As private consumption rises in tier 2 and 3 cities amid a resilient economy, luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz India on Thursday announced to expand its footprint in two future potential growth markets in the country.

Mercedes-Benz sold a record 19,565 new cars in 2024, clocking its best year in 30 years’ history in the country. In 2023, the company had sold 17,408 units.

Now, the carmaker has inaugurated new state-of-art luxury facilities in Faridabad and Agra.

The company said in a statement that it will strengthen its presence in other key markets like Kanpur and Varanasi in the coming months, underlining the growing importance of Uttar Pradesh as a key region with potential growth possibilities.

The Samsung India Thozhilalar Sangam, affiliated with the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), has issued a 14-day strike notice to the management of the Samsung factory in Tamil Nadu's Sriperumbudur.

This follows the withdrawal of a month-long protest by the union on March 7.

The Sangam is demanding the reinstatement of 23 suspended workers, recognition of their union, and a formal wage agreement.

They have also challenged the legitimacy of a newly-formed group - the Samsung India Welfare Federation - which, according to the Sangam, has signed a wage agreement with the company.

The strike notice, jointly signed by Sangam President E. Muthukumar and Secretary P. Ellan, urged the company to withdraw complaints against the suspended workers and reinstate them immediately. The notice also emphasised that the Sangam represents the majority of the workforce and should be formally recognised by Samsung.

India’s job market is undergoing a significant transformation, with white-collar gig jobs witnessing a 17 per cent rise year-on-year (YoY) in FY25, a new report said on Thursday.

Currently, over 6.8 million professionals in India are part of the white-collar gig workforce, with a majority (66 per cent) working through company-led models, including corporates, MNCs and startups, according to a report by Foundit.

The remaining 34 per cent are placed through consultants, staffing firms or freelance platforms.

The gig economy has expanded across multiple industries, with IT software and services remaining the dominant sector, contributing 32 per cent of gig hires in March.

Institutional investments in India's real estate sector saw a strong start to 2025, with total inflows reaching $1.3 billion in the first quarter, a new report said on Thursday.

This marks a 31 per cent increase compared to the same period last year, driven largely by domestic investors, according to the report by Colliers India.

Domestic investments played a significant role in this growth, contributing $0.8 billion, which is a 75 per cent rise on a year-on-year (YoY) basis.

These investments were mainly directed toward industrial, warehousing and office spaces. The office segment alone attracted $0.4 billion, making up one-third of the total investments.

India has emerged favourably placed in the first round of reciprocal tariff announcements by the US, especially compared to key electronics export competitors like China, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia, following the extraordinary and relentless efforts by its negotiators and leaders, industry experts said on Thursday.

While some countries like Brazil and Egypt enjoy marginally better tariff outcomes, India’s positioning, particularly with China facing combined tariffs of up to 54 per cent-79 per cent and Vietnam at 44 per cent, offers a valuable near-term window of export competitiveness.

“However, the true long-term inflection point for India's electronics trade with the US will rest on the successful conclusion of a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA). The BTA must now become the cornerstone of our trade strategy, unlocking stable market access, tariff predictability, and a framework for scaling high-value electronics exports,” Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman, the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), told.

India has witnessed a massive increase in broadband subscribers, growing from 66 crore to 94.49 crore, while the per capita average monthly wireless data consumption has also seen a sharp rise, doubling from 10 GB to 21.10 GB, the government said on Wednesday.

The speed of mobile broadband has improved significantly as well. According to Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index, the median mobile broadband download speed surged from 10.71 Mbps in 2019 to 144.33 Mbps in February 2025.

Highlighting the country's rapid progress in digital infrastructure, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Jitin Prasada, said in Lok Sabha that the fixed broadband download speeds have increased from 29.25 Mbps to 61.66 Mbps during the same period.

India is rapidly embracing the power of agentic artificial intelligence (AI), with over 80 per cent of businesses actively exploring the development of autonomous agents, a new report said on Wednesday.

This shift towards agentic AI signals a significant transformation in how businesses are adopting AI technologies, as they look for ways to streamline operations and increase efficiency, according to a Deloitte’s report.

Agentic AI refers to AI systems that operate independently, making decisions and taking actions with little to no human input. These systems are typically designed to focus on achieving specific goals and can adapt to changing circumstances.

The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions soared by 42 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in the second half of 2024, totalling a remarkable 93.23 billion transactions, a new report said on Wednesday.

India’s digital payments ecosystem continues to experience rapid growth, with significant milestones reached in the second half last year, according to a report by Worldline, a financial service provider.

The total value of UPI transactions also saw a notable increase, rising by 31 per cent to Rs 130.19 trillion.

Ride-hailing major Uber on Wednesday announced the launch of a new service called ‘Uber for Teens’ in India, which, the company claimed, is designed to offer safe and reliable transportation options for teenagers aged 13 to 17 years in the country.

This service has been rolled out across 37 cities in the country, including Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata, among others.

The service comes with a set of strict safety protocols, including GPS tracking, real-time ride tracking, and an in-app emergency button. “This is to ensure that both teens and their parents feel secure while using the service,” claimed the company.

The government has received a record Rs 74,016 crore as dividends from Central public sector enterprises in financial year 2024-25 which is 16 per cent higher than the corresponding figure of Rs 63,749.3 crore in 2023-24, according to the latest data compiled by the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management.

The total dividend that has accrued to the Centre in the financial year ended on March 31, 2025, has also shot past the Budget's revised estimate of Rs 55,000 crore.

The highest contributors were Coal India Ltd at Rs 10,252 crore, followed by upstream giant Oil and Natural Gas Corp with a payment of Rs 10,002 crore and downstream oil marketing company Bharat Petroleum Corp with Rs 3,562.47 crore at the third position.