Issue: 1150
US Supreme Court ruling
prompts India to reassess trade deal provisions: The Central government is
evaluating "all aspects" of the US Supreme Court ruling, which is why
the talks around the interim trade framework have been deferred, a senior
government official told. Another source aware of the
development said that the government is looking at freshly negotiating some
provisions of the trade deal – so that it can get an edge over other countries.
"The 18 percent tariff rate gave India a slight edge over its peers. But
now since the global tariff rate imposed by US is 15 percent, the benefit is
gone. Therefore, sectors under which India get can get more concession or
exemption – via the trade deal -- is being assessed," the source said.
(Moneycontrol)
?16.72 lakh crore target:
Govt scales up asset monetisation under NMP 2.0 till FY30: The government has drawn up an ambitious
five-year roadmap under the National Monetisation Pipeline 2.0 (NMP 2.0),
targeting ?16.72 lakh crore through the monetisation of public assets across 12
key sectors between FY26 and FY30, according to the official release. Launched
by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the second phase of the asset
monetisation programme builds on the first round and is positioned as a central
pillar of infrastructure financing. The ?16.72 lakh crore aggregate pipeline
includes an estimated ?5.8 lakh crore in private sector investment.
(Business Today)
Centre announces re-issue
of 6.48% G-Sec 2035 for ?32,000 crore: The Government of India has announced the sale
(re-issue) of its Government Security 6.48 per cent GS 2035 through an auction
scheduled for Friday, February 27. The date of maturity is set on October 6,
2035 and the Centre has the right to retain additional subscription of ?2,000
crore. The sale of securities helps the Centre’s ongoing market borrowing to
fund funding requirements, while ensuring liquidity in the bond markets. Up to
5 per cent of the notified amount will be allotted to select eligible
investors.
(Business Line)
Banks should
focus on core business, not on mis-selling, says FM Sitharaman: Finance
Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday asked the banks again to focus on core
business while saying that it is spending more time on selling insurance than
core business. She also said that it is too early to comment on the impact of
the tariff changes as announced by the US. “Banks should concentrate on their
core business. My pet peeve has always been, you’re spending more time on
selling insurance when it is not required, and conveniently, it fell between
two stools (of RBI and IRDAI),” she said while addressing a press conference
after customary post-Budget address to the central board of the Reserve Bank of
India. She expressed satisfaction RBI’s draft proposal on checking the
mis-selling.
(Business Line)
IDFC First Bank tanks 16%
on ?590 crore fraud; AU Bank slips 7% on Haryana de-empanelment: IDFC First Bank shares were
among the worst performers on Dalal Street on Monday afternoon, plunging nearly
16 per cent to ?70.26 on the NSE after the lender disclosed unauthorised and
fraudulent activities at its Chandigarh branch involving Haryana government
accounts worth approximately ?590 crore. The bank, in a regulatory
filing dated February 21, 2026, said discrepancies were noticed when a Haryana
government department sought closure of its account and transfer of funds.
Subsequent engagement with other Haryana government entities from February 18
revealed further differences between actual account balances and balances
claimed by these entities. The matter is currently confined to a specific set
of government-linked accounts at the Chandigarh branch and does not affect
other customers of that branch. Four employees have been
suspended pending investigation. The bank has filed a police complaint,
informed its regulator, and on February 22 announced the appointment of KPMG to
conduct an independent forensic audit.
(Business Line)
Insolvency recoveries hit
15-quarter low: The
amount realised by the creditors under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC)
as a fraction of their total claims has hit a 15-quarter low of 20.02% in
October-December 2025. As per the latest report from Insolvency and Bankruptcy
Board of India (IBBI), the claimants recovered just over 20% (or Rs 5,477.4
crore) of the total claims admitted (Rs 27,360.9 crore) by them in cases where
the insolvent entities were resolved. Lower realisation indicates an increase
in the value of haircuts by the financial and operational creditors.
