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Pune poised to become India GCC capital, says Maha CM

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Pune, Sep 4: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said Pune is rapidly emerging as the country’s leading hub for Global Capability Centres (GCCs), with more than 130 centres currently operational and the number expected to cross 800 in the coming years.

He reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to positioning Pune as the preferred destination for GCC investments in India. The Chief Minister was speaking at the inauguration of Magnum Ice Cream Company’s Global Business Solutions Centre.

Highlighting that Maharashtra has emerged as the preferred investment hub for Global Capability Centers in India, CM Fadnavis noted that the enthusiastic response from multinational corporations establishing global business centers in Pune is a testament to the city’s business-friendly environment and skilled talent pool.

The Chief Minister explained that Magnum’s Pune centre will generate more than 1,000 direct job opportunities alongside boosting indirect employment. To optimise the company’s global business operations, the facility will integrate artificial intelligence, automated technologies, logistics, and other advanced solutions to streamline manufacturing, distribution, and customer experience operations.

“When the government and the industry collaborate, it creates a robust ecosystem that accelerates investment, job creation, and overall economic growth. The state government remains committed to providing all necessary support and a conducive climate for businesses investing in Maharashtra,” he stated.

He further added that this Global Business Solutions Centre in Pune, operating alongside the regional headquarters in Mumbai, will chart a new direction for Magnum’s expansion in Maharashtra. Active measures are being taken to strengthen physical infrastructure across Pune’s industrial sectors — with a special focus on resolving IT infrastructure challenges in Hinjawadi — to make the region an even more attractive destination for GCCs.

Industry department principal secretary Dr P. Anbalagan noted that Global Capability Centres are not merely office spaces, but crucial engines driving the nation’s economic momentum. India has established itself as a global leader in the GCC space, with Maharashtra and Pune playing a pivotal role in this expansion. In Pune alone, demand for commercial office space by GCCs reached approximately 6 million square feet over the past 15 months, while 130 new or expanded GCC units were set up across the state over the last 18 months.

He added that the state government has set a target of hosting 400 GCC companies and over 700 units in the coming period. Currently, Pune hosts operations from companies representing over 30 countries across 20 sectors, employing nearly 10,000 professionals.

Investment and Policy Advisor to the CM, Kaustubh Dhavse, remarked that the relationship between Magnum Ice Cream Company and the Government of Maharashtra is built on trust, reliability, and mutual respect. He added that the Indian-origin executive leadership steering the company globally brings inspiring experience.

In his opening address, Abhijit Bhattacharya, CFO of Magnum Ice Cream Company, credited the state government’s rapid decision-making process for making the global business centre a reality in a short time frame.

He cited Maharashtra’s robust industrial ecosystem, superior connectivity, and proactive administration as key factors in selecting Pune.

Bhattacharya commended CM Fadnavis’s vision to make Maharashtra a premier hub for global business centres and expressed the company’s intent to collaborate with the state on sustainable dairy systems, while also bringing the global ice cream brand ‘Ben & Jerry’s’ to India.

Business

Adani Ports to start dedicated empty container yard operations at Mundra to boost efficiency

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Ahmedabad, Sep 4: Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) on Friday said it is launching a dedicated Empty Container Yard (ECY) with integrated warehousing at Mundra, offering end-to-end services across the empty container lifecycle, including storage, maintenance, inspection, and seamless movement to exporters and CFSs (container freight stations).

As part of its ‘Ambition 2031’ roadmap, APSEZ is making significant investments to expand capacity across its network, with Mundra at the forefront of this growth.

India’s largest integrated transport operator plans to add more than 6 million TEUs of container handling capacity over the next five years, said the Adani Group company.

“The dedicated Empty Container Yard at Mundra, to be operated by APSEZ and/or partners (including CFS and shipping lines), will enhance efficiency across the container ecosystem by enabling faster turnaround times, reducing unnecessary container movements, and optimising logistics costs,” said Ashwani Gupta, Whole-time Director and Chief Executive Officer, APSEZ.

Strengthening trade-enabling infrastructure remains central to APSEZ’s commitment towards supporting India’s growth and the vision of Viksit Bharat, Gupta added.

Adani Ports commands a 45.5 per cent share of India’s container market as of FY26. Within this, Mundra Port alone handles nearly 35 per cent of the country’s container trade, making it India’s largest container-handling port.

The volume of empty containers handled at Mundra is estimated at around 1.6 million TEUs annually, underscoring its critical role in supporting India’s import-export supply chains, said the company.

Moreover, the initiative aligns with the government’s focus on developing efficient, technology-enabled logistics systems and improving ease of doing business.

Adani Ports operates a comprehensive ecosystem of 16 strategically located ports and terminals with a diversified marine fleet of 136 vessels and integrated logistics capabilities.

With a current cargo handling capacity of 653 million tonnes per annum, APSEZ commands approximately 27 per cent of India’s total port volumes, targeting 1 billion tonnes throughput by 2030.

