Business Today 25 May 2025

After nearly a quarter of a century, Bajaj Allianz has split, marking the end of an era. This after the Union Budget announced a landmark move this February—100% foreign direct investment in the insurance sector. The move has generated significant investor interest. The potential is immense. Insurance penetration in India is below 4% compared to around 15% in developed economies. With a growing population, rising incomes, and expanding middle class, the market is ripe for transformation. New entrants and innovative technologies are fast changing how insurance is sold, ushering in a disruptive era for the industry and hitherto dominant players like LIC. A reduction in the 18% GST on insurance to a more reasonable 5% would further support the sector’s growth and make insurance more accessible to Indians. The government’s…

INSIDE MOVES PROMOTERS OF THE INDIA CEMENTS UPPED THEIR STAKE THE MOST IN THE MARCH QUARTER PROMOTER SHAREHOLDING IN %  SOURCE ACE EQUITY 67.22% FII SHAREHOLDING IN 360 ONE WAM AS OF MARCH 2025, THE HIGHEST AMONG BSE 500 COMPANIES. IT WAS FOLLOWED BY REDINGTON (60.57%) AND FIVE STAR BUSINESS FINANCE (58.75%) 47.38% DOMESTIC FUNDS’ STAKE IN CROMPTON GREAVES CONSUMER ELECTRICALS IN Q4FY25, THE HIGHEST, FOLLOWED BY KALPATARU PROJECTS (40.35%) AND MAX FINANCIAL SERVICES (39.88%) NOTE ONLY COMPANIES THAT ARE PART OF BSE 500 WERE CONSIDERED; 499 FIRMS DISCLOSED THEIR SHAREHOLDING PATTERN TILL APRIL 28; MARKET VALUATION DATA WAS AS OF THAT DATE SOURCE ACE EQUITY FUND FAVOURITES AWL AGRI BUSINESS AND TBO TECK SAW THE BIGGEST INCREASE IN MUTUAL FUND SHAREHOLDING IN Q4FY25 FIGURES ABOVE BAR SHOW MUTUAL FUND…

HOURS AFTER INDIA launched strikes on terror camps and infrastructure at nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in the early hours of May 7, the stock markets of the two countries showed a very divergent trend. The Indian strikes, part of Operation Sindoor, came two weeks after terrorists killed 26 people, mostly tourists, in Pahalgam in the Kashmir Valley. The Indian armed forces targeted the headquarters of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad, Indian officials said. Pakistan’s KSE-100 index crashed 6,500 points, or 6%, intraday, on May 7. It fell further on May 8 as well, forcing the Pakistan Stock Exchange to halt trading briefly. In contrast, the Indian stock markets remained almost unaffected. Global rating agency Moody’s has warned that any sustained escalation between the two countries could severely undermine Pakistan’s…

THE YEAR 2025 has brought grave tidings for the global economy as US President Donald Trump unleashed a trade war, pushing effective tariff rates higher than at any time in the last half century. This tumult has triggered concerns of a possible slowdown in demand in the US and a possible recession. As a result, business sentiment has nosedived across the world, equity markets have tumbled, and global growth prospects have dimmed. India Inc has caught the chills and business confidence has plunged. This was reflected in the BT-C Fore Business Confidence Survey of 500 chief executive officers (CEOs) and chief financial officers (CFOs) for the March quarter of financial year 2024-25 (Q4FY25). The Business Confidence Index (BCI) dipped below 50 for the first time since 2021, when the Covid-19 pandemic…

IN 2008, JSW Steel and Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd (BPSL) struck a joint venture for the allocation of the Rohne coking coal block in Jharkhand. There was little to suggest that JSW would go on to acquire BPSL over a decade later in March 2021. The latter was part of a dubious list of a dozen companies that were highly stressed corporate accounts identified by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). They were put up for resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). In a bidding process that also involved Tata Steel and the UK-based Liberty House, JSW clinched BPSL for ₹19,700 crore. Of this, ₹19,350 crore was allocated to financial creditors and the rest to operational creditors. The total amount due to financial creditors was ₹47,000 crore,…

FOLLOWING THREE YEARS of talks and a renewed resolve this year because of trade-related uncertainties, India and the UK have concluded the free trade agreement (FTA) that aims to double bilateral trade to $120 billion by 2030. The deal, seen as a precursor to, and most likely a model for, similar agreements with the US and the European Union, allows both India and the UK to expand their exports with greater market access. As part of the FTA, India will slash tariffs on key products such as whisky, automobiles, cosmetics and medical devices, locking in reductions on 90% of tariff lines. India will also get duty free or zero-rated access for 99% of its exports to the UK, as well as easing of restrictions on services trade that will enable…