The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would continue to raise interest rates in coordinated moves with the government’s fiscal measures to tame inflation, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said on Monday. Expectation of a rate hike is a no-brainer,” Das said in an interview with the CNBC-TV18 channel. “There will be some increase in the repo rate. By how much, I will not be able to say now, but to say that (it will be hiked) to 5.15% now will not be accurate,” he said, adding that the RBI will not allow a runaway depreciation of the rupee.
The plan to rationalize goods and services tax (GST) rates to boost revenue collection for central and state governments may get delayed because of the sudden deterioration in macroeconomic conditions, including slowing economic growth and surging inflation.
A ministerial panel led by Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai looking into GST rate rationalization will weigh the evolving economic conditions while making recommendations. with retail inflation accelerating to an eight-year high of 7.79% in April, increasing tax on consumption has become an uphill task for the panel.
The Biden administration announced that a dozen Indo-Pacific countries will join the US in a sweeping economic initiative designed to counter China’s influence in the region, even as questions remain about its effectiveness. ltogether the nations involved in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, or IPEF, constitute roughly 40% of global gross domestic product. Australia, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand were included, along with seven Southeast Asian countries.
Marico: The FMCG major has acquired a majority 54% stake in the digital-first healthy breakfast and snacks brand True Elements for an undisclosed amount. True Elements’ existing leadership team will continue to run the brand independently and build synergies, it added.
Maruti Suzuki India: The country’s largest carmaker has agreed to acquire 12.09% equity stake in Sociograph Solutions Pvt Ltd. for ₹2 crore. SSPL is an artificial intelligence software company that specialises in visual AI platform predominantly used to help enterprises improve sales experiences and improve efficiency in their business.
Zomato: The Indian food delivery firm reported a wider fourth-quarter loss on Monday as expenses nearly doubled, although revenue jumped 75%. The company’s consolidated net loss widened to ₹3.60 billion for the three months ended March. 31, from ₹1.31 billion a year earlier. Revenue from operations rose to ₹12.12 billion rupees from ₹6.92 billion.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation: State-owned ONGC said it has become the first gas producer to trade domestic gas on the Indian Gas Exchange, trading unspecified volumes from its eastern offshore KG-DWN-98/2 block.
NHPC: The state-run firm plans to develop India’s largest floating solar project of 300 MW over Indravati river in Odisha in joint venture with the state government. A tender for the same has been floated with India’s largest power generation firm in talks for inking a power purchase agreement, said the chairman and managing director Abhay Kumar Singh.
Moving on to markets
Domestic equity markets opened in the green on Tuesday morning. S&P BSE Sensex rose marginally to hover around 54,300 points while the NSE Nifty 50 index was holding above 16,200. Bank nifty index was up 0.33%,
Overnight, the US markets ended with strong gains as beaten down tech and bank shares rallied. Major markets in Asia were largely flat in early trade today.
Today, market debut of logistics giant Delhivery will be in focus. The company had raised Rs 5,235 crore through its IPO. The issue was subscribed 1.63 times and the issue price has been fixed at Rs 487 per share.
Venus Pipes & Tubes will also be making its debut today. The small sized (Rs 165.42 crore) IPO was subscribed 16.3 times.
In the primary market, Aether Industries’ Rs 808.04 crore IPO opens for subscription today. The company is accepting bids in a price band of Rs 610 – 642.
eMudhra’s Rs 413 crore IPO closes today. The issue has so far garnered 96 per cent subscription, with the retail portion subscribed 1.7 times.
Business term of the day
A tight monetary policy refers to central bank policy aimed at cooling down an overheated economy and features higher interest rates and tighter money supply. Central banks engage in tight monetary policy when an economy is accelerating too quickly or inflation—overall prices—is rising too fast.
