BusinessLine Podcasts

State Bank of India has decided to be selective when giving fresh loans. Reluctant to consider risky proposals, the bank has decided to tighten its corporate loan exposures. Why is the bank unwilling to consider risky proposals? With SBI being more selective, do we expect a fall in corporate loans? Will this move help and address the Non-Performing Assets of the bank? Listen in.  --- Send in a voi...

Finance Ministry has kickstarted preparations for the 2023-24 budget. Recently, the ministry completed the first set of pre-budget meetings. The meeting was held with several Central Ministries and Departments. More pre-budget meetings are underway where various stakeholders would be consulted. The suggestions given by these stakeholders would be taken into consideration while drafting the budget...

Following the high inflation in input materials in Q1, companies passed on the costs increases , resulting in slower revenue growth in Q2. Lack of operating leverage impacted profitability as well. But as a silver lining, margin decline seems to have taken a breather. Interest costs and debt are not hot topics right now, but will be a monitorable going forward, as market interest rates rise. What'...

Recently, the Security and Exchange Board of India, SEBI, made amendments to the takeover code. The change has been made to ease strategic investments in public sector units for the Central and State governments. The board has gone away with the rule that used to link open price offer to the last 60 days’ trading volume. In this podcast, we discuss the SEBI takeover code, the recent amendments mad...

The COP27, or the 27 th Conference of Parties (countries) who signed the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is described as an ‘implementation COP’, and will focus on implementing the decisions agreed upon in the earlier COPs. What is being discussed at COP27? M Ramesh explains. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/business-line/message

India-Russia ties are becoming strong and steady each passing day. Russia has emerged as the 5th largest exporter of India for oil and several other items. Recently, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited Russia from November 7-8.  Among others, Jaishankar discussed the exponential growth in Indo-Russia bilateral trade. What were the points of discussion between Jaishankar and his Russian...

The last few months have seen the global crypto market has seen a lot of volatility on account of several factors. Even recently, FTX Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried launched an urgent push to raise funds to save his firm as the crypto exchange looks to plug a reported $8 billion hole in its finances. What has brought about this volatility in the global crypto market and are Indian crypto invest...

India has introduced a new pricing mechanism for jet fuel. This new pricing system will be a benchmark change as it could bring in more parity between global crude price and jet fuel price in India. What is the new ATF pricing mechanism? How is the new pricing mechanism more effective than the old one? How will the new system help the Indian airlines? Will the benefits of ATF price reduction due t...

The India-UK Free Trade Agreement is underway. According to reports, India is looking at greater market access for pharmaceutical products with the deal. However, the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders mentioned that the India-UK FTA might hurt the supply of generic medicines globally. The group has also asked India and UK to keep Intellectual Property (IP) off the table. In this podcast,...

Elon Musk, Parag Agrawal, and Twitter's leadership rejigs have been clogging news headlines. But throughout history, many start-up and business owners have routinely ousted CEOs. The guest in this episode, Shiv Shivakumar, Group Executive President, Corporate Strategy at Aditya Birla group and a well-known management thinker, describes the asymmetric equation between owners and CEOs; it usually fa...

It has been a wild ride this year for US technology stocks with the Nasdaq Composite Index crashing by 34 per cent ytd. The market rout has not spared even the highly regarded FAANG or FAANGMAN stocks. The stock of Facebook or Meta Platforms is no exception to this with over a 70 per cent correction from its highs. What should investors do now? Tune in to the podcast to understand what is happenin...

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday named Isudan Gadhvi, a former Gujarati TV journalist as their chief ministerial candidate for the Gujarat elections. Why is he the choice of the Aam Aadmi Party, what works in his favour, and what are the likely political equations in play ahead of Gujarat elections 2022. Rutam Vora explains. Listen in! Read the full story here  --- Send in a voice message: https://...

The World Trade Organization’s TRIPS Council (a multi-lateral agreement on intellectual property) is meeting right now to discuss a proposal from India and other developing nations to extend the waiver intellectual property rights for Covid diagnostics and therapeutics. The deadline to reach a decision – that is, to provide a waiver and to what extent -- is December 17, but would they meet it? In...