(Financial Express)
AU Small Finance Bank
begins internal probe after Haryana account fiasco:
AU Small Finance Bank said it has begun an internal
review as the Haryana government de-empanelled it citing irregularities but
added there is no indication of any financial impact or any fraudulent activity
at the bank. The bank said
it has placed some employees off duty. "The bank's board has been informed
and the bank continues its internal review on this matter. To ensure a fair and
transparent review, certain employees have been placed off duty," AU said
in a late Sunday note. There were 14
suspected transactions involving Rs 47 crore from a Haryana government account
to a customer account, both maintained with AU Small Finance Bank.
(Economic Times)
Banks may invest ?7
trillion in G-secs in FY27 amid rising deposit base: Banks were expected to invest around ?7 trillion in
government securities (Gsec) in the upcoming financial year as their overall
statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) holdings have declined, Shailendra Jhingan,
head – treasury at ICICI Bank, said on
Monday. He was speaking at IIMK-NSE 3rd Annual Conference on Macroeconomics,
Banking & Finance. Jhingan added that bank deposit growth was projected
between 10 per cent and 12 per cent in 2026-2027 (FY27), implying incremental
accretions of around ?30 trillion. As banks maintain about 25 per cent of
deposits in SLR assets, this translates into potential investments of roughly
?7 trillion in government bonds.
(Business Standard)
Airtel unveils Rs
20,000-crore NBFC war chest to scale digital lending: Bharti Airtel on February 23 announced a Rs
20,000-crore capital infusion in its NBFC subsidiary, Airtel Money Ltd, over
the next few years, marking one of its largest strategic bets outside telecom.
Airtel will contribute 70 percent of the capital and the remaining 30 percent
will come from the promoter group through Bharti Enterprises Ltd. The announcement came 10
days after Airtel Money received its non-banking finance company (NBFC) licence
from the Reserve Bank of India, formally enabling the telecom major to scale
its digital lending ambitions. Airtel’s push into full-scale lending builds on
its existing Lending Service Provider (LSP) platform, which the company says
has disbursed over Rs 9,000 crore in loans over the past two years.
(Moneycontrol)
India-France DTAC amended:
full taxing rights on capital gains to resident jurisdiction: India and France have signed a protocol to
make changes to the Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC). According to a
statement by the board, the amending protocol provides full taxing rights in
respect of capital gains arising from sale of shares of a company to the
jurisdiction where the company is situated. It deletes the so-called
most-favoured nation (MFN) clause from the protocol to the DTAC, thereby
bringing to rest all issues relating to it. It modifies the taxation of income
from dividends by replacing a single rate of 10 per cent of tax, with a split
rate of 5 per cent for those holding at least 10 per cent of capital and 15 per
cent of tax for all other cases. It also modifies the definition of fees for
technical services by aligning it with the definition in India US Double
Taxation Avoidance Agreement, and expands the scope of permanent establishment
by adding service PE.
(Business Line)
Gurugram topples Mumbai
again as India’s biggest luxury housing market: Once a satellite city,
Gurugram has now become the epicentre of India’s luxury housing boom. In 2025,
it toppled Mumbai for the second year in a row, clocking Rs 24,120 crore in
sales of ultra-premium homes — the clearest signal yet of how new wealth and
infrastructure are redrawing the country’s real estate map. According to the
latest report by India Sotheby’s International Realty (ISIR) and CRE Matrix, Gurugram’s
luxury housing segment — homes priced at Rs 10 crore and above — recorded
transactions worth Rs 24,120 crore in calendar year 2025, outpacing Mumbai’s Rs
21,902 crore. This marks the second year in a row that Gurugram has overtaken
Mumbai, which had dominated the luxury segment for nearly four decades.
