Author: NNI Editor

MUMBAIThe Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has lowered the risk weight on the exposure of Scheduled Commercial Banks’ (SCBs) lending to non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and microfinance loans.The risk weight on the exposures was increased by 25 percentage points in 2023 in the case of NBFCs and on a review, the RBI decided to restore the risk weights applicable to such exposures, the central bank said, adding that this would come into effect from April 1.“It is a welcome move in view of the current headwinds faced by the sector; this shall to an extent provide some relief to the…

Small-scale foundries in Coimbatore struggle to be cost competitive with the units in the northern States. | Photo Credit: Siva SaravananS Rising costs of power, labour and raw materials have dented the competitiveness of the 400-and-odd small-scale foundries in Coimbatore city and nearby areas.A. Shiva Shanmughakumar, president of the Coimbatore Tiny and Small Foundry Owners’ Association (Cosmafan), said the foundries are operating only 60%-70% of the capacity as they are unable to compete with the foundries in Gujarat, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh in costs.The raw material, including ferrous, coke, and sand, prices are at least 5 % higher in…

The rupee fell sharply by 47 paise to settle at 87.19 against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday due to month-end dollar demand by importers amid uncertainty over U.S. trade tariffs.Elevated greenback against major crosses and sustained FII outflows also contributed to the decline in the domestic unit, forex traders said.“The rupee fell by more than half a percent against the dollar, marking its biggest intraday drop in the past three weeks. However, after the steep fall, a slight recovery was observed,” said Rahul Kalantri, vice president (Commodities), Mehta Equities Ltd.“The drop in the rupee against the dollar came after U.S.…

Technological advancements in India have increased farmer profitability by 26% while reducing pesticide use by 18%, said Tanveer S Uberoi, Director, Mid-Market Sales, Google Customer Solutions.He said in a keynote on “Leveraging AI for Market Insights and Improved Productivity” on the second day of the International Spice Conference (ISC) 2025, hosted by the All India Spices Exporters Forum (AISEF) here in Bengaluru.While illustrating AI’s tangible benefits in sustainable and profitable farming, Mr. Uberoi cited Google’s collaboration with AI-driven agricultural platforms, such as OneMoney, which enables farmers to upload photos of their crops for AI-powered disease diagnosis and treatment suggestions. ‘‘These…

Sundaram Home Finance plans to double its disbursements in the Emerging Business segment, covering small shops and businesses and affordable housing, to more than ₹400 crore in a year.A press release from the company said the Emerging Business (EB) comprises of loans up to ₹20 lakh to small shops and businesses and affordable housing finance where the company provides loans of up to ₹35 lakh.With 40 branches in Tamil Nadu to cater to this segment, Sundaram Home Finance recently opened five branches in Andhra Pradesh and will venture into Telangana soon.D. Lakshminarayanan, Managing Director of Sundaram Home Finance said in…

Shareholders of Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA) have approved the company’s proposal to raise up to ₹5,000 crore through Qualified Institutions Placement (QIP) of equity shares, in one or multiple tranches. The approval was granted by the shareholders in favour of the resolution via remote e-voting during the 22nd Extra-Ordinary General Meeting (EGM) held on Tuesday through video conferencing. IREDA’s Board had earlier approved the fundraising plan on January 23, which includes the dilution of the Government of India’s shareholding in the company by up to 7% post-issue equity, in one or multiple tranches.Addressing the shareholders, Pradip Kumar Das, CMD,…

The board of directors of Tata Capital Ltd. at their meeting held on Tuesday approved a proposal by the company to raise ₹1,504 crore via rights issue of equity shares of face value of ₹10 each of the company to existing equity shareholders of the company. The record date is February 25.The board has also approved an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of the equity shares of the company with face value of ₹10 each with a fresh issue of up to 23 crore equity shares and an offer for sale of equity shares by certain existing and eligible shareholders of the company, subject…

Vedanta Group has firmed up plans to “invest ₹50,000 crore in Assam and Tripura’s oil and gas sector over the next 3-4 years”. | Photo Credit: Reuters Mining major Vedanta Group chairman Anil Agarwal on Tuesday (February 25, 2025) announced that the firm will pump in ₹50,000 crore in the oil and gas sector in Assam and Tripura over the next 3-4 years. Speaking at the inaugural function of the Advantage Assam investment summit here, he said group firm Cairn Oil & Gas has already invested around ₹2,500 crore in the two States of the northeast region. “Assam has abundant natural resources…

Generic injectable-focused Gland Pharma facility in Visakhapatnam has been issued three observations by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (U.S. FDA). “The U.S. FDA conducted a pre-approval inspection (PAI) for sterile active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) at the company’s facility in JNPC, Visakhapatnam from February 19-25. The inspection concluded with three Form 483 observations,” Gland Pharma said in a filing on Tuesday. The observations are procedural in nature and the corrective and preventive actions will be submitted to the agency within the stipulated period. The observations issued are neither repeat observations nor related to data integrity, the company said. Published -…

Photo: Special Arrangement An active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) manufacturing facility of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories in Hyderabad inspected last year by the United States Food and Drug Administration (U.S. FDA) has since been classified as Voluntary Action Indicated (VAI) by the agency. “The U.S. FDA has classified the inspection as VAI and concluded that the inspection is closed…,” the generic drugmaker on Tuesday (February 25, 2025) said in an update to the stock exchanges on the inspection of the API manufacturing facility (CTO-2) in Bollaram, Hyderabad.The U.S. FDA had conducted the GMP inspection from November 13-19 and issued a Form 483 with…