Top of the Morning

著者: Mint - HT Smartcast
  • サマリー

  • Top of the Morning is a daily podcast in which we bring you all the action from the global markets and the business world to kick-start your day on a well-informed note. This is a Mint production, brought to you by HT Smartcast
    続きを読む 一部表示

あらすじ・解説

Top of the Morning is a daily podcast in which we bring you all the action from the global markets and the business world to kick-start your day on a well-informed note. This is a Mint production, brought to you by HT Smartcast
エピソード
  • Berkshire’s Cash Pile Soars—Will Buffett Finally Spend?
    2025/02/24
    It's Monday, February 24th, 2025. This is Nelson John, let's get started. IndoBevs Bets Big on Innovation IndoBevs, the maker of Bro Code wine coolers, aims to double its revenue to ₹700 crore by FY26. The company is banking on innovation, launching a herbal liqueur, Bonga Bonga, made with 40 herbs and botanicals, along with new whisky brands. IndoBevs, which started as a distributor in 2007, now has 15 in-house brands and exports to the UAE. It’s expanding whisky offerings with Enso, a Japanese whisky bottled locally, and Wingman, a premium blended malt launching in March 2025. With India’s alcohol market growing at 3.5% annually, IndoBevs is ramping up production, eyeing 2.5 million cases in sales by FY27. Buffett’s Record Cash Pile Sparks Speculation Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway hit a record $334.2 billion in cash reserves by 2024, marking 10 straight quarters of growth. While some wonder if Buffett is struggling to find good deals, he remains patient, selling stocks like Apple amid high valuations. The firm has also paused stock buybacks, letting its cash earn billions in interest. Some see this as preparation for Greg Abel’s succession, but shareholders remain confident, hoping for a major investment. Buffett reassured investors that equities remain the firm’s priority, even as Berkshire’s publicly traded holdings dropped from $354 billion to $272 billion last year, while its private businesses gained value. Agentic AI: The Next Big Bet for Indian VCs Indian venture capitalists are betting on Agentic AI, a self-learning technology that automates tasks with minimal human input. Unlike generative AI, which needs human prompts, Agentic AI adapts independently, making it attractive for industries like healthcare and finance. Startups like Innovaccer, CoRover.ai, and Atomicwork are leading the charge, backed by investors like Accel and Peak XV. The market is projected to grow from $5.1 billion today to $47.1 billion by 2030. While concerns remain over AI errors limiting adoption, businesses are increasingly shifting budgets toward automation, making AI agents a potential game-changer in enterprise operations. Indian Bank CEO’s Bold Shift to MSMEs One month into his tenure, Indian Bank CEO Binod Kumar is refocusing the lender’s strategy—expanding MSME loans while scaling back personal lending. He aims to increase MSME loans from 17% to 20% of the bank’s ₹5.2 trillion loan book in the next 2-3 years, boosting overall yield, which stood at 8.92% in Q3. While agriculture and retail loans have traditionally dominated, MSME loan growth picked up to 8.2% in Q3 from 7% a year earlier, while personal loan growth plunged 14%. The bank is prioritizing home and auto loans, with auto lending surging 48% YoY. Analysts see this as a smart risk-management move, reflected in Indian Bank’s improved net NPA ratio of 0.21%. Kumar projects 11-13% credit growth in FY25, with a continued push toward high-yielding MSME loans. India’s Green Hydrogen Ambitions India is well-positioned to lead in green hydrogen, but high production costs remain a challenge. Sushil Purohit, CEO of Gentari, says round-the-clock renewable power is key to making hydrogen competitive. With costs currently at $5/kg, adoption has been slow, despite government incentives. However, Gentari sees massive potential, given India’s abundant renewable resources and policy support. The company is developing 200 kilotonnes per annum of green hydrogen projects and holds a stake in AM Green, which aims to produce 5 million tonnes of green ammonia annually by 2030. With 6 GW of renewable energy capacity in India, Gentari is also setting up a 650 MW round-the-clock green power project to support ammonia production. As costs drop, India’s hydrogen economy could take off, reshaping industries like steel, refining, and shipping.
    続きを読む 一部表示
    10 分
  • Your pension could be stuck in limbo. Here’s how to prevent it
    2025/02/21
    Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Friday, February 21st, 2025. This is Nelson John, let's get started. Your daily cup of coffee is set to become more expensive. Global coffee prices have surged due to supply shortages in major producing countries like Brazil and Vietnam. Brazil faces its worst drought in over four decades, severely impacting coffee yields. Similarly, Vietnam has been hit by typhoons and erratic rainfall, disrupting harvests and lowering bean quality. These challenges have pushed Robusta futures to a record high of $5,849 per tonne, with Arabica prices rising about 70% in 2024. In India, coffee consumption is steadily rising, making price hikes more impactful than ever, reports Suneera Tandon. Specialty coffee chains like Blue Tokai have already increased prices and may implement further hikes. Packaged coffee brands are also feeling the squeeze, with the Indian Coffee Roasters’ Association announcing a ₹200 per kilo hike in powdered Arabica and Robusta. Major brands like Nestlé, which sells Nescafé, acknowledge the impact of skyrocketing coffee costs, with coffee prices up 75% year-on-year. While some chains strive to avoid passing the burden onto consumers, the sustained rise in global coffee prices makes it challenging to absorb the increased costs. As a result, your morning brew is likely to see a price increase in the near future. Microsoft has unveiled Majorana 1, (MayoRANA) a breakthrough quantum chip that could bring industrial-scale quantum computing within years, not decades. Built with an innovative material called a topoconductor, this chip is designed to scale up to a million qubits on a single processor—potentially transforming computing as we know it. Unlike classical computers, which process information in binary (0s and 1s), quantum computers leverage qubits, which can exist in multiple states at once. This enables them to perform complex calculations exponentially faster, with potential applications in AI, financial modeling, drug discovery, and climate research. Microsoft’s approach relies on Majorana particles, a unique type of theoretical particle that could make quantum computing more stable and