Bharti Airtel on Wednesday said it (along with its subsidiary Bharti Hexacom Ltd) has prepaid an additional Rs 5,985 crore to the Department of Telecom, thereby fully prepaying the high-cost interest liabilities of 8.65 per cent pertaining to the 2024 auctions.

Airtel's subsidiary Network i2i Ltd. has also voluntarily called and redeemed $1 billion in Perpetual Notes, the company said in a statement.

The telecom service provider said it has now prepaid Rs 25,981 crore of high-cost spectrum liabilities for the current 2025 fiscal year and has cumulatively prepaid spectrum liabilities of Rs 66,665 crore to date.

The average interest rate on the cumulative liabilities prepaid was approximately 9.74 per cent. Airtel had earlier fully prepaid liabilities that had interest rates of 10 per cent, 9.75 per cent, and 9.3 per cent.

India, which is the second-largest mobile phone producer in the world, is all set to reach $300 billion in electronics production by 2026, driven by the ‘Make in India’ and the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, the Centre said on Wednesday.

In 2014-15, 26 per cent of mobile phones sold in India were locally made, which rose to 99.2 per cent by December 2024

In 2014, India had just two mobile manufacturing units; today, it has over 300. The mobile phone exports surged from Rs 1,566 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 1.2 lakh crore in 2023-24, marking a 77-fold increase.

India's semiconductor ecosystem has gained significant momentum, with five landmark projects, with a total combined investment nearing Rs 1.52 lakh crore, receiving approval.

Bank of America (BofA) has downgraded its ratings on Zomato and Swiggy, citing concerns over slowing growth in food delivery and rising competition in quick commerce.

The brokerage has lowered Zomato's rating from 'buy' to 'neutral' and Swiggy’s from 'buy' to 'underperform'.

Along with the downgrade, BofA has also reduced the target price for both companies. Zomato's target price has been cut from Rs 300 to Rs 250, while Swiggy has seen a sharper reduction from Rs 420 to Rs 325.

Despite these changes, the analysts remain positive about the medium-term prospects of both companies.

According to BofA, the quick-commerce industry, which was earlier seen as a high-growth sector with improving profits, is now facing rising losses and intense competition.

India's commercial airlines will operate 25,610 flights per week during the forthcoming summer season, a 5.5 per cent increase compared to the same period last year, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said.

The summer season for airlines this year runs from March 30 to October 25. The number of flights in the summer schedule is 2.5 per cent higher than the preceding winter season.

The country's biggest airline, IndiGo, will be operating 467 additional flights a week compared to the same period last year, which represents a 3 per cent increase.

The DGCA statement showed that IndiGo will operate the highest number of weekly domestic flights, with 14,158 departures scheduled, followed by Air India (4,310) and Air India Express (3,375).

India’s overall retail sector is poised to become more than $1.6 trillion opportunity by 2030, offering immense headroom for sustained growth for the organised retail industry, according to a new report on Wednesday.

While essential categories will continue to drive the majority of spending, discretionary spending is expected to lead the next wave of expansion, said the report by Redseer Strategy Consultants.

Offline and online organised retailers are actively solving for inefficiencies in the market through better sourcing strategies, improved application of technology and infrastructure innovations.

"As a result, organised retail is projected to become a $600 billion+ segment by 2030, capturing over 35 per cent of the total retail market," the report noted.

The combined operating profit of South Korea's top 500 companies surged 66 per cent from a year earlier in 2024, driven largely by a rebound in the global semiconductor market, a report showed on Wednesday.

According to the report from corporate tracker CEO Score, the total operating profit of the top 500 firms reached 183.7 trillion won ($125.3 billion) in 2024, up from 110.6 trillion won the previous year, reports news agency.

The companies' combined annual sales rose 5.8 percent to 2,523 trillion won from 2,384 trillion won in 2023. Net profit jumped 74.5 percent over the same period.

The sharp rise in operating profit was led mainly by the strong performance from chipmakers SK hynix Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. amid robust demand for artificial intelligence (AI) memory products.

GAIL (India) Limited and Coal India Limited on Tuesday announced the formation of a joint venture, Coal Gas India Limited, to expand the use of synthetic natural gas.

The company has been set up with an authorised share capital of Rs 11 crore, as per a notification to the stock exchanges.

Coal India will hold a 51 per cent stake in the venture, while GAIL will own the remaining 49 per cent.

NPCI BHIM Services Limited (NBSL), a subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on Tuesday launched the latest version of the Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) app -- BHIM 3.0.

BHIM 3.0 marks the third major upgrade since the app was first introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016.

The new version promises a smoother and more user-friendly experience with enhanced features.

It now supports over 15 Indian languages, making digital payments more accessible to users across the country.

India's domestic software market is set for massive growth, with projections indicating a five-fold increase over the next decade to reach $100 billion by 2035, a new report said on Tuesday.

This growth will be driven by AI-led automation, cost-effective software development, increased adoption by small and medium businesses (SMBs), and expanding government digital initiatives, according to a report by SaaSBoomi and 1Lattice.

The software market is currently valued at $20 billion in 2025.

IndusInd Bank's share fell over 5 per cent on Tuesday after the bank informed that GST authorities in Thane, Maharashtra, had imposed a penalty of more than Rs 30.15 crore due to several compliance issues.

The stock declined as much as 5.12 per cent to close at Rs 635.15 apiece on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

The private lender, which is already under scrutiny for discrepancies in its derivatives portfolio, stated that it is considering filing an appeal against the GST order.

In a regulatory filing, IndusInd Bank said that the penalty had been imposed by the Joint Commissioner of CGST & Central Excise, Thane Commissionerate. The bank added that it is exploring legal options to challenge the decision.