India becomes investment darling for sovereign wealth and pension funds

London: Sovereign wealth funds are piling into India, buying stakes in everything from airports to renewable energy, attracted by political stability, a growing middle class and reforms making it more enticing for foreigners to invest. Wealth and state pension funds are expanding their horizons to private markets, to complement an existing focus on stocks and bonds. “India is popular with sovereign wealth funds,” said Tihir Sarkar, London-based partner at Cleary Gottlieb, which counts several prominent sovereign funds as clients. “Almost every jurisdiction in the western world is raising the bar for…

Read More

Viewpoint | Play your investment with cricket lessons

May 2019 was an action packed month for India as two of India’s three biggest obsessions (Politics, Cricket and Bollywood) kept everyone hooked to their television sets and smart phones for latest updates and live action. While the election campaign and results kept everyone interested during the first half of the month, the Cricket World Cup which commenced exactly a week after the Lok Sabha Election Results did grab a lot of eyeballs over this month. ICC Cricket World Cup—Cricket’s quadrennial 50-over event—is the most coveted prize in the world…

Read More

[Funding Alert] Facebook debuts startup investment in India with Bengaluru-based Meesho

Meesho, a Bengaluru-based social commerce platform that helps resellers and emerging brands build businesses using social media, has bagged funding of undisclosed amount from social network giant Facebook. This is Facebook’s first investment in an India-based startup, and is a strong demonstration of the company’s commitment to the country’s vibrant internet ecosystem, the Silicon Valley company said in a statement. Founded by IIT Delhi alumni Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal in 2015, Meesho has created an alternate distribution channel by empowering housewives, young mothers, aspiring entrepreneurs, students, and teachers, to launch, build and promote their online businesses…

Read More

Modi government’s 2nd term: Where to invest in stock market now?

The return of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister has pumped adrenaline into the stock market. As it became clear on Thursday that the BJP will get a clear majority, the benchmark indices created history: the Sensex crossed the 40,000 mark and Nifty rose above 12,000. Though both indices retraced from those levels due to profit booking, the formation of a stable government at the Centre is seen as good news. The markets prefer a strong, stable regime without the crutches of coalition because it ensures continuity in economic policies. “Investors…

Read More

India tops in investment in Dubai’s gold sector

Indians lead the top 10 nationalities investing in Dubai’s gold sector followed by the citizens of Pakistan, Britain, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Oman, Jordan, Belgium, Yemen and Canada, according to a new report. As many as 4,086 companies operate in the gold sector in Dubai and the number of investors stands at 62,125 including 60,012 businessmen and 2,113 businesswomen, the Business Registration and Licensing (BRL) sector in the Department of Economic Development (DED) said in its new report. The report includes statistics on the number of companies operating in Dubai, the…

Read More

State of Economy-VI: Booster investment dosage needed to fire-up slacking consumption

MUMBAI: A booster dose of government and private sector spending along with cheaper rates of finance are required to kick-start India’s consumption driven demand, industry observers opined. To put it simply, the overall economic growth is expected to decline on the back of slacking consumption due to farm distress, global headwinds and stagnant wages. These have cumulatively hampered sales, thereby restricting production and as a result stalled job creation. Furthermore, the slowdown has become evident in sectors such as automobile, FMCG and aviation. “Consumption in India has slowed due to several factors, including low…

Read More