9 Aug 2023The share of foreign companies in private sector investments, directed towards building new factories and other facilities, has declined over the past six months. A mix of large domestic announcements and relatively lower growth in foreign capital expenditure (capex) plans have played a role, although foreign investments remain near record levels. The share of foreign companies in the overall private sector investments over the four quarters ended June 2023 has dipped to 14.9 per cent, as shown by a Business Standard analysis of data from the project tracker Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy.
NSE makes fresh attempt to settle TAP regulatory investigation
Rediff.com20 Jul 2023The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has made a fresh attempt at settling a regulatory investigation into the misuse of Trading Access Point (TAP) software at the bourse. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) rejected a similar application in 2022. "NSE and its employees have filed a consolidated settlement application dated May 4, 2023, with Sebi.
Why Government Jobs Are In Short Supply
Rediff.com13 Jul 2023Almost 25 per cent central government posts were vacant as of March 2022, compared to 9.4 per cent in March 2002.
New manufacturing projects decline in June 2023, shows CMIE data
Rediff.com4 Jul 2023New investment projects announced in the manufacturing sector declined in the three months ended June 2023. The value of new projects was lower than in the March quarter, as well as the year-ago period, shows data from project tracker the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). The new project announcements worth around Rs 85,000 crore in the manufacturing segment in June were a 48 per cent decline from the Rs 1.6 trillion in March and a 66 per cent decline from the Rs 2.5 trillion seen in June 2022.
Uttar Pradesh adds 126,000 new investors in April; Maharashtra loses pull
Rediff.com15 Jun 2023The state with the most people has displaced the state with the largest economy in terms of investor additions. Uttar Pradesh (UP) added 126,000 new investors in April, reveals National Stock Exchange (NSE) disclosures. This is higher than Maharashtra's 118,000. Maharashtra, which is home to India's financial capital of Mumbai, has traditionally been the biggest source of investors.
In debate over NPS and EPFO returns, one retirement fund edges ahead
Rediff.com12 Jun 2023If you work for 30 years, a two per cent difference in pension returns can reduce your final retirement nest egg by 40 per cent. The Rs 9-trillion National Pension System (NPS) seems to be delivering incrementally higher returns than the twice-as-large Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), shows a Business Standard analysis of data over the last seven years for the two retirement fund bodies. An investor who put in Rs 100 in retirement savings seven years ago would have seen her NPS nest egg grow to Rs 182 by 2023, according to the analysis based on the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority's recently released Handbook of National Pension System Statistics 2023.
GST and states, a reality check of how indirect tax system is working
Rediff.com15 May 2023Taiwan in 1951 came up with an ingenious plan to improve tax compliance: citizens taking receipts for purchases could use them as lottery tickets. Customers were incentivized, and businesses found it hard to evade taxes. The plan's success prompted other countries, Slovakia and Greece among them, to launch similar initiatives. India doesn't seem to find the need yet for such schemes amid surging goods and services tax (GST) collections.
India's Rigid Food Inflation Bites Harder
Rediff.com18 Apr 2023Nearly a third of an average Indian citizen's consumption budget is spent on food.
Why Are Indians Obsessed With Overworking?
Rediff.com1 Mar 2023Never mind work-life balance: this generation spends more time on the job than ever before.
Indian investments in foreign stocks, property at record high in Dec
Rediff.com1 Mar 2023The amount of money Indians invested in foreign securities, property, and deposits in 2022 was likely the highest on record. At $2.1 billion, it was the largest spend for any 12-month period according to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) data going back over a decade. The amount spent for each individual segment was also the highest.
More than two dozen companies do the vanishing act
Rediff.com2 Feb 2023The companies on the list are from sectors including trading, finance, packaging, textile, realty, and others. Trading and finance companies account for half-a-dozen companies each.
Will Foreign Universities Set Up Campuses In India?
Rediff.com30 Jan 2023The 38.5 million enrolled for higher education in 2019-2020 outnumbered Canada's entire population of 38.2 million.
As wealth inequality grows, is it time for an Indian inheritance tax?
Rediff.com27 Jan 2023Billionaire Bill Gates, in a 2019 interview, supported bringing back a regulation in the US to require the super-rich to pay a 55 per cent tax when they inherit their family fortune. Proponents of an inheritance or estate tax say it reduces inequality and creates a meritocratic society by chipping away at the enormous advantages the children of the wealthiest families enjoy by an accident of birth. Many large economies levy such a tax on their richest citizens; India does not.
Debt as investment avenue is more appealing for the wealthy
Rediff.com12 Jan 2023Debt as an investment avenue for the wealthy has been attracting more assets than equity. The portfolio management service (PMS) industry, whose services require a minimum investment of Rs 50 lakh, has seen a 4.4 per cent decline in equity assets since March 2022.