Private equity (PE) investment in India's real estate sector surged by 9 per cent to reach $2.2 billion in the third quarter (July-September period) this year, which is double the investment made in the same quarter last year.

In the first nine months this year, private equity players invested $3.9 billion in real estate in the country during the period from January to September -- more than the total investment in 2023, according to a report by global real estate consulting firm Savills India.

On a quarterly basis, investment of $1.7 billion was made in the industrial and logistics segment, which is 77 per cent of the total capital infusion, due to a surge in e-commerce and the government's emphasis on making India a manufacturing hub.

As Ola Electric users continue to flood social media platforms against poor service and myriad other problems, IPO-bound electric two-wheeler maker Ather Energy is also facing a number of complaints against its e-scooters on social media.

On X, Ather customers have shared a range of problems – from hardware to software and delivery delays – to which, the company has responded to resolve their issues fast.

"Serviced on 14th Sep for 10k odometer, given many issues in scooter, none of them are attended saying no stock spares. Escalated to @atherenergy, suggested to drop scooter for analysis, so dropped on 3rd OCT, Yesterday delivered with Fork, key slot replaced. But incomplete fitting," posted an Ather e-scooter user on Wednesday.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday announced an increase in pre-transaction limits for UPI 123Pay and UPI Lite payment mechanisms.

With new guidelines, the users will soon be able to do low-value UPI transactions of up to Rs 1,000 without entering the PIN. Earlier, the limit was Rs 500.

The limit for UPI Lite balance has also been raised to Rs 5,000 from Rs 2,000. UPI Lite is available on Paytm, BHIM App, Google Pay and other such payments apps. Several banks are already offering the UPI Lite facility.

UPI Lite was introduced in September 2022 to enable small value payments in a quick and seamless manner through an on-device wallet.

Driven by vehicle financing, securitisation volume in India rose 56 per cent (year-on-year) to Rs 70,000 crore in the second quarter of this fiscal (FY25), a report showed on Wednesday.

This was propelled by large issuances by some key players, especially a large private sector bank, and a few NBFCs that are primarily into vehicle financing, according to a report by CRISIL Ratings.

The performance helped securitisation volume surpass Rs 1.15 lakh crore for the first half of the fiscal, clocking a 15 per cent on-year growth. As for the investor base, banks continued to dominate the market, accounting for over 70 per cent of the securitisation volume in the first half.

As India doubles down on local manufacturing of end-to-end electronics products and more, there lies a massive $15 billion opportunity for Taiwanese companies across sectors like printed circuit boards (PCBs), electronic components and electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure, according to a new report.

Other sectors like electric motors, CCTV and smart healthcare (fitness trackers, smartwatches, heart rate monitors etc) also hold promise for Taiwan, according to the report by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

The current target market in India for Taiwan in these areas is worth $60 Billion and Taiwan industry can invest in these areas for catering not only to domestic market but also exports.

Chip-maker MediaTek on Wednesday launched Dimensity 9400, the new flagship smartphone chipset optimised for edge-AI applications, immersive gaming, incredible photography and more.

The first smartphones powered by the Dimensity 9400 chip will be available in the market, starting in Q4, said the company.

The Dimensity 9400, the fourth and latest in MediaTek’s flagship mobile SoC lineup, offers a boost in performance with its second-generation ‘All Big Core’ design built on Arm’s v9.2 CPU architecture, combined with the most advanced GPU and NPU for extreme performance in a super power-efficient design.

Smartphone sales grew 11 per cent (year-over-year) in the first wave of the festive season sales in India between September 26-October 6, a report said on Tuesday.

According to latest estimates from TechInsights, South Korean electronics major Samsung led the smartphone sales volume with a 20 per cent market share.

This was led by top-selling models such as Galaxy M35, Galaxy S23, Galaxy A14 and Galaxy S23 FE, etc., according to the report.

The first wave of the festive season this year was 11 days, compared to 7-8 days in the past couple of years.

“Samsung sales in unit terms grew 17 per cent YoY in 2024’s first wave compared to 2023’s first wave,” the report mentioned.

Hyundai Motor said on Tuesday it has decided to sell a 17.5 per cent share in its Indian subsidiary for the initial public offering (IPO) it plans for this year.

The South Korean automaker said in a regulatory filing it will sell 142.19 million shares in Hyundai Motor India, bringing its share down to 82.5 percent.

Hyundai has not specified the exact date and the range for the IPO pricing, but it seeks to go public within this year with an aim to raise up to 4 trillion won ($2.96 billion) at about $20 billion IPO valuation, Yonhap news agency reported.

Hyundai Motor established the Indian subsidiary in 1996, and it would be the first carmaker to go public in India in around two decades, officials said.

Prices of tur (arhar) and urad pulses in major mandis have declined by almost 10 per cent in the last three months but retail prices have not seen a similar decline yet, the Centre said on Tuesday.

Nidhi Khare, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, told the Retailers Association of India (RAI) and representatives from leading organised retail chains that in respect of chana, decline in mandi prices have been observed in the past one month but retail prices continue to increase.

She pointed out the diverging trends between wholesale mandi prices and retail prices are indicative of increasingly unwarranted margins that retailers are extracting out of the market dynamics.

“The trends are being closely tracked and necessary measures will have to be initiated if the divergences are found to be widening,” she told them in a meeting.

As the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) gears up to announce the decision of its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on October 9, industry experts on Tuesday said the Central Bank is likely to maintain a status quo on policy interest rates and if food inflation further moderates, a shallow rate cut of 50 bps in the upcoming policy meetings is likely this fiscal.

Dhiraj Relli, MD and CEO, HDFC Securities said while they do not expect the RBI to start its rate cut cycle, the possibility of a change in stance to neutral is on the table.

“The MPC may keep the repo rates steady at 6.50 per cent for the 10th consecutive time. Although it remains a close call, the RBI could very well deliver a no change policy while only changing its tone towards the dovish side,” said Relli.

Despite inflation remaining below 4 per cent over the past two months, primarily due to a favourable base and some sequential slowdown in food prices, the risk to food inflation remains high.

“We anticipate that the MPC will maintain the current policy rate and stance. The commentaries from the newly inducted external members will be closely monitored to gauge future policy directions. Overall, we expect the governor to have a dovish tone, laying the groundwork for a shallow rate cut in the coming months,” said CareEdge Rating in its report on Tuesday.