- Sunday, May 19, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
HERE are news in brief on Indian economy and business for Monday, May 6, 2024:
India’s ICICI Bank on Monday announced that it has enabled instant payment facility UPI (Unified Payments Interface) for its non-resident Indian (NRI) customers in India through their international mobile numbers. According to the bank, this will significantly enhance convenience of making everyday payments. “With this facility, the NRI customers of the bank can make payments for their utility bills, merchant and e-commerce transactions with their international mobile number registered with their NRE/NRO bank account held with ICICI Bank in India,” a statement released in Dubai by the bank said. According to the statement, the bank has made this service available through its mobile banking app iMobile Pay.
India Ratings and Research on Monday revised upward the country’s GDP growth estimate for FY25 to 7.1 per cent from 6.5 per cent earlier. The projection is marginally higher than the Reserve Bank’s estimate of 7 per cent. In a statement, the domestic rating agency said strong support from the sustained government capex, deleveraged balance sheets of corporate and banking sector, and the incipient private corporate capex cycle make it revise its estimate. It said that factors that may constrain growth include consumption demand not being broad based and the headwinds faced by exports due to sluggish growth globally.
The Indian government on Monday permitted exports of 14,000 tonnes of non-basmati white rice to Mauritius. The export is permitted through National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCEL), the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification. Though exports of non-basmati white rice have been banned since July 20, 2023 to boost domestic supply, exports are allowed on the basis of permission granted by the government to certain countries to meet their food security needs on request. “Export of 14,000 MT of non-basmati white rice to Mauritius has been permitted through NCEL,” it said. Earlier, India has allowed exports of the commodity to African nations including Tanzania, Djibouti and Guinea-Bissau.
Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das said on Monday that Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) or digital currency, can drive financial inclusion and provide a much safer alternative to potentially dangerous private digital currencies.
“CBDC can drive financial inclusion and provide a much safer alternative to private digital currencies, which, according to us, are potentially dangerous,” Das said at the BIS Innovation Summit 2024 in New Delhi. Private digital currencies, commonly known as cryptocurrency, are currently unregulated in India. The Indian government does not register crypto exchanges and it maintains crypto assets, which, by definition, are borderless and require “international collaboration.”
Global investment firm KKR is set to buy Indian medical devices maker Healthium Medtech from UK-based Apax Partners in a deal. Three sources with direct knowledge of the matter say the agreement is valued at Rs 70 billion (£667.2 million), Reuters reported. KKR will acquire Healthium through a special purpose vehicle that will have a controlling interest in Healthium group, including Healthium Medtech, the three companies said in a statement, according to the Reuters report. The vehicle is owned by KKR-managed funds. The acquisition marks KKR’s latest investment in the Indian healthcare sector.
(With agencies)
