More than 34 lakh consumers of Adani Electricity are set to be benefitted by the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC)-approved tariff reductions, applicable from April 1, 2025.

With the MERC order, Adani Electricity’s 34 lakh consumers will benefit from an average 10 per cent tariff cut in FY26 and another 11.7 per cent in FY27.

An Adani Electricity spokesperson said in a statement on Saturday that the MERC order would bring sustained relief for their consumers without any increase in fixed charges.

“The Green Tariff premium has been reduced to Rs 0.25/unit, making 100 per cent renewable energy more accessible than ever. EV consumers continue to enjoy Mumbai’s lowest rate at Rs 5.48/unit under a simplified single-part tariff structure. Enhanced (time of day) ToD rebates and new usage-linked incentives add even more value,” said the spokesperson.

Around 3.16 crore consumers of the state public distribution company Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) or (Mahavitaran) will have to shell out less towards the power tariff from 2025-26 to 2029-30.

The power regulator Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) in its order released late Friday night has approved tariff reduction of 10 per cent in FY 2025-26 and cumulative reduction of 16 per cent by FY 2029-30 vis-a-vis existing tariff (including Fuel Adjustment Cost), as against Mahavitaran's claim for 0 per cent revision in FY 2025-26 and reduction of 3.6 per cent by FY 2029-30.

This was done with a projected revenue surplus of Rs 44,481 crore and the corresponding reduction in the overall average cost of supply.

The MERC issued its order on the Mahavitaran's multi-year tariff petition. The revised tariffs will be effective from April 1.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has reportedly sent a fresh show-cause notice to Ola Electric Mobility, seeking an explanation about mismatch in its sales numbers recorded in February.

The show-cause notice, dated March 21, seeks details about Ola scooters of various models sold and registered last month, reports.

The Bhavish Aggarwal-led electric vehicle (EV) maker has been asked to respond to whether Ola scooters sold in February are on the road without registrations; whether Ola scooters were delivered to customers without number plates; and whether Ola scooters are being sold from stores without trade certificates.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) recently issued new guidelines on numeric UPI ID solution with the aim of enhancing customer experience for UPI number-based payments. These new guidelines will be effective from April 1.

It will be mandatory for UPI member banks, UPI apps and third-party providers to follow these new guidelines.

According to the new norms, the UPI ID linked to the inactive mobile number will become inactive. That is, if the mobile number registered with the bank of a UPI user is inactive for a long time, then the UPI ID of the user will also be unlinked, and the person will not be able to use the UPI service.

In such a situation, every person using the UPI service will need to ensure that the mobile number registered with his bank is active.

UPI service can be used without any problem only if the bank records are kept updated with the correct mobile number. There may be problems with the UPI service associated with inactive or reassigned mobile numbers.

India's ultra-luxury home market is soaring and in the last three years, 49 such homes -- each commanding a price tag of Rs 100 crore or more -- have been sold for Rs 7,500 years, a report showed on Saturday.

In a testament to India's burgeoning luxury real estate market, there has been an unprecedented surge in ultra-luxury residential sales and apartments now dominate the ultra-luxury segment over bungalows.

The momentum shows no signs of slowing, as the first two months of 2025 have already witnessed four ultra-luxury home sales, amassing a combined value of Rs 850 crore, according to a JLL report.

Unlike past perceptions, independent houses such as bungalows and villas are no longer the only assets synonymous with a trophy residential abode.

India has a huge potential for generation of renewable energy which stood at 21,09,655 megawatts (as on March 2024(, the government said on Saturday, adding that the country is experiencing a steady and healthy growth in both energy supply and consumption.

The potential of generating energy from wind power had the dominating share of 11,63,856 megawatts (around 55 per cent) which was followed by solar energy (7,48,990 megawatts) and large Hydro (1,33,410), according to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

More than half of the potential for generation of renewable energy has been concentrated within the four states — Rajasthan (20.3 per cent), Maharashtra (11.8 per cent), Gujarat (10.5 per cent) and Karnataka (9.8 per cent).

The installed-capacity for generating electricity (including Utility and Non-Utility) from the renewable resources has also experienced a significant growth over the past years.

After witnessing a tremendous growth in fruit exports in the last five years, the government is now exploring new markets for fruit exports.

According to Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Jitin Prasada, the free trade agreements (FTAs) with the UAE and Australia have helped increase exports of fruits to the UAE and Australia by 27 per cent and six per cent, respectively.

“The free trade agreement has helped increase exports to the UAE, where there has been a 27 per cent increase in fruits export and with Australia where there has been a 6 per cent increase in export of fruits,” the minister informed the Rajya Sabha.

India’s fruit exports have surged by 47.5 per cent over the last five years.

Billionaire Elon Musk has announced his artificial intelligence company, xAI, has acquired social media platform X for an all-stock transaction of $33 billion.

The combination, which "values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion ($45B less $12B debt)," will "unlock the immense potential"

It will blend "xAI’s advanced AI capability and expertise with X’s massive reach". X has more than 600 million active users.

Musk had in 2022, bought X -- originally Twitter -- for $44 billion.

In the last two years, the platform "has been transformed into one of the most efficient companies in the world, positioning it to deliver scalable future growth".

On the other hand, xAI, founded by Musk in March 2023, has rapidly become one of the leading AI labs in the world.

A total of 171 food processing companies have been approved for assistance under the Production-Linked Incentive Scheme for Food Processing Industry (PLISFPI) and incentives worth Rs 1,155.296 crore has been disbursed, out of which Rs 13.266 crore has been disbursed to MSMEs in 20 eligible cases (as of February 28), the government has informed.

The PLISFPI scheme was approved by the Union Cabinet in March 2021, with an outlay of Rs 10,900 Crore. The Scheme is being implemented over a six-year period from 2021-22 to 2026-27.

According to data reported by the scheme's beneficiaries, an investment of Rs 8,910 crore has been made across 213 locations.

As of October 31, 2024, the scheme has reportedly generated employment of over 2.89 lakh.

Major chipmaker SK hynix was the top pick for foreign investors in the first quarter of the year, data showed on Saturday.

The foreign investors scooped up a net 1.88 trillion won (US$1.28 billion) worth of SK hynix shares during the January-March period on hopes for a turnaround in the sector, according to the data compiled by the Korea Exchange, reports Yonhap news agency.

Defence firm Hanhwa Aerospace and internet portal operator Naver came in next with their net buyings of 733 billion won and 434 billion won, respectively.

In contrast, they heavily sold shares worth 1.18 trillion won worth of shipbuilder Hanhwa Ocean in the first quarter, followed by top automaker Hyundai Motor with 790 billion won and leading banking group KB Financial with 548 billion won, the data showed.

In the first three months of the year, they sold a net 4.73 trillion won worth of local stocks.