Page 10 - Finance Sector

BLS E-Services to expand Business Correspondent network to 60,000 agents

Digital service provider firm BLS e-services on Tuesday announced plans to expand its Business Correspondent (BC) network to over 60,000 agents by 2026-27 to expand its reach across rural, semi-urban, and underserved regions in the country. Currently, BLS e-services, a subsidiary of BLS International, operates a network of over 44,800 active BCs serving more than 23,900 rural/semi-rural PIN codes and 17,600 urban locations. India's Business Correspondent industry is projected to exceed Rs 14,700 crore by FY2025, growing at a CAGR of 19 per cent. With over 13.5 lakh BCs currently active nationwide, BLS e-services aims to cement its position as the most reliable, scalable, and tech-enabled operator in this evolving sector. In a release, the company said it plans to grow its BC base by more than 50 per cent over the next two years, reaching more than 60,000 plus touchpoints by fiscal 2026-27. "Our mission is to convert every BLS outlet into a true one-stop digital access point," said

Now hiring: Centre to fill 25 top posts in financial institutions soon

FSIB will conduct interviews and prepare the shortlist

Non-life insurers post 13.5% premium growth to Rs 33,688 cr in April

Gross direct premium underwritten by non-life insurers rose 13.5 per cent YoY in April to Rs 33,688 crore, led by growth in general and standalone health insurance

India sees maiden RMBS listing; NHB expects cos to raise Rs 10K cr in FY26

The country's maiden residential mortgage-backed securities were listed on the market on Monday, and housing finance regulator NHB said it expects firms to raise over Rs 10,000 crore through the route this fiscal. The National Housing Bank-promoted RMBS Development Company (RDCL) listed the first-ever set of securities of Rs 1,000 crore maturing in 20 years with a coupon of 7.26 per cent payable monthly, on the NSE. NHB Managing Director and Chief Executive Sanjay Shukla said he expects up to 10 more such transactions in the fiscal year through which lenders will raise between Rs 10,000-12,000 crore. The listing done on Monday involves pass-through certificates of a pool of residential loans made by LIC Housing Finance, and the issue was fully subscribed. RDCL was set up in March by NHB to help home financiers access funding by giving up future receivables on a loan to investors. The move will also help term investors like pension funds and insurance companies will get investment .

MTNL defaults on interest payment for sovereign guarantee-backed bonds

Debt-ridden state-owned telecom operator MTNL has failed to make interest payments of sovereign guarantee-backed Rs 6,100 crore bonds as per stipulated norms, the company said in a regulatory filing. MTNL issued 5,000 government-guaranteed, unsecured, rated, listed, redeemable, non-convertible, and taxable bonds in the nature of debentures for an aggregate amount of Rs 6,109.6 crore in November 2022. As per the payment mechanism of the Tri-Partite Agreement (TPA) signed among MTNL, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and Beacon Trusteeship, MTNL has to fund the semi-annual interest into an escrow account with an adequate amount 10 days before the due date. "...it is informed that due to insufficient funds MTNL could not fund the ESCROW Account with the adequate amount," the state-owned firm said. As per the terms of the bond agreement, the sovereign guarantee will be invoked by the debenture trustee in case of any default is made by MTNL in payment of principal and interest

10-year bond yields fall 6 bps after RBI's open market operation plan

Foreign banks net sell Rs 9,800 crore in one week to book profit after fall in yields

Evren raises $100 mn from ALTÉRRA to build 11 GW clean energy pipeline

The capital will support the development and construction of up to 11 GW of wind, solar, and battery storage projects in India, primarily across Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh

Adani Airport unit seeks $750 million loan from international banks

Adani Airport Holdings Ltd. manages seven major airports across India and is nearing the launch of a new $2 billion international hub on the outskirts of Mumbai

NRI deposit inflows jump 23% till February: RBI's monthly bulletin

NRIs inflows in deposits grew by $14.55 billion between April 2024 and February 2025, against $11.8 billion during the same period a year ago, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

Net $1.6 billion sold in spot FX market in February: RBI bulletin

The RBI said it purchased $45.03 billion and sold $46.6 billion. In January, the central bank had sold a net of $11.1 billion in the spot market

Transaction declined: UPI outages raise tough questions for NPCI, RBI

To be fair, NPCI has done phenomenal work over the past decade. It has revolutionised digital payments in the country with about 600 million average daily UPI transactions

Vishwakarma scheme faces challenges with loan approval rate at just 28%

While a total of 13.93 lakh loan applications were submitted to PSBs, only 3.9 lakh were approved, highlighting a significant gap in the disbursement process

Banks seek power to freeze accounts in case of illicit transactions

To check cyber fraud through mule accounts, banks are seeking authority to freeze accounts involved in channelling illicit transactions without wasting precious time in seeking permission from authorities. Banks freeze/block accounts based on internal triggers, however, as per the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they do not have the authority to freeze or block customer accounts without proper authorisation from a court or law enforcement agencies (LEAs). "In light of this, we may propose this as a suggestion for further consideration by the RBI," a working group constituted by the Indian Banks' Association said in a report. Mule accounts are used by fraudsters to move illegal funds through the banking system. Although banks freeze thousands of these accounts every year, fraudsters quickly create new accounts using loopholes in the system. Besides, it said, banks may look to verify and restrict accounts most vulnerable to misuse as "mule" accounts for channelling illicit

The sector that didn't flinch: BFSI shines as markets face turbulence

Here are 10 stocks across different segments of the BFSI universe that have held up well in the past six months - and may have more room to run

Average call, policy repo rate spread narrows as liquidity improves

The WACR moved in tandem with policy repo rate. Additionally, the overnight rates in collateralised segment - that is, triparty repo (TREPS) and market repo - broadly remained aligned with WACR

Microfinance defaults stay elevated in Q4FY25, says India Ratings

Credit costs to touch 9.6% for FY25; sustained recovery in collection only from H2FY26

NaBFID inks MoU with New Development Bank to boost financing infra projects

The National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID) on Thursday said it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the New Development Bank (NDB) creating a deep and sustainable infrastructure financing market and developing a supportive ecosystem around it. NDB is a multilateral development bank established by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) with the purpose of mobilising resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in emerging markets and developing countries (EMDCs). This collaboration will help bridge the infrastructure financing gap and explore long-term collaboration opportunities, including the exchange of technical expertise, a joint statement said. NaBFID aims to work with NDB on clean energy and transportation projects, such as renewable energy initiatives, sustainable water and sewage management, among others, it said. The MoU also lays the foundation for both organisations to participate in ...

RBI slashes repo rate by 25 bps to 6%, shifts stance to 'accommodative'

Dials down growth, inflation projections

Reserve Bank's draft circular seeks to standardise gold loan regulations

In the draft circular, the RBI stated that norms for lending against gold collateral must be incorporated into the credit/risk management policy of lenders

RBI proposes market based mechanism for securitization of stressed assets

Currently, standard assets are securitised widely, where banks and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) participate actively to acquire such assets