Issue: 1353
· Bajaj Finance clocks 30% rise
in Q2 FY27 standalone net profit at Rs.5,536 cr.
· ‘Centre weighing Rs 35,000-cr
outlay for PM-KUSUM-II’.
· IndusInd General Insurance
appoints Sharad Mathur as MD & CEO.
· CBDT makes Form 173A
mandatory to claim tax exemption on interest and gains from government
securities.
· FM Sitharaman seeks global
framework to address sanctions fallout.
· US bans Chinese AI firm
DeepSeek from government agency IT systems.
'Not easy to do overnight':
Marco Rubio praises India's progress in diversifying Russian oil imports: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday said
India has made substantial progress in diversifying its energy imports,
including reducing its dependence on Russian oil, as Washington looks to expand
energy cooperation with New Delhi and explore opportunities involving Reliance
Industries' operations in Venezuela. Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Rubio said New
Delhi had repeatedly expressed its intention to diversify its energy portfolio,
describing the move as a sensible approach amid global energy market
disruptions. "Obviously it's not easy to do that from one day to the next,
you know. So I think they've made substantial progress in that regard and we're
happy to see that," Rubio said, responding to a question on India's
purchases of Russian oil.
(Moneycontrol)
Fresh market borrowings for
the govt getting pricier amid a tightening cycle: With the secondary market
yield of the benchmark 10-year Government Security (G-Sec) (6.94 per cent GS
2036) spiking to 7.40 per cent levels, and cut-offs at the weekly G-Secs
auctions also rising in tandem since July 2026, fresh market borrowings for the
government is getting pricier amid a tightening cycle. Going by the prevailing
secondary market yield (of 7.39 per cent) of the benchmark 10-year G-Sec and
taking into account factors such as rising crude oil prices, US sovereign bond
yields, geopolitical tensions, and possibility of more rate hikes by RBI’s
rate-setting panel, it is likely the new 10-year G-Sec issuance will be at a coupon
rate of 7.35 per cent to 7.50 per cent against 6.94 per cent on the on-the-run
10-year benchmark G-Sec, say bond market experts.
(Business Line)
GST-driven sales surge in
2025 may weigh on Navratri auto sales this year: Automobile retail sales during
the Navratri-to-Dussehra period may fall marginally this year, with passenger
vehicle sales being the worst hit during the first nine days of the festive
season, down 14 per cent from last year, according to data shared by the
Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA). The dip is largely owing
to the pent-up demand that the industry witnessed last year after the GST 2.0
reforms. According to FADA data, overall automobile retail sales for the
October 11-19 period this year were up 2 per cent to 1.032 million, while the
first nine days of the season last year (September 22-30) witnessed overall
sales of 1.012 million.
(Business Standard)
Rising bond yields add to
banks’ ECL transition burden: Rising government bond yields
are threatening to increase the cost of banks’ transition to new accounting
norms from April 2027. While most banks have a fair idea of the provisions they
will need under the expected credit loss (ECL) framework, the potential hit
from revised valuation norms for held-to-maturity (HTM) securities remains a
moving target. Much will depend on where bond yields stand when the new rules
kick in on April 1, 2027. Canara Bank has already raised
its estimate of the combined one-time provisioning requirement to Rs
12,000-15,000 crore from Rs 10,000-12,000 crore earlier, factoring in potential
mark-to-market (MTM) losses on its HTM portfolio as yields harden.
(Financial Express)
Yes Bank's evaluating
capital actions to back growth plans: Yes Bank expects its Common
Equity Tier 1 (CET1), or core loss-absorbing capital, to shrink more than two
percentage points to 11.4% as of September after India's top court voided the
2020 write-down of additional Tier 1 bonds, prompting a 17% stock hemorrhage
since Thursday. The bank is assessing its
capital options and legal responses to the judgment. Despite the challenges,
Yes Bank's growth priorities remain intact, with notable year-on-year advances.
(Economic Times)
PNB cautions customers of
AI-led cyberattacks amid cyber fraud surge: State-run Punjab National Bank
(PNB) has cautioned its customers about AI-enabled cyberattacks, especially AI
voice cloning, deepfakes, and phishing, amid surging incidents of fraud, and
has advised them to remain vigilant. Highlighting that October is
observed as National Cyber Security Awareness Month every year, the bank
informed customers that fraudsters are using increasingly sophisticated methods
to make their attempts more convincing.
(Business Standard)
Axis Bank, Visa offer up to 20% off on festive purchases across
100+ brands: Axis
Bank has partnered with Visa to offer discounts of up to 20 per cent on
eligible credit card purchases and equated monthly instalment (EMI)
transactions during the festive season. The campaign covers more than 100
offers across electronics, mobile phones, travel, fashion and lifestyle
categories, according to the bank's October 19 announcement. The
offers are available to eligible Axis Bank Visa credit cardholders and include
discounts and EMI benefits.
(Business Standard)
PFRDA launches new NPS
Central: The
Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has launched NPS
Central, a unified digital platform that allows National Pension System (NPS)
subscribers to manage their pension accounts without having to navigate
separate recordkeeping agency portals. Subscribers can log in using their
registered mobile number and date of birth, verified through a one-time
password (OTP), instead of remembering their Permanent Retirement Account
Number (PRAN).
