Business
Budget 205-26: FDI limit for insurance sector raised to 100 per cent

New Delhi, Feb 1: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced an increase in the FDI limit for the insurance sector from 74 per cent to 100 per cent in the Budget for 2025-26 as part of far-reaching reforms in the financial sector.
This enhanced limit will be available for those companies which invest the entire premium in India. The current guardrails and conditionalities associated with foreign investment will be reviewed and simplified, the Finance Minister said.
Budget 2025-26 aims to initiate transformative reforms across six domains which will augment our growth potential and global competitiveness during the next five years, she while presenting the Budget in Parliament.
One of these domains is the financial sector which encompasses sectors like insurance, pensions, bilateral investment treaties (BIT) and so forth, she said.
A forum for regulatory coordination and development of pension products will be set up, the Finance Minister stated.
Besides, to implement the earlier announcement on simplifying the KYC process, the revamped Central KYC Registry will be rolled out in 2025. A streamlined system for periodic updating will also be implemented, she added.
The Finance Minister also said that requirements and procedures for speedy approval of company mergers will be rationalised. The scope for fast-track mergers will also be widened and the process will be made simpler.
The FDI reforms assume significance as India has emerged as a hot investment destination with multinational giants such as Apple and Tesla looking for alternative supply chains after the US sanctions against China.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently said that the Indian automobile sector had attracted more than $36 billion in FDI over the last four years and this figure would go up several times in the coming years as he exhorted vehicle manufacturers to follow the mantra of ‘Make in India and Make for the World.’
Inaugurated the Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025 at Bharat Mandapam in the national capital, the Prime Minister said that India presented a huge opportunity and is an ideal destination for investors. The government was paving the way for global investors to bring more FDI into the automobile sector which was technology and innovation-driven, he pointed out.
Sectors such as electronics have attracted major investments with the semiconductor units also coming up in the country for the first time.
Business
SIP inflows hit all-time high of Rs 26,632 crore in April: AMFI data

Mumbai, May 9: India’s mutual fund industry saw a historic surge in systematic investment plan (SIP) contributions in April, with investors pouring in a record Rs 26,632 crore last month, according to data by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) released on Friday.
This marks the highest-ever SIP inflow for any month, the report said.
In April, 1.36 crore SIP accounts were either closed or matured as part of this process. However, investor interest remained strong. The number of active SIP accounts grew to 8.38 crore in April, up from 8.11 crore in March, showing that people are still keen on building long-term wealth through mutual funds.
April also saw the creation of 46 lakh new SIP accounts, higher than the 40.19 lakh new accounts opened in March.
AMFI said the spike in account closures was due to a planned clean-up and is likely to reduce sharply from May onwards.
“The sustained inflows underscore improving investor sentiment, supported by strong corporate earnings, resilient macroeconomic fundamentals, and a continued tilt towards equities as the preferred asset class,” said Himanshu Srivastava, Associate Director, Manager Research, Morningstar Investment Research India.
Notably, the absence of any major new fund launches during the month indicates that investors largely allocated capital to existing schemes — a testament to their confidence in the long-term growth prospects of Indian equity markets, he added.
The record-breaking investment came even as the industry undertook a large clean-up of inactive accounts.
Despite a slight dip in inflows into equity mutual funds, the overall mutual fund industry continued to grow rapidly.
Total assets under management (AUM) reached an all-time high of Rs 70 lakh crore in April.
This is a big jump from Rs 65.74 lakh crore recorded in March — showing strong investor confidence in the market.
Large-cap mutual funds, which had faced outflows in recent months, bounced back with net inflows of Rs 2,671.46 crore in April.
This was a slight increase from Rs 2,479.31 crore in March. According to the report, this suggest that investors are regaining interest in these relatively stable funds.
Mid-cap funds attracted Rs 3,313 crore during the month, a minor drop from Rs 3,438.87 crore in March.
Meanwhile, small-cap funds continued to perform steadily, drawing Rs 3,999.95 crore in April, only slightly lower than the Rs 4,092 crore they received the month before.
Business
India, Chile make progress on comprehensive economic partnership agreement

New Delhi, May 9: India and Chile have signed the terms of reference (ToR) for a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA), marking a significant advancement in their bilateral trade relations, the government said on Friday.
The mutually-agreed ToR were signed by Juan Angulo, Ambassador of Chile in India and Vimal Anand, Joint Secretary in Department of Commerce, who is also the Chief Negotiator for India-Chile CEPA from the Indian side.
Both sides reiterated their shared vision for strengthening bilateral relations and look forward to fruitful discussion during the first round scheduled in the national capital from May 26-30.
According to the Commerce Ministry, the CEPA aims to build upon the existing PTA (preferential trade agreement) between the two nations and seeks to encompass a broader range of sectors, including digital services, investment promotion and cooperation, MSME and critical minerals, etc. thereby enhancing economic integration and cooperation.
India and Chile are strategic partners and close allies, sharing warm and cordial relations.
Bilateral ties have steadily strengthened over the years with the exchange of high-level visits. A Framework Agreement on Economic Cooperation was signed between the two countries in January, 2005, followed by PTA in March, 2006.
Since then, economic and commercial relations between India and Chile have remained robust and continue to grow.
According to the ministry, an expanded PTA was subsequently signed in September 2016 and became effective from May 16, 2017.
In April 2019, both countries agreed to pursue a further expansion of the PTA with three rounds of negotiations between the years during 2019-2021. To deepen their economic engagement, both sides expressed their intention to negotiate a CEPA to unlock the full potential of their trade and commercial relationship, boosting employment, facilitating investment promotion, and cooperation and exports, as suggested by the Joint Study Group established under the Framework Agreement.
The JSG report was finalised and signed on April 30, 2024.
Business
Pakistan stock markets continue to bleed, down 14 pc since Pahalgam attack

New Delhi, May 8: The stock markets in Pakistan further tanked on Thursday, as trading was halted at the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) amid rising geopolitical tensions.
Karachi Stock Exchange fell more than 6 per cent on Thursday before the trading was halted. The stock exchange has been witnessing a continuous decline since the barbaric Pahalgam terror attack.
The main index, Karachi Stock Exchange 100 Index (KSE-100), has slipped by more than 13 per cent since April 22 when the terror attack happened, killing 26 people, most of them tourists.
On April 22, the KSE-100 index was at 1,18,430, which has now dropped to 1,03,060.
Apart from this, another Pakistani stock index, KSE-30, has also fallen more than 14 per cent since April 22.
Amid the grim state of the stock markets, Pakistan has only $15 billion of foreign exchange reserves left and is on the verge of economic collapse.
The country is seeking a fresh loan worth $1.3 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to run its economy.
Pakistan’s economy, in the initial years after independence, grew at the same pace as India’s, backed by US aid and donations from the oil-rich Islamic nations.
However, while democratic India kept its focus on economic development and lifting its masses out of poverty, Pakistan has been rocked by bloody coups and military dictatorships, with the army Generals still calling the shots and fuelling hostility against its more prosperous neighbour.
Pakistan was on the brink of sovereign default in 2023 and had to be bailed out by a $3 billion IMF loan.
The country is still critically dependent on this financial lifeline and is desperately trying to raise another $1.3 billion climate resilience loan.
Overall, the neighbouring nation now faces an economic freefall – crippled by political chaos and the long-term cost of harbouring terrorism.
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