(Financial Express)
Won’t revisit broker
funding norms: RBI guv: The Reserve Bank of India is
not considering revisiting its recently announced norms on bank financing for
traders and brokers, Governor Sanjay Malhotra said on Monday. He also ruled out
any systemic risk arising from the IDFC First Bank fraud. The RBI recently
mandated that banks must secure 100% collateral when funding brokers and capped
total exposure to 40% of their tier-1 capital. It has also barred bank funding
for proprietary trading by brokers. Since proprietary trading accounted for
about 30% of participation in cash and futures markets and nearly 50% in the
equity options segment as of December 2025, the move is expected to affect
overall trading volumes.
(Financial Express)
Benefits under RoDTEP cut
to half: The government has slashed the benefits under
the scheme that refunds taxes incurred at the production stage of exported
goods by half. “With immediate effect, the applicable Remission of Duties and
Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) rates shall be limited to 50% of the existing
rates and, where applicable, 50% of the notified value caps,” a notification by
the DGFT said. RoDTEP reimburses taxes, duties and levies at the central, state
and local level which are currently not being refunded under any other
mechanism but are incurred by the exporters in the process of manufacture and
distribution of exported products. Before
Monday notification, refunds ranged from 0.3% to 4.3% of the value of exported
products. These rates will now come down to 0.15% to 2.15%. The refunds are
given as transferable duty credit scrip which can be used to pay import duties
or sold in the market by exporters.
(Financial Express)
Labour Ministry to
auto-refund small balances in inoperative EPFO accounts: The Ministry of Labour and Employment
has cleared a pilot project to automatically refund small balances from
inoperative Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) accounts without
requiring members to apply, said officials aware of the development. There are
a total of 3.186 million inoperative
accounts with the EPFO, with deposits amounting to ?10,903 crores. Of these,
7,11,000 accounts contain balances of ? 1,000 or less, with ? 30.52 crore lying
unclaimed in them. These small balance accounts will be part of the pilot
phase. After the 2016 amendment to the EPF Scheme, 1952, an account becomes
inoperative only after a member turns 58 and fails to withdraw the balance.
Inactivity alone does not trigger inoperative status. All EPF accounts — whether
active, inactive, or without contributions — continue to earn interest until
the member reaches 58 years of age. Interest stops only after the account
becomes inoperative post-58.
(Business Standard)
OPTIMAL CAPITAL STRUCTURE
§ The
optimal capital structure of a firm is the best mix of debt and equity
financing that maximizes a company’s market value while minimizing its cost of
capital. In theory, debt financing offers the lowest cost of capital due to its
tax deductibility.
§ However,
too much debt increases the financial risk to shareholders and the return on
equity that they require. Thus, companies have to find the optimal point at
which the marginal benefit of debt equals the marginal cost.
§ An
optimal capital structure is the best mix of debt and equity financing that
maximizes a company’s market value while minimizing its cost of capital.
§ Minimizing
the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is one way to optimize for the
lowest cost mix of financing.
RBI KEY RATES
Repo
Rate: 5.25%
SDF:
5.00%
MSF
/Bank Rate: 5.50%
CRR:
3.00%
SLR:
18.00%
FOREX RATES (RBI REF. RATE)
INR
/ 1 USD : 90.7461
INR
/ 1 GBP : 122.7444
INR
/ 1 EUR : 107.3042
INR
/100 JPY: 58.8000
EQUITY INDEX
Sensex: 83294.66 (+479.95)
NIFTY: 25713.00 (+141.75)
Bnk NIFTY: 61264.25 (+92.25)
Central Excise Day: February 24 is
primarily celebrated as Central Excise Day in India, observed annually to honor
the contribution of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and
its employees to the nation's economic services, particularly in managing
excise duty, GST, and anti-smuggling efforts. It marks the enactment of the
Central Excise and Salt Act in 1944.
Historical events: February 24 marks
significant historical events, including the 1739 Battle of Karnal where Nader
Shah defeated the Mughals, and the 1822 inauguration of the first Swaminarayan
Temple in India. Globally, it marks the 1582 introduction of the Gregorian
calendar, the 1920 founding of the Nazi Party, and the 2022 Russian invasion of
Ukraine.
****Have a nice Day****
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