Business News updates: Indian rupee posts best day in over three weeks, Donald Trump calls out India's 'unfair' tax system

Indian rupee on March 5 appreciated over 30 paise at close and posted its best day in terms of appreciation in over three weeks.

The local currency ended at 86.9675 against the US dollar, as compared to 87.2700 against the greenback at previous closing session. The local currency posted a highest gain since February 11, 2025, when it had appreciated around 65 paise.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on March 5 announced that it has partnered with Europe-based telecom tower operator Vantage Towers to launch a digital service platform to streamline service processes for property owners who lease land for telecom tower installations across Europe.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appointed Dr Ajit Ratnakar Joshi as an Executive Director at the central bank, with effect from March 3, 2025. He earlier served as the Principal Advisor in the Department of Statistics and Information Management.

Saudi Aramco is considering a potential offer for lubricant assets being sold by BP Plc, as the Middle Eastern company pushes for acquisitions that deepen its reach in oil consuming countries, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter.

The world's biggest energy company is studying whether to bid for part or all of the business, which operates under the Castrol brand name, the report said. Aramco could look to combine Castrol assets with its Valvoline lubricants unit, which it bought through a $2.65 billion deal completed in 2023.

Electronics and smartphone manufacturers in India are urging the government to eliminate tariffs on imports from the US for smartphones, telecom equipment, wearables, and consumer electronics, arguing that America is not a direct manufacturing competitor in these categories.

A top industry executive told Moneycontrol that the move will ensure smartphones—India’s fastest-growing export to the US—are not subject to any retaliatory or reciprocal tariffs from the US and will also play a critical role in preserving the country’s competitive edge, particularly against China and Vietnam. He spoke on condition of anonymity.

Budget carrier IndiGo on Wednesday announced the launch of direct flights between Mumbai and Krabi, Thailand, starting March 23, 2025.

The airline will initially operate six flights a week, with plans to increase frequency to daily services from March 30, 2025.

Ola Electric has received an incentive of Rs 73.7 crore under the government's Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Automotive and Auto Component (PLI-Auto Scheme), becoming the first two-wheeler automotive electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer to benefit in India, Moneycontrol has learnt.

Angel One announced that Ambarish Kenghe has joined the company as its Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Kenghe earlier worked at Google, which he had joined in May 2018. He then served as the Director of Product Management of Google Pay. He later became the vice president and general manager of Google Pay in India, Japan, Singapore, and the rest of the Asia Pacific region, including being responsible for the financial performance (P&L) of the business. He played a significant role in the launch of Chromecast and the development of Google.

The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) is currently investigating 33 companies with Chinese investments over alleged financial irregularities such as fund diversion and regulatory violations, a government official said.

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has finalised reports on 650 cases on companies with Chinese investments, of which 33 are under SFIO probe. In parallel, bank accounts associated with some of these firms have been seized, the official, familiar with the matter, told Moneycontrol.

Top Indian IT services companies, including TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCLTech, and Accenture, among others, have been reducing bench sizes in the past year and a half in a bid to defend margins and improve utilisation rates as revenue growth remains slow.

Benching in IT services industry refers to the employees on payroll who haven’t been deployed on any active projects. They are usually kept as a backup in case of a sudden client demand arises.

According to data sourced from market intelligence firm UnearthInsight, the average bench time at present has come down to 35-45 days compared to an average of 45-60 days in FY20 and FY21, when the sector’s revenue growth was in the higher double digits. This trend is expected to continue in FY26 too.

China's foreign affairs ministry has said, "If war is what the U.S. wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end." This comes after Trump imposed fresh duties on Chinese goods, and threatened to impose reciprocal tariffs from April 2.

India’s services sector performance improved in February, with activity index rising to 59 from a 26-month low of 56.5 in the previous month, according to a private sector survey released on March 5.

The performance of the services sector was in contrast to the manufacturing index, which witnessed a decline in activity to a 14-month low of 56.3 in February.

The shares of steel stocks surged significantly after China announced that it would restructure its steel industry to cut its total output. The latest move by China is expected to reduce the dumping of cheap steel into the Indian market, which would act as a major positive to the Indian steel companies.

India's average home prices and rental costs are set to outpace consumer inflation this year, according to a Reuters poll of housing experts.

Average home prices in India will surge 6.5% this year and 6.0% next, following a rise of about 4.0% last year, according to median forecasts in a February 17-March 4 survey of 14 property market experts.

Urban rental costs were set to climb even faster, jumping 7.0%-10.0% over the coming year. Such an increase would far outpace consumer inflation, which is expected to average 4.3% and 4.4% over the next two fiscal years, according to a separate Reuters survey.

With rents soaring, the path to homeownership is even steeper as first-time buyers struggle to save for a down payment.

China set its economic growth target at about 5% for 2025, according to a copy of the government’s annual work report seen by Bloomberg News, raising expectations for officials to unleash more stimulus as they grapple with a US trade war.

China also set this year's fiscal deficit target to around 4% of gross domestic product — the highest level in more than three decades, according to the work report seen by Bloomberg News. The GDP and general budget deficit goals are in line with economist expectations heading into the meeting.

The Sensex was over 500 points higher at 73,497. Nifty meanwhile jumped over 2 percent to 38,096

Oil prices slipped further after recording multi-month lows the previous day. This comes after reports of OPEC+ plans to proceed with output increase in April while further price pressure was applied by U.S. tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China as well as Beijing's retaliatory tariffs.

Coforge's board has approved a stock split, dividing each Rs 10 equity share into five shares of Rs 2 each. This marks the company's first stock split, pending shareholder approval. The record date will be announced later, with the entire process expected to be completed in about three months.

The shares of the company jumped over six percent in early trade.

US President Donald Trump called out the "unfair systems" of India, European Union, China and others. Trump reiterated his stance that other countries have used tariffs against America for decades and now it is their turn.

Singling out New Delhi again, Trump said, "India charges us auto tariffs 100%...the system is not fair to US, it never was...on April 2, reciprocal tariffs kick in and whatever they tariff us, other countries, we will tariff them...whatever they tax us, we will tax them."

Adani Wilmar has signed a definitive agreement to acquire GD Foods, a leading player in the sauces and pickles category and the owner of 'Tops' brand, for an enterprise value of Rs 603 crore.

The acquisition will be executed in tranches, said Adani Wilmar, with 80% of the shares to be acquired in the first tranche, and the remaining 20% over next three years.