Banking

The central bank has spelt out the 20 sectors that would be eligible for the moratorium, which includes organics chemicals, plastics, apparels, and footwear.

Pollution pushes health insurance claims up 14% post-Diwali across various cities as respiratory, cardiac cases surge

This comes amid long-standing discussions within the industry about introducing city-specific health insurance premiums that factor in air pollution levels as a key risk indicator.

SBI chief backs fresh wave of bank mergers to boost scale and growth

SBI, which is 55%-owned by the government, is seeing signs of an industry-wide revival of capital spending by corporates but pricing for loans is becoming tighter.

‘Third party’ definition under motor insurance may be expanded to include owner-drivers

Sources say, this change is currently being circulated among stakeholders and if approved, is likely to be rolled out in the upcoming winter parliamentary session

Fusion Finance's covenant breach concerns resolved, expect normal audit remarks from FY27, assures CEO

Fusion Finance's CEO said the first tranche of rights issue of Rs 400 crore was fully utilised for disbursements, and not for write-offs. The second tranche of the rights issue will be received by December, which too will be utilized for disbursements.

India's record low retail inflation in Oct opens space for rate cut if H2FY26 growth weakens

India’s retail inflation eased sharply to 0.25 percent in October, its lowest level in the current series that began in 2013, down from 1.44 percent in September.

Banking system liquidity gains wiped out by RBI’s forex intervention, credit growth

Even as factors such as currency in circulation increase, forex interventions and increase in credit demand have been major drivers of a reduction in systemic liquidity. That said, liquidity still remained in the surplus zone -- at around Rs 2.11 lakh crore -- resulting in money market rates staying in the lower end of the curve.

Barclays Bank India to remain a wholesale-focused lender, says CEO Pramod Kumar

Barclays Bank India CEO Pramod Kumar said he is hopeful that the government will address the adverse tax treatment that foreign banks are subjected to, when they choose to operate as a branch in India.

Mahindra’s investment in Manulife insurance JV to be funded via Mahindra Finance dividends, says Anish Shah

The life insurance venture could naturally extend into the general insurance space, which the company plans to evaluate once composite licensing is introduced, CEO Shah has said.

India will continue to see more inbound and domestic interest: Pramod Kumar, CEO Barclays Bank PLC, India

Kumar says he is clear that while investment banking may be core to what Barclays does in the country, corporate banking is getting built as a pillar of strength for the bank

Mahindra-Manulife to invest Rs 7,200 crore in life insurance JV, eyes Rs 30,000-crore valuation

The JV’s valuation potential is projected at Rs 18,000–30,000 crore over the next decade, with the venture expected to be accretive to Mahindra Finance’s return on assets

Mumbai Police EOW finds no fund siphoning at IndusInd Bank, seeks RBI’s final word: Report

Preliminary inquiry finds no criminality or insider trading; accounting lapses seen as omissions, not wilful misstatements.

How a Rs 1,00,000 crore fat finger error at Karnataka Bank is drawing RBI’s attention

While the incident occurred on August 8, 2023, it was escalated to the bank’s board much later and has caught the regulator’s attention in the current year’s annual inspection.

Can banks absorb a rate cut in December?

According to Ace Equity data, state-owned lenders have seen a 6-60 bps reduction in NIMs between Q4FY25 and Q2FY26. Similarly, private banks saw a reduction in NIMs of 6-41 bps, and small finance banks by 10-8 bps.

Apollo Hospitals' insurance arm targets nationwide rollout by FY27

After launching its insurance arm in NCR and Hyderabad, Apollo eyes expansion through digital and call centre-led sales while preparing select in-store rollouts by FY27

Bigger Banks, Bigger Ambitions: Why India must build banks with global heft

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s push for a fresh phase of public-sector bank consolidation is a strategic bet on scale, competitiveness and credit depth that India’s growth trajectory now requires.

