Explore Business Standard
Nearly nine years ago, Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma had remarked, "We are as Indian as Maruti," in an interview with PTI, responding to queries about the company's ownership structure at that time. That statement, once seen as symbolic, now reflects the reality, one where Paytm stands as a truly Indian company, both in spirit and shareholding. The mobile payments company is 100 per cent Indian-owned after Jack Ma's Ant Financial exited One97 Communications, the parent company of Paytm, by selling its entire 5.84 per cent stake for around Rs 3,803 crore. A person aware of the contours of the deal said, "Paytm is now as Indian as Tata." This transformation became official with the recent exit of Antfin (Netherlands) Holding BV, which sold its residual 5.84 per cent stake in Paytm for about Rs 3,800 crore through a block deal. With this, Chinese ownership in the company has been reduced to zero, marking a significant shift in its shareholding pattern. In 2016, Vijay She
Fintech firm One97 Communications' Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Vijay Shekhar Sharma has voluntarily surrendered 2.1 crore shares worth about Rs 1,800 crore, as per a regulatory filing and share closing price of the company. The shares were granted to Sharma as part of ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) at the time of listing of One97 Communications, which owns Paytm brand. It will now return to the ESOP pool under One 97 Employees' Stock Option Scheme, 2019. "Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Chairman, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Company vide letter dated April 16, 2025 has informed the company that he has voluntarily forgone all 2,10,00,000 (Two Crore Ten Lakhs) ESOPs granted to him under One 97 Employees Stock Option Scheme, 2019, with immediate effect," the filing said. Based on the Paytm share closing price of Rs 864.5 apiece, the ESOPs are valued at Rs 1,815.45 crore. "This will result in a one-time, non-cash, acceleration of ESOP expense of R
Fintech firm One97 Communications, which owns Paytm brand, sees no impact of lower incentives earmarked by the government in the budget for promoting small ticket digital transactions, a top official of the company said. Speaking on the sidelines of launching "Card NFC Soundbox" machine, Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma denied any impact of lower allocation of incentives to promote small ticket digital transactions on his guidance over profitability this fiscal year. "We remain committed to doing the same (achieve a profitable quarter in this fiscal) because we already said without UPI incentive," Sharma said. The government has lowered incentive allocation for Rupay and UPI transactions by about 42 per cent in the budget. Sharma during the company's earning call had given guidance to achieve a profitable quarter during the current fiscal. "My team and we are also committed to making sure that we go back to profitable quarters very, very soon. We are hoping and working on making sur