(Business Standard)
Gem, jewellery exporters
heave a sigh of relief as the US puts off punitive tax: The gem and jewellery exporters expect fresh orders
from the US to revive, with fears of a punitive 100 per cent import duty on
India now on the back burner. On September 18, the US Congress enacted the
Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 (SRIA), which
authorised tariffs of up to 100 per cent on goods from the top five buyers of
Russian crude oil or natural gas. The tariffs would apply to India and China,
the two largest buyers of Russian oil. However, late last week, US President
Donald Trump exercised his waiver authority, putting the proposed 100 per cent
punitive duties on hold in the national interest of the US.
(Business Line)
Govt reworked conditions
for return of goods in SEZ units from domestic tariff area: Goods supplied by a unit in a Special Economic
Zone (SEZ) and rejected by the domestic buyer on account of change in fashion
can now be brought back post fulfilment of certain conditions, as the
government has expanded the conditions for return of goods supplied by a unit
in SEZ to the Domestic Tariff Area (DTA). “Goods supplied by a Unit into
Domestic Tariff Area on payment of duty may be brought back to the Unit where a
Domestic Tariff Area buyer fails to take delivery of the goods due to change in
fashion, change in market conditions, or default in conditions of agreement
relating to the sale,” a notification amending SEZ rules 2006 stated. The goods
need to be brought back by the unit within 30 days from the date of clearance
from the SEZ Unit. However, some conditions need to be fulfilled. First, the
identity of the goods need to be established to the satisfaction of the
specified officer. Second, the SEZ unit should provide evidence that no
benefits — including input tax credit — have been availed by the DTA buyer who
has failed to take delivery of the goods, and third, a separate inventory need
to be maintained. Further, the SEZ unit can re-sell the same goods without any
alteration of the original condition of the goods, in the DTA either to the
same buyer or to different buyer. If there is fresh sale, then duty will be
required to be paid.
(Business Line)
Agri-photovoltaics: Centre
explores incentives to expand solar capacity on farmland: The Centre is exploring
financial incentives to encourage agri-photovoltaics, a system that combines
solar power generation with agricultural activity on the same land, as it seeks
to expand renewable energy capacity without compromising food security, reported
The Indian Express. India has an estimated
agri-photovoltaic potential of 1-2 terawatts (TW), equivalent to 1,000-2,000
gigawatts (GW), against its current installed solar capacity of 171 GW, Santosh
Kumar Sarangi, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), said,
according to the report.
(Financial Express)
Resident Indians, FIIs to
get income tax exemption on NDB’s Maharaja Bonds: Income Tax Department has notified tax
exemption on interest earned from ‘Maharaja Bond’, issued by New Development
Bank. Meanwhile, the department has also introduced a new form for exemption on
government securities for Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs). In a
notification, the department said that “no deduction of tax shall be made under
section 393(1) of the Income Tax Act on payment in the nature of interest, made
by the New Development Bank to such person being holder of the Maharaja INR
Bonds issued by the New Development Bank during the tax year 2026-27 and
subsequent tax years.” Here, holder means a resident or a Foreign Institutional
Investor. The New Development Bank will be required to furnish information.
(Business Line)
CBDT introduces Form 173A
for tax exemption claims on government securities: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has
introduced a new reporting requirement for taxpayers seeking specified
income-tax exemptions on interest and capital gains earned from government
securities, through Form 173A under the Income-tax Rules, 2026. According to a
notification issued by the Ministry of Finance on October 19, the Income-tax
(Seventh Amendment) Rules, 2026, require taxpayers claiming exemptions under
Schedule IV, Table entries 13D and 13E, of the Income-tax Act, 2025, to furnish
the prescribed information in Form 173A.
(Business Line)
FinMin gives in-principle
nod to scheme for solar polysilicon manufacturing: The Ministry of Finance has given in-principle
approval to a proposal by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) to
launch a special scheme to support domestic polysilicon manufacturing. A highly
purified form of silicon, polysilicon is the primary raw material for more than
95 per cent of solar panels globally. Following the approval, MNRE plans to
seek the Cabinet’s nod to launch the scheme soon. Polysilicon is the only
segment of the domestic solar value chain that is not currently covered by a
support mechanism. The government has already introduced measures to support
domestic manufacturing across the rest of the value chain, including ingots and
wafers, solar cells and modules, through initiatives such as the
production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme and the approved list of models and
manufacturers (ALMM).
(Business Standard)
OPERATING
LEVERAGE
·
Operating leverage measures how strongly a change in
revenue affects operating profit because of the organisation’s fixed-cost
structure. Businesses with high fixed costs and relatively low variable costs
have high operating leverage.
·
Once the break-even point is crossed, incremental
revenue can generate rapid profit growth. However, revenue decline can also
cause a disproportionate fall in profit.
·
Example: A bank invests Rs.500 crore in a digital
lending platform. The initial technology and compliance costs are high, but the
cost of processing each additional loan is relatively low. As loan volumes
increase, the average processing cost declines and profitability improves
substantially. If revenue increases by 10% while operating profit
increases by 20%, the business demonstrates high operating leverage.
RBI KEY RATES
Repo
Rate: 5.50%
SDF:
5.25%
MSF
/Bank Rate: 5.75%
CRR:
3.00%
SLR:
18.00%
FOREX RATES (RBI REF. RATE)
INR
/ 1 USD : 94.7691
INR
/ 1 GBP : 126.2928
INR
/ 1 EUR : 106.3300
INR
/100 JPY: 59.9500
EQUITY INDEX
Sensex:
73852.90 (-876.37)
NIFTY:
22888.95 (-257.20)
Bnk NIFTY: 55488.10 (-355.90)
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