Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) on Friday announced its acquisition of an 80 per cent stake in global offshore support vessel operator Astro Offshore for $185 million in an all-cash deal.

Astro will enhance Adani Ports’ global marine portfolio and help add new Tier-1 customers.

The transaction, implying an enterprise value of $235 million, is expected to be value accretive from the first year itself, said the flagship company of the Adani Group.

"Astro’s acquisition is part of our roadmap to becoming one of the world’s largest marine operators. Astro will add 26 OSVs to our current fleet of 142 tugs and dredgers, taking the total count to 168," said Ashwani Gupta, Whole-Time Director and CEO, APSEZ.

Public sector oil marketing giant BPCL has lined up a capex of Rs 1.7 lakh crore for expanding its existing refineries, and also plans to set up new integrated refining and petrochemical capacities within the next five to seven years to meet the rising demand in India’s growing economy, company Chairman G. Krishnakumar said on Friday.

India’s booming economy is driving a significant increase in energy demand. Petroleum product consumption is expected to rise steadily by 4-5 per cent annually for the foreseeable future. Similarly, the demand for major petrochemical products is also expected to rise by 7-8 per cent annually. This presents a strategic opportunity to expand refining capacity alongside the development of integrated petrochemical complexes, he explained.

India's fintech revolution is improving financial inclusion as well as driving innovation and in the last 10 years, the industry has received a record investment of more than $31 billion, along with witnessing a startup growth of 500 per cent, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday.

Addressing the 'Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2024' in the country's financial capital, PM Modi highlighted affordable mobile phones, inexpensive data, and Jan Dhan Bank accounts, starting with zero balance, for bringing in a revolution.

"Today, the total number of broadband users in the country has increased from 60 million to 940 million. More than 530 million people in the country have Jhan Dhan accounts. In a way, we have connected a population equivalent to that of the entire European Union to banks in just 10 years," he said.

India’s tyre exports have bounced back in the first quarter (April-June) of the current financial year with a 17 per cent jump to Rs 6,219 crore, according to a statement issued by the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA).

Tyre exports had declined by 14 per cent in the same quarter of the previous year due to a decline in demand in the international market.

Arnab Banerjee, Chairman of Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA) said that sustained focus on R&D and development of advanced technology products aided by competitive pricing and branding efforts helped Indian tyre manufacturers drive growth in exports despite a challenging environment. Improving demand prospects in key export destinations and expected monetary easing also helped growth, he said.

The rise in exports reflects the Indian tyre industry’s enhanced integration with global supply chains, he added.

During Q1FY25, the US was the largest export destination for Indian-manufactured tyres, accounting for a 17 per cent share. Other large export destinations included Brazil, Germany, France, and Italy. Indian-manufactured tyres were exported to more than 170 countries.

Quick e-commerce platform Zepto on Friday said it has secured $340 million in a follow-on financing round, taking the company’s valuation to $5 billion after its previous fundraise in June.

General Catalyst led the round, with Dragon Fund, and Epiq Capital joining as new investors. Existing investors such as StepStone, Lightspeed, DST, and Contrary also increased their stakes, the company said in a statement.

Aadit Palicha, Co-founder and CEO at Zepto, said the rationale behind the follow-on financing was twofold.

“First, the opportunity to bring onboard a lead investor of Neeraj Arora’s calibre from General Catalyst was one we couldn't pass on. Second, strengthening our balance sheet is a strategic move, particularly as the company continues to deliver robust growth and operating leverage,” he mentioned.

The country registered 26 per cent growth in rooftop solar capacity addition (year-on-year) at 1.1 gigawatt (GW) in the first half this year -- from 873 MW installed in the same period last year, a report has said.

The 1.1 GW of rooftop solar capacity is the highest half-yearly installations to date, according to Mercom India’s report. Residential rooftop solar projects largely drove the installation growth under the ‘PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana’.

The report mentioned that the rooftop solar capacity additions in the second quarter this year (April-June period) were unprecedented, with 731 MW, up 89 per cent YoY from 388 MW.

According to Priyadarshini Sanjay, Managing Director of Mercom India, the residential sector's contribution, historically overshadowed by the commercial and industrial (C&l) sector, soared around 10-fold from the previous quarter.

Sequentially, capacity additions grew by 99 per cent from 367 MW. Rooftop solar accounted for almost 15 per cent of total solar installations in the quarter.

Led by growing consumer preference for online shopping and strong internet penetration, India’s e-commerce market value is set to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.7 per cent, from $147.3 billion this year to $292.3 billion in 2028, according to a new report.

The future of e-commerce payments in the country appears promising, driven by the government’s initiatives such as ‘Make in India’ and ‘Startup India,’ as well as the rising number of online shoppers.

The e-commerce market in the country is growing at a fast pace and is forecast to surge by 23.8 per cent this year, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Ravi Sharma from GlobalData said that the uptrend in e-commerce sales in India is likely to continue over the next few years, supported by the growing consumer preference, improving payment infrastructure, and growing popularity of alternative payment solutions.

The government has accelerated the development of coal evacuation infrastructure for bolstering India’s energy security and ensuring a consistent and reliable supply of coal to meet the growing demands of the country’s power plants and industries, the Ministry of Coal said on Thursday.

As part of this strategy, the Ministry has identified 38 priority rail projects under the coal logistics plan that will be fast-tracked in close coordination with the Ministry of Railways.

These projects are essential for improving rail connectivity, ensuring timely coal supply, and reducing logistics costs, thereby enhancing the overall efficiency of coal transportation across the country.

Among these priority projects, the government has recently approved two significant rail projects in Odisha: The Sardega-Bhalumuda double line and the Bargarh Road-Nawapara Road single line.

Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India CEO and Managing Director Siddhartha Mohanty on Thursday presented a cheque of Rs 3,662.17 crore to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as the government's share of the company’s dividend, approved by the shareholders in the Annual General Meeting held on August 22.

LIC also paid an interim dividend of Rs 2,441.45 crore on March 1, which takes the total amount paid as the dividend to the government, for the year 2023-24, to Rs 6,103.62 crore.

M.P. Tangirala, Additional Secretary, Department of Financial Services was present along with senior LIC officials on the occasion.

In a new benchmark for the growth story of Indian equity market, GIFT Nifty set an all-time high open interest of $18.29 billion on August 27, surpassing its previous Open Interest record of $18.22 billion on June 26 this year, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) said on Thursday.

It set a record Open Interest of 364,710 contracts worth $18.29 billion on August 27. The continuous increase in open interest highlights the broader participation and reflects the trust of the global investors in GIFT Nifty, said the exchange.

The milestone reflects the growing global interest and trust in the GIFT Nifty as a benchmark for India’s growth story.

Trading turnover on NSE IX, an International multi assets exchange set up at GIFT City, has been growing exponentially since commencement of a full-scale operation of GIFT Nifty on July 3, 2023.