IRDAI examining feedback on proposal to appoint internal ombudsmen in insurance firms: Ajay Seth

Seth also flagged persistent gaps in health insurance claim settlements, calling for greater transparency and fairness from insurers

RBI recognizes Self-Regulated PSO Association as SRO for Payment System Operators

The omnibus framework contains broad parameters such as objectives, responsibilities, eligibility criteria, governance standards, application process and other basic conditions for grant of recognition, which will be common for any SRO proposed to be recognized by the Reserve Bank.

GDP for H1FY26 seen at 7.4 percent with full-year growth at 6.8 percent, says UBS note

UBS expects India's nominal GDP growth to decelerate to 8.5 percent in FY26, lowest since FY20 (excluding the pandemic), with space for another 25 bps rate cut by the Reserve Bank (RBI) in FY26, before a pause in FY27.

Life insurers’ new business premium rises 12% in October, led by private players

Across categories, individual single-premium rose 6.44 percent year on year to Rs 3,962 crore, while individual non-single premium increased 4.34 percent to Rs 8,871 crore.

Yes Bank emerges as the only top-10 private lender with no ‘buy’ calls

Analysts attribute Yes Bank’s weak earnings and rising retail stress as reasons for  negative investor sentiment

Standalone health insurance market nearly doubles even as Star Health’s dominance halves in 5 years to 32%

Star's aggressive shift towards its retail segment, according to experts, may have hurt Star Health’s ability to capture new market opportunities

HDFC Bank’s MFI chief K Venkatesh set to join Spandana Sphoorty as CEO

In April this year, Shalabh Saxena quit the company and stepped down as MD & CEO with immediate effect. Ashish Damani, the then CFO, was elevated as interim CEO.

Indian rupee opens flat on support from Trump’s trade optimism

Amid the ongoing India-US trade deal negotiations, President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that they are going to "bring down the tariffs" imposed on New Delhi.

All you need to know about Non-Deliverable Forward market

NDFs are commonly used by investors to mitigate currency risk in emerging market economies, when the underlying currency is volatile.

RBI ramps up defence of rupee near record lows, curbs excess volatility

Market participants said such operations reflect the RBI’s intent to smooth volatility rather than defend any specific level of the currency, ensuring stability amid periods of excess speculative pressure.

Banks' CD issuances fell sharply by 58 percent in October on comfortable liquidity

Punjab National Bank, SIDBI, Axis Bank, IDFC First Bank and Bank of India remained top five issuers in October raising around Rs 37,490 crore.

Credit guarantee scheme worth Rs 20,000 crore soon for NBFC-MFIs to ease liquidity crunch

Expected to be announced in the coming weeks, the relief package for NBC-MFIs is aimed at providing liquidity support to the sector.

Benign CPI inflation revives rate cut hopes, RBI to weigh growth data before decision

According to economists, the recent easing of inflation cannot be interpreted as a signal of weak demand or an imminent growth slowdown. The drop in inflation is likely due to supply-side improvements and favourable base effect rather than a broad-based economic slowdown.

Shriram General Insurance eyes Rs 4,500 crore premium, expects 24% growth in FY26: CEO Anil Kumar Aggarwal

CEO Aggarwal said while the company remains confident about meeting its growth target, it continues to grapple with systemic challenges such as the lack of access to motor insurance data, which has kept penetration levels stagnant at around 50%

Banking Central | Thali cools, but RBI’s inflation battle is far from over

For a country where inflation is measured first in tomatoes and onions and only later in spreadsheets, this counts as genuine relief.

M&A loans: RBI is opening the gates. Do Indian banks have the playbook?

Governor Malhotra says guardrails are in place and judgement should rest with banks. History suggests judgement, not regulation, will decide the outcome.

Fintech firm Slice Small Finance Bank turns profitable, reports Rs 7 cr net in H1 FY26

One of the key reasons behind the improving financials was the falling cost of funds, as Slice could now receive deposits from the public, which is cheaper than loans from other financial institutions

K V Kamath says India’s right to wait as AI hype plays out; backs strong valuations, buoyant IPO market, bank reforms

Speaking at the Global Leadership Summit, K.V. Kamath said that while the world is witnessing an intense wave of enthusiasm over AI, “a bit of the hype has to die down” before the true economic value of the technology becomes clear.

