To The Point
-
Why is Bajaj Finance looking to raise $1 bn?
Bajaj Finance is reportedly looking to raise funds to the tune of $1bn, with its board scheduled to meet next week to consider a proposal. But why is India's most valued NBFC looking to raise funding? Is it because of the added competition from Jio Financial Services, and what will it do with the money? Forbes India's Nasrin Sultana gives us her analysis on this episode
-
More women, migration beyond Maharashtra and more: How blue collar jobs are changing
A new report by BetterPlace, a platform for blue-collar workforce management, has revealed some interesting trends. Average monthly salaries for blue collar or frontline workers have reduced to Rs 21,000 in FY23, and jobs have declined by 17.5 percent. Women participation increased by 100 percent since last year, a good sign, but still remains at 6 percent of the entire workforce. Pravin Agarwala, co-founder and CEO of BetterPlace, takes us through the key trends, including new migration patterns, upskilling opportunities and the impact of AI on frontline workers
-
Can PhonePe's homegrown Indus App Store take on Google?
Walmart-owned PhonePe has announced the Indus App Store, a Made-in-India alternative to the Google Play Store for Android users in India, inviting local app developers with no commission for in-app payments. In contrast, Google charges developers 6 percent to 30 percent of all in-app purchases. Can Indus take on Google? Prachir Singh, senior research analyst at Counterpoint Research, says there's a good chance they might, and here's why
-
Women's Reservation Bill: How much does it really change?
The Bill reserves 1/3rd seats for women in the Lok Sabha, state assemblies and the national capital territory of Delhi. Tara Krishnaswamy, co-founder of Political Shakti, a collective working for greater representation of women in Indian politics, pulls no punches when she says that the Bill in its current form actually shields men from having to devolve power to women in the political arena, in conversation with Forbes India's Divya Shekhar
-
Will Akasa Air survive?
India's newest airline is facing rough winds, seemingly rattled by a pilot exodus. Mark Martin, founder and CEO of Martin Consulting, an aviation consultancy, minces no words on today's episode, about how this is a symptom of the airline's mismanagement, and how they have painted themselves into a corner. How did they get here? Forbes India's Manu Balachandran and Mark Martin take us through the ride
-
What's behind HDFC Bank's stock price fall?
The HDFC Bank shares witnessed the steepest single-day drop in four months, trading 4 percent lower on Wednesday. This is after a supposedly disappointing analyst meet on Monday, following which, brokerages such as Nomura downgraded the stock. What's going on? Forbes India's banking expert, Salil Panchal, joins us for more
-
Why Saudi Arabia wants a piece of Indian startups — and how this will change the game
The government of Saudi Arabia is considering setting up an office of its Sovereign Wealth Fund in India, and hoping to invest in Indian startups through venture capital. Arun Natarajan, founder and managing director, Venture Intelligence, reveals why this is big news for India, and why there's growing interest from the Middle East
-
Inside the big bets on Reliance Retail
Private equity firm KKR has invested Rs 2,069.5 crore (about $250 million) as additional capital into Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd, at a valuation of around $100 billion. The KKR deal makes Reliance Retail Ventures one of the top four Indian companies in terms of equity value in the country. This news comes on the heels of funding by the Qatar Investment Authority a couple of weeks ago. Where does this place Reliance Retail, and are they likely to IPO soon? Our in-house Reliance watcher, Samar Srivastava, unpacks what this means
-
Apple's iPhone 15 launches today — top rumours you should know
Apple's iPhone 15 event, the Wonderlust, is later today, where we might get to see the company's first smartphone with the standard USB-C port. The event is at 10:30 p.m. India time and you can catch it on Apple's website. Tarun Pathak, research director at Counterpoint Research, joins us to unpack the top rumours about the new features and innovations we are likely to see in this next iteration of the iPhone. We also very briefly discuss the Huawei Mate 60 Pro that's taken the industry by surprise, and Apple's complicated challenges in China
-
Reliance, Tata strike deep AI partnerships with Nvidia — what can we expect?
Reliance and Tata group announced plans last week to build massive AI infrastructure and our own large language models, using powerful chips and technologies from Nvidia, which currently has a near monopoly as a supplier of these GPUs. Atul Srivastava, engagement manager at the consultancy Zinnov, joins us today to unpack how these partnerships between Nvidia and two of India's biggest conglomerates, which together touch some 800 million people in some way, could make India a force in the global race to build AI at scale
-
Is it time to cut back on smallcaps and midcaps?
The rise of India's smallcap and midcap stocks in recent times is getting into "extreme territory," a JPMorgan Chase analyst told Bloomberg in a report on Sep. 6. The Nifty Midcap 100 Index has risen 37 percent from a March low, compared with a 16 percent gain in the blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 Index, sending the ratio between the two to an all-time high, Bloomberg noted in the same report. Forbes India's Nasrin Sultana and Samar Srivastava explain what's going on and what the retail investor needs to take note of