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The 13th Ministerial India-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD), held earlier this week in London, concluded with strong signals of progress toward finalising the long-pending Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves expressed mutual eagerness to complete negotiations swiftly. The dialogue resulted in trade and investment announcements worth GBP 400 million, including major contributions from Indian firms like Paytm and Mphasis. Discussions also spanned financial services, defence, sustainable finance, education, and bilateral collaboration, with both governments reiterating their commitment to economic growth through policy coordination and open trade.Read more
India and Nepal have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at enhancing cooperation in the agriculture sector, with a focus on crop productivity, post-harvest management, and sustainable practices. The agreement, signed by Indian Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Nepal's Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development Ram Nath Adhikari, covers diverse areas including agri-tech, trade, horticulture, micro-irrigation, and integrated farming systems. During his visit, Chouhan also met Nepal's Prime Minister and discussed the importance of collaborative efforts in modernising agriculture, ensuring food security, and advancing shared development goals.Read more
Vedanta Ltd is seeking a global engineering partner to support its USD 20 billion expansion across metals, mining, and hydrocarbons over the next three years. The company, which is restructuring into four separate entities aluminium, oil and gas, power, and iron and steel is inviting Expressions of Interest (EoIs) by April 30, 2025. This move comes amid its ongoing demerger process, now expected to conclude by June- July, aimed at creating focused, independent business units and simplifying its corporate structure for global investors.
Source: PTI
On the 10th anniversary of the PM Mudra Yojana (PMMY), Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that over INR 33 lakh crore in collateral-free loans have been sanctioned under the scheme, enabling countless individuals-especially women and marginalized communities to launch and grow small businesses. Launched in 2015 to support unfunded entrepreneurs, the scheme offers institutional credit of up to INR 20 lakh across three categories: Shishu, Kishore, and Tarun. Over 70% of the beneficiaries are women, with half from SC, ST, and OBC groups.
Source: PTI
Bengaluru-based fintech infrastructure platform Decentro has expanded into Southeast Asia through a partnership with Singapore's DigiAlly, introducing a real-time business credit and underwriting solution across the ASEAN region. This industry-first tool delivers unified financial intelligence, including KYB, trade history, and creditworthiness reports, aimed at accelerating SME lending, cross-border trade, and financial inclusion. The offering covers countries like India, Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam, helping insurers, banks, and neobanks assess SME risk faster. The move aligns with Decentro's ambition to simplify global financial workflows, building on its 150% YoY growth in India for FY24-25.
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Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC has successfully raised USD 70 million through its ABSL India Growth Fund, a Category III AIF launched under Gift City's IFSC framework. The fund focuses on long-term capital appreciation by investing in Indian markets through a passive, low-leverage strategy. It attracted participation from over 250 global investors, including NRIs and family offices, tapping into the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS). This marks the first outbound equity fund offered from Gift City and highlights investor confidence in India's financial markets and regulatory stability.
Private equity inflows in Indian real estate dropped 3% year-on-year to USD 3.7 billion in FY25, mainly due to reduced investments in office properties, according to Anarock Capital. Office assets contributed 35% to total inflows, down from 40% the previous year. Foreign investors remained the major contributors, accounting for 76% of the total funding. The residential sector and industrial/logistics segments continued to attract moderate interest, while the retail sector saw limited activity. Market uncertainty and cautious investor sentiment drove the decline.
In FY25, women in Madhya Pradesh purchased properties totaling INR 38,000 crore, accounting for approximately 45% of the 8.28 lakh sale deeds registered statewide. Indore led with acquisitions worth INR 6,300 crore from nearly 36,000 sale deeds by women. Government incentives, including a 2% rebate on property registration fees for female buyers, have significantly contributed to this trend.
Neo Asset Management has raised INR 2,000 crore in the first close of its second private credit fund, Neo Special Credit Opportunities Fund-II (NSCOF II), targeting a total corpus of INR 5,000 crore. The SEBI-registered Category II AIF focuses on credit solutions for EBITDA-positive companies, backed by 2-3x hard asset collateral. The firm plans 25-30 investments, ranging between INR 150-300 crore each. Its first fund had raised INR 2,575 crore and exited 7 of 23 investments. Neo currently manages over INR 10,000 crore in AUM.
Source: PTI
The Finance Ministry has approved the merger of 15 Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) across 11 states into single entities under the 'One State-One RRB' plan, effective May 1. This fourth round of consolidation reduced the total number of RRBs from 43 to 28. States including Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar will see two to four RRBs merged under one sponsor bank. Each new entity will have an authorised capital of INR 2,000 crore. The move aims to enhance operational efficiency and reduce costs, building on improved RRB performance and profitability in FY24.
Source: PTI
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