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Sensex, Nifty post notable gains in early trade led by IT stocks

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Mumbai, Sep 4: The Indian equity markets posted notable gains early on Friday driven by gains in IT stocks and positive data on the domestic economy.

Sensex added 515 points, or 0.68 per cent, in early trade to reach 76,668 and Nifty gained 51 points, or 0.22 per cent to reach 23,925.

Main broad-cap indices performed in line with the benchmark indices, as the Nifty Midcap 100 added 0.03 per cent, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 gained 0.49 per cent.

Sectoral indices on NSE traded mixed with Nifty consumer durables posting the highest losses, down 0.50 per cent. Nifty IT was the top gainer, up 0.65 per cent, followed by realty, up 0.50 per cent.

“Rising bond yields are negative for equity markets. The US 10-year yield continues to hover around 4.8 percent. In Japan the 10-year yield is at a 30-year high of 3 per cent. In the UK, the 30-year yield is at 6 per cent. In India, too, the 10-year yield is close to 7 per cent,” an analyst said.

“However, these negative factors are being countered by the positive news about the Indian economy. Particularly impressive are the ongoing high frequency data regarding GST collections, automobile sales and credit growth,” the market expert added.

Brent crude remains elevated near $96–97, keeping geopolitical risks around the US–Iran conflict a key factor for market sentiment.

“Global sentiment has improved as Wall Street closed higher and Asian markets are largely positive, while US Treasury yields have eased,” an analyst said.

The immediate support for Nifty is placed at 23,800–23,850 zone, while resistance is seen at 24,050–24,100.

Immediate support is placed at 57,000–57,200 for Bank Nifty, while resistance is seen at 57,800–58,000, a market participant said.

In Asian markets, China’s Shanghai index gained 0.35 per cent, and Shenzhen added 0.27 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei added 1.14 per cent, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 2.09 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi added 1.31 per cent.

The US markets ended in green overnight as Nasdaq gained 1.4 per cent. The S&P 500 added 1.06 per cent, and the Dow Jones advanced 1.18 per cent.

On September 3, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold equities worth Rs 2,346 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth Rs 4,977 crore.

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Why Nvidia chief Jensen Huang is not ready to retire?

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Chapel Hill (North Carolina), Sep 3: Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang says he does not need to keep working.

He simply cannot bear the thought of missing what artificial intelligence (AI) could deliver over the next decade.

“I’ve been working a long time and Surely I don’t have to work, but I don’t want to miss, I’m definitely not going to miss the next 10, 15 years,” Huang said during a fireside chat with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

For Huang, the appeal lies not only in the technology but also in the scale of the ambitions it has unleashed.

“The ambition of the industry, the ambition of my colleagues, my own ambition has really been supercharged,” he said.

Huang offered a buoyant vision of an AI-powered future in which work that once took a decade could be completed in a year, while year-long projects could be finished within a month.

“What do I expect in the next five, ten years? Things that take ten years are going to take one. Things that take one will take a month,” he added.

The Nvidia Chief said that artificial intelligence was giving ordinary people, companies and countries the ability to tackle problems on a scale previously considered unimaginable.

“It is now possible for average humans like ourselves to think that we can make an impact on a hundred trillion dollar industry,” Huang added.

He said that innovators were talking about adding between $20 trillion and $50 trillion in economic benefits worldwide.

Such ideas, he added, reflected a new level of ambition made possible by access to AI.

“No time in history have we been able to say things like that,” he said.

Huang encouraged countries to approach the technology with optimism and raise their ambitions rather than allow uncertainty to dominate the public conversation.

“This is the time when you have to feel enlightened, inspired, supercharged, lifted, because you now have this incredible technology behind you,” he said.

He compared the development of AI with earlier technological advances that initially appeared almost magical.

“Electricity once made it possible to turn on a light from far away, while modern cars and aircraft became safer as their technology improved.”

AI, Huang said, would similarly advance through engineering, mathematics, software and responsible development.

He rejected predictions that the technology would simply remove human workers.

AI would automate certain skills and tasks, he said, but people would retain the purpose, context and meaning that define their jobs.

Huang also described AI as a great equaliser because people could now communicate with computers through ordinary human language.

Lutnick picked up that theme, suggesting that the technology could place advanced knowledge within everyone’s reach.

“You now can have… A PhD in everything. That’s right. At your fingertips,” Lutnick said.

“You are that person now. Right? Everybody is that person now,” Huang responded.

Lutnick praised Huang’s optimistic assessment and called him “an American treasure”, saying Nvidia was leading the United States towards a future once confined largely to science fiction.

“Your company is leading us in a path that none of us, when we were young, ever dreamed possible,” the US Commerce Secretary said.

Huang co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and has served as its President and Chief Executive since its inception.

The company began as a specialist in graphics technology before its processors became vital to the development and operation of modern artificial intelligence systems.

Born in Taiwan, Huang moved to the United States as a child and studied electrical engineering at Oregon State University and Stanford University.

Under his leadership, Nvidia has grown into one of the world’s most valuable technology companies.

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