The Competition Commission of India imposed a penalty of over ₹1,337 crore on Google for its anti-competitive practices in the android mobile phones market space on Oct 26. Few days after that the CCI once again fined Google with ₹936 crore for abusing its market dominance in Google playstore. How did Google violate the competition law in India? How was the case initiated and investigated? How wil...

Monthly electric vehicle registrations (all segments) in the country surpassed the one lakh mark for the first time in October, thanks to the strong growth in the two-wheeler segment. Total EV registrations in October at 114,001 units, up 23 per cent over 92,833 units in September. What brought about this increase in EV vehicle registrations and how is the EV segment evolving? Balachandar G takes...

The election commission has announced the dates for the much anticipated Gujarat election.  The state will go to the polls in two phases to elect representatives to 182 assembly constituencies. Will the BJP retain Gujarat? Or, will Congress or the AAP manage to defeat the ruling party? Rutam Vohra explains.  Listen in --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/business-li...

The Reserve Bank of India, or RBI, has commenced the pilot programme of the Digital Rupee in the wholesale segment from today- November 1. The RBI has announced nine banks that would participate in the pilot. The banks include- State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Union Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Kotak Mahindra Bank, YES Bank, HDFC Bank, IDFC First Bank and HSBC. What exactly are Central Bank Digi...

Its almost three years since reports of a novel corona virus emerged from China. But the origins of the Covid 19 virus is still confusing and under investigation by scientists across the globe. In this podcast, Jyothi Datta, Deputy Editor, businessline talks about the various theories about the origin SARS-CoV-2 virus and the research by various scientific body on it. Listen in! Read the full stor...

Social selling —  where one leverages personal relationships and networks to drive growth — is not new to India. Replicated digitally, it is called social commerce, and the 5G-enabled smartphone penetration has given it the much-needed impetus.    In this episode of Digital Gadfly, a monthly podcast series on all things digital marketing, host Shubho Sengupta speaks to Monica Jasuja, a global fint...

A good idea, whatever medium, still holds power. India is having its moment on the global advertising stage as Ogilvy was named the network of the year at the 2022 Cannes Lions. Health is a behemoth vertical for ad agencies. Advertising has also become tech-lead, but ideas still reign supreme. Brands need to reflect modern realities at the same time be prepared for a polarised world. Men need to b...

Stock markets around the world have turned volatile this year as higher interest rates dampened bullish sentiment toward riskier assets. But, Indian equities have swum against the tide as India appears to be relatively well-placed, like a proverbial steady ship in turbulent seas. This is on account of stronger macro fundamentals compared to many peers and robust economic growth prospects. Investor...

Several start-ups, such as BYJU’S and OYO, have come under scrutiny due to their accounting standards. Recently, Member of Parliament Karti P Chidambaram urged the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India to probe into the financials of BYJU’S? Why exactly are the startups under scrutiny? What has been the response of OYO and BYJU’S about the same? Are there other start-ups as well that are und...

The North-East Monsoon set in on October 29, according to the IMD’s forecast. The South-West monsoon ended on a reasonably good note. What do the Indian Meteorological Department and global agencies have to say regarding the North East Monsoon and how is it likely to pan out? In this episode of the bl.podcast, Vinson Kurian takes us through the North East Monsoon and what lies ahead. Listen in! --...

India and the UK are negotiating a Free Trade Agreement. While the agreement was supposed to be passed within Diwali, the countries missed the deadline. The agreement talks started in January between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. So, where does the India-UK Free Trade Agreement stand? How will the newly elected British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak...

Amul Milk Producers’ App has a new feature. Dairy farmers can use the ‘Pashudhan’ platform to buy and buy cows and buffaloes for free. The seller has to mention details like location, price, productivity, breed and age. They must attach a photo or a video of the animal. In this podcast, Rutam Vora tells us why the cooperative is betting big on the marketplace. Listen in! --- Send in a voice messag...