Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and AFD, France have signed a $100 million credit facility agreement to scale up green finance solutions for Indian micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), according to a SIDBI statement issued on Wednesday.

The partnership aims to support sustainable growth and drive the transition towards a low-carbon economy.

Under this agreement, AFD will provide a credit line of $100 million to SIDBI to deploy the funds to expand access to affordable financing for MSMEs investing in energy-efficient technologies, renewable energy solutions, and climate-friendly business practices.

As India moves closer to a major tax overhaul, the new Income-Tax Bill 2025 seeks to simplify the tax structure and to make it more transparent, efficient, and business-friendly.

Expected to be tabled in Parliament on Thursday, the proposed bill aims to replace the decades-old Income Tax Act, 1961, which has become increasingly complex due to continuous amendments, court rulings and exemptions.

While these changes had good intentions, they resulted in a tax code that became difficult to interpret which led to rising litigation, higher compliance costs, and confusion among taxpayers.

The Income-Tax Bill 2025 proposes cutting down the number of sections by almost half, from 819 to 536, eliminating redundant exemptions, and reducing the total word count from 5 lakh to 2.5 lakh.

Government-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) on Wednesday reported a robust 14 per cent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,440 crore for the October-December quarter of the current financial year compared to the corresponding figure of Rs 1,261 crore in the same period of 2023-24.

The defence PSU has declared a first interim dividend of FY25 at Rs 25 per equity share of Rs 5 face value. "The record date for the payment of the first interim dividend will be Tuesday, the 18th of February, 2025. The dividend will be paid to all the eligible shareholders on or before 14th March 2025," according to a regulatory filing by the company.

HAL’s revenue from operations registered a double-digit growth of 15 per cent to Rs 6,957 crore compared to Rs 6,061 crore in Q3FY24, on the back of a strong order book from the Defence Ministry.

Meanwhile, HAL chairman and managing director D K Sunil has said that the deliveries of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas would commence soon as the technical issues that were causing the delay have now been resolved.

The fourth-generation fighter jet, developed by HAL, is designed to replace the ageing fleet of MiG-21s, but the IAF chief Amar Preet Singh has been complaining about the defence PSU not meeting its deadlines for delivering the plane.

In a bid to create a talent pool of industry-ready workforce, the Adani Group on Wednesday partnered with ITE Education Services (ITEES) of Singapore to build a skilled talent pipeline for serving industries across the spectrum, including green energy, manufacturing, hi-tech, project excellence and industrial design.

Towards this goal, the Adani family will donate over Rs 2,000 crore to establish internationally benchmarked schools of excellence.

This is part of the Rs 10,000 crore social donation recently announced by the Adani Group. On Tuesday, the company had announced Rs 6,000 crore towards building Adani Health Cities (AHCs) in partnership with US-based Mayo Clinic.

Gautam Adani, the Chairman of the Adani Group, announced in a post on social media platform X that the company is launching the world’s largest and state-of-the-art finishing school in Mundra, Gujarat.

“Delighted to announce one of India’s largest Skill and Employ initiatives! In partnership with Singapore’s ITEES, the global leader in technical training, the Adani Group is launching the world’s largest finishing school in Mundra,” the Adani Group Chairman posted.

India's industrial growth, based on the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), was recorded at 3.2 per cent in December 2024, according to the data released by the Ministry of Statistics on Wednesday.

The manufacturing sector, which accounts for more than three-fourths of the index of industrial production (IIP), posted a 3 per cent growth during December 2024.

The sector plays a key role in providing quality jobs to the young graduates passing out from the country's engineering institutes and universities.

Within the manufacturing sector, 16 out of 23 industry groups at NIC 2 digit-level have recorded a positive growth in December 2024 over December 2023.

GreenLine, a part of Essar's Green Mobility Ecosystem and India's largest cleaner fuel logistics provider, is driving the decarbonisation of the country’s road freight industry with its fleet of LNG-powered trucks.

By offering eco-friendly, high-performance logistics solutions, GreenLine is transforming India’s supply chain while helping major industries reduce their carbon footprint and meet sustainability targets.

With a growing fleet of over 500 LNG-powered trucks and with plans to scale up to 1000 by March 2025, GreenLine is actively reducing emissions from one of the most carbon-intensive sectors in the country.

These trucks, capable of carrying 40 tonnes of payload and traveling up to 1,200 kilometres on a single tank, are proving to be a game-changer for sectors ranging from FMCG and Automotive to Oil & Gas, Metals & Mining, Cement & Construction, and Express Delivery.

Gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) witnessed a massive surge in inflows in January, as investors poured Rs 3,751.4 crore into these funds, according to the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) data on Wednesday.

The inflows in January were the highest-ever recorded for gold ETFs in a single month, as Rs 640 crore was invested in December 2024.

Gold ETFs have witnessed remarkable growth over the past year. On a yearly basis, these funds recorded a massive 471 per cent increase in inflows, rising from Rs 657 crore in January 2024 to Rs 3,751.4 crore in January 2025.

In addition to the surge in investments, Gold ETFs delivered impressive returns, offering an average gain of nearly 7.29 per cent in January.

The surge in investments was driven by multiple factors, including rising gold prices and increasing market volatility amid US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats. With global uncertainties and geopolitical tensions affecting investor sentiment, many turned to gold as a safe-haven asset.

India’s retail inflation rate, based on the Consumer Price Index, fell to a five-month low of 4.31 per cent in January as prices of vegetables and pulses eased during the month bringing respite to household budgets, according to figures released by the Ministry of Statistics on Wednesday.

The easing of inflation reflects a steadily declining trend after having touched a 14-month high of 6.21 per cent in October. CPI inflation had declined to 5.48 per cent in November and 5.22 per cent in December.

The food inflation at 6.02 per cent in January 2025 is the lowest after August 2024.

“The significant decline in headline inflation and food inflation during the month of January is mainly attributed to the decline in inflation of vegetables, egg, pulses, cereals, education, clothing and health,” according to an official statement.

Equity mutual funds (MFs) saw net inflows of Rs 39,687.78 crore in January even as the domestic stock market continued its downward trend, according to data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) on Wednesday.

This comes after December saw a strong 14.5 per cent jump in inflows to Rs 41,155.91 crore.

Despite the marginal decline, inflows into open-ended equity funds remained positive for the 47th consecutive month.

The dip in inflows coincided with a weak performance in the stock market, as the BSE Sensex fell by 1.28 per cent and the Nifty dropped 0.99 per cent in January.

Black Box Limited, Essar’s technology arm, on Tuesday announced its results for third quarter (Q3) with highest-ever profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 56 crore which rose by 37 per cent year-on-year (YoY).

For 9M FY25, the PAT increased to Rs 144 crore with a growth of 49 per cent YoY, according to its stock exchange filing.

PAT margins improved by 120 bps YoY and stood at 3.7 per cent in Q3 whereas for 9M FY25, PAT margins rose by 130 bps YoY at 3.3 per cent.

In its filing, the company said that the strong operating performance has resulted in better profitability, despite higher exceptional items.