LIC’s GST impact under 1%, ITC burden not passed onto agents: CEO Doraiswamy

The insurer expects that exemptions on life insurance products will boost business volumes, support top-line growth, and provide opportunities to optimise expenses

India needs ‘big and world class’ banks, work on PSB consolidation has begun: FM Sitharaman

On October 15, Moneycontrol have reported that India's banking sector is headed for another round of public sector bank consolidation with the government working on a mega merger that could see smaller lenders being merged with larger banks.

Piramal Finance on track to 3% RoA, MD Jairam Sridharan says, as stock begins trading

The MD and CEO of Piramal Finance said the NBFC would start its new innings on the stock exchanges on a clean slate, and is all set to meet the 3 percent RoA target in the coming years.

India plans to retain cap on voting rights for large shareholders in banks: Report

The government is also seeking a majority investor in state-owned IDBI Bank, expecting to conclude that process by end of March 2026.

Distributors agreed to bear ITC as GST relief boosts affordability, volumes, Niva Bupa’s MD and CEO

Niva Bupa CEO Krishnan Ramachandran said that the distributors have agreed to bear the ITC as the recent GST relief is improving affordability and driving higher policy volumes.

Fusion Finance founder Devesh Sachdev steps down from board, exits all roles

Sachdev's resignation from the board, which came into effect on November 4, formally completes his exit from all executive and governance roles at the micro-finance lender

RBI’s huddle with dealers: Liquidity tightening or signalling risk control?

We have seen the system slip into meaningful deficit episodes this quarter

Rupee opens 13 paise up at 88.52 against dollar tracking gains in Asian currencies

The rupee is expected to move in the 88.40-88.90 range, depending on how the RBI takes the currency forward, experts say

November blues: Rupee likely to trade close to 89 amid trade uncertainty, strong dollar

On November 4, the RBI intervened in the NDF market to defend rupee from touching record low

SBI maintain 20% of GDP as asset portfolio, aims to grow to 25%, says Chairman CS Setty

Setty added that after several quarters of muted activity, corporate loan growth has started to pick up, buoyed by a strong pipeline and improving credit demand. Setty said that while there were sizeable prepayments in recent quarters partly due to the lender’s decision not to match aggressive pricing and partly because several corporates chose to repay loans using surplus cash the outlook has turned positive.

Yes Bank stake sale yielded 14% IRR, no compulsion to hold or sell remaining shares: SBI chairman CS Setty

According to Setty, SBI’s primary intent in participating in the reconstruction plan was not profit-making but supporting financial stability at a crucial time.

RBL Bank shares jump 2.5% today as Mahindra & Mahindra sells stake with 64% gain via block deal

Automobiles major Mahindra & Mahindra had invested Rs 417 crore in July 2023 to acquire a 3.5 percent stake in RBL Bank at Rs 197 per share. The current deal is expected to deliver a gain of roughly 64 percent on that investment.

Privatisation of banks unlikely to hurt financial inclusion drive, national interest: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Nirmala Sitharaman said the bank nationalisation done in 1969 has not yielded the desired result as far as financial inclusion was concerned

Life insurers' non-par products gain traction in rebalance, but HDFC Life bucks the trend

HDFC Life's non-par share declined sharply to 18 percent in H1FY26 from 32 percent a year ago, a deviation in an otherwise uniform industry tilt toward guaranteed-return products.

Shriram Life’s new business premium up 17 percent in H1FY26, renewal premium rise 43 percent

Kromhout called the government’s move to reduce GST on individual term insurance policies from 18 percent to zero a 'landmark decision' that would make pure protection products more affordable and expand industry penetration.

Tata Capital Housing’s Ajai Shukla likely frontrunner for PNB Housing CEO's role

Ajai Shukla has held multiple leadership roles across Tata Capital and its housing finance arm. An official announcement regarding the appointment is expected shortly, it is learnt.