scalable. While tech giants like Google and IBM have also made strides in quantum computing, Microsoft’s announcement signals that commercial quantum applications could be closer than anticipated. With this breakthrough, the race to harness quantum power is accelerating, bringing us one step closer to solving problems beyond the reach of today’s computers. When switching jobs, you probably focus on transferring or withdrawing your provident fund (PF), assuming all your savings are covered. But what if part of your money was stuck—unclaimed and inaccessible? That’s what happened to Mr. A. While he successfully withdrew his PF, his Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) contributions remained unmerged. Without linking past EPS accounts, his withdrawal request was denied. Unlike PF, EPS doesn’t transfer automatically—it requires an extra step that many employees overlook. Here’s the rule: Employers contribute 8.33% of your salary to EPS. If you’ve worked with both private PF trusts (exempt) and EPFO-managed (non-exempt) employers, your pension funds could be scattered. To withdraw or claim benefits, EPS must be transferred and merged. If you’ve worked for less than 10 years, you can withdraw your EPS—but only if it’s properly linked. Cross the 10-year mark, and withdrawal isn’t an option. Instead, you’ll need a pension scheme certificate to claim benefits at retirement. To avoid complications, always transfer EPS when changing jobs. Staying proactive ensures you don’t lose your hard-earned pension savings! Read Aparajita Sharma’s detailed report on this in today’s Mint Money.
    続きを読む 一部表示
    9 分
  • Key takeaways from the RBI’s monetary policy committee conference
    2025/02/10
    Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Monday, February 10, 2025. This is Nelson John, let's get started. Air traffic is booming in India. Manufacturers are actively seeking deals at the Aero India exhibition, highlighting the country's potential. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is set to hold its annual general meeting in June in New Delhi, a testament to India's growing market influence. According to Airbus India's Remi Maillard, “ India is now the third-largest air market globally, after the U.S. and China”. Boeing's Salil Gupte echoed this sentiment, calling India the most dynamic and exciting market. The civil aviation ministry claims a meteoric rise in the sector, with traffic growth projected over seven percent annually until 2043. Although rail travel remains popular, it's often slow and chaotic. Boeing estimates that converting just two percent of daily train users to air travel could double the air market, given the current low per capita air travel of 0.12 compared to 0.46 in China.Going by these statistics, the Indian market will need at least 2,835 new aircraft in the next 20 years, and all major players like Indigo, Airbus and Air India are gunning for the Next big leap in the airline sector. Ola Electric will need to consistently sell 50,000 units every month in order to achieve profitability, says founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Bhavish Aggarwal. To be sure, Ola Electric has faced considerable criticism due to widespread customer complaints about poor service centre experience. In September last year, Mint reported that Ola’s service centre backlogs had risen to 80,000 customer complaints per month.Speaking to an analyst, Aggarwal claimed that the company had recaptured its market leadership in terms of volumes with 25,000 units sold in January.The company has consistently been under pressure, with Ola Electric’s shares losing about 2% on Friday alone to settle at ₹70 apiece on the BSE—only 8% off its all-time low. The company has suffered a quarterly net loss of ₹564 crore in the last quarter of 2024.Aggarwal, however, claimed that the company “maintained a steady industry leadership with a market share of over 25%.” The recent deportation of 104 illegal migrants to India by the US government has sparked controversy in the Indian Parliament. In the midst of this debate, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit the United States from February 12 to 13, where he will engage in discussions with President Donald Trump, as quoted by Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.Earlier, on January 27, President Trump and Prime Minister Modi held a conversation focused on immigration matters and the importance of India purchasing more American-made security equipment.The United States is India's largest trading partner, with two-way trade surpassing $118 billion in 2023/24, and India recording a trade surplus of $32 billion.As a strategic partner of the United States, India will aim to enhance trade relations, simplify access to skilled worker visas and review import tariffs on over 30 items, including luxury cars, and solar cells, potentially boosting imports from the US amid rising global trade tensions.4)The Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy committee (MPC) on Friday cut the key policy interest rate by 25 basis points to 6.25% to support growth. At a post-policy press conference, new RBI governor Sanjay Malhotra spoke on a range of issues such as implementation of the proposed guidelines on liquidity coverage ratio (LCR), working with the government on various recommendations, geopolitical developments, and the cost of policy actions on regulated entities. It is not only about stability, the implementation of LCR norms comes at a cost. It requires a strict impact analysis and enough time to be implemented. While the Rupee depreciation puts pressure on inflation, a higher worry is how global uncertainties would pan out. 5) Religare Enterprises Ltd chairperson Rashmi Saluja informed shareholders at the company's annual general meeting (AGM) on Friday that she was not retiring as a director, a move that stumped shareholders and proxy advisory firms. However, a third of Religare's investors told Mint that they had voted against Saluja’s reappointment as director. Manendra Singh, partner at law firm Economic Laws Practice revealed that "Under the Companies Act, 2013, the chairman can regulate the manner in which voting is conducted, but cannot take away the voting rights of its members.” The Burman family, which owns a little over 25% of Religare, got approvals from all regulatory agencies and offered to buy up to 26% shares from minority investors via an open offer that opened on 27 January. Following the hearing on Gaekwad's appeal, the Supreme Court said the Burmans' open offer cannot be closed until the Sebi decides on the ...
    続きを読む 一部表示
    7 分
activate_buybox_copy_target_t1

Top of the Morningに寄せられたリスナーの声

カスタマーレビュー:以下のタブを選択することで、他のサイトのレビューをご覧になれます。