Listed startups raise over $5-bn via public markets in FY25
'All of this unfolded with a backdrop of a cyclical economic slowdown in India in FY25, causing a lot of consumer-facing companies to battle margin compression and weak topline momentum, the report said. The fiscal year also saw a secondary exit of over Rs 20,000 crore as private equity/venture capital (PE/VCs) harvested early bets through block deals.'FY25 didn't just test India's startup listings, it matured them,' said Kashyap Chanchani, Managing Partner, The Rainmaker Group.
The public market has become the preferred playground for India's breakout companies. We've now seen the full arc - the IPO frenzy, the valuation winter, and now a clear re-rating driven by fundamentals, Chanchani said.
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Indian Express
17 minutes ago
- Indian Express
India's passport ranking jumps from 85 to 77: How many countries Indians can visit visa-free?
Global Passport Ranking 2025: India has recorded its biggest-ever rise in the ranking of the world's most powerful passports. In the latest quarterly update of the Henley Passport Index, created by the London-based global citizenship and residence advisory firm Henley & Partners, India climbed eight spots to rank 77th, up from 85th last year. The number of destinations Indian passport holders can now visit visa-free or with visa-on-arrival has increased marginally to 59 from 57. Indian citizens can now travel to 59 destinations without needing to secure a visa beforehand. Popular Asian tourist hotspots such as Malaysia, Indonesia, the Maldives, and Thailand are among the countries offering visa-free entry, while Macau, and Myanmar, provide visa-on-arrival access. The Philippines and Sri Lanka are the two countries that have been added to the list of visa-free destinations. While the increase of just two additional countries may seem small, the diplomatic significance is larger: India has overtaken several neighbours in terms of travel freedom and now sits ahead of countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh in global mobility rankings. Asian nations dominate the top of the Henley Index: Singapore holds the number one spot, offering visa-free travel to 193 destinations. Japan and South Korea are tied for second, each granting access to 190 countries. Seven European countries — Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Spain — share the third spot with 189 destinations. Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden share the 4th place, while New Zealand, Greece, and Switzerland are tied for 5th. Australia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta and Poland are tied at No. 7, while Canada, Estonia and the United Arab Emirates are at No. 8. Traditionally powerful passports like those of the United States and United Kingdom have seen a gradual decline: The UK has dropped to 6th place with access to 186 destinations, down from 5th in January. The US passport has slipped to 10th, offering entry to 182 destinations, a drop from 9th earlier this year. Both countries have previously topped the index, the UK in 2015 and the US in 2014 but have seen waning influence as other nations increase their bilateral agreements and travel privileges. Saudi Arabia made the largest gain in the latest update, adding four new visa-free destinations since January and now allowing travel to 91 countries. China has climbed a remarkable 34 places since 2015 — from 94th to 60th — though it still lacks visa-free access to the Schengen Area in Europe. At the bottom of the Index, Afghanistan remains in last place at rank 99, offering its citizens visa-free access to only 25 destinations — one fewer than at the beginning of the year. Syria follows at 98th with access to 27 countries, and Iraq ranks 97th, with entry to just 30 destinations. This creates a stark mobility gap of 168 destinations between the world's most powerful and weakest passports, underscoring the vast inequality in global travel freedom. According to Dr Juerg Steffen, CEO of Henley & Partners, a passport today is more than a travel document — it reflects a country's diplomatic influence, global integration, and foreign policy priorities. 'Your passport is no longer just a travel document — it's a reflection of your country's diplomatic influence and international relationships. In an era of growing inequality and mounting geopolitical uncertainty, strategic mobility and citizenship planning are more critical than ever,' Steffen said in a press release. He also noted the growing interest among American and British nationals in acquiring alternative citizenships, citing increased demand for residence-by-investment and second passport programmes. The Henley Passport Index is a globally respected ranking of passports based on the number of destinations their holders can travel to without obtaining a visa in advance. The index is compiled using data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and is updated quarterly.
Indian Express
19 minutes ago
- Indian Express
How RBI helps maintain the resilience of Indian economy
— Kannan K The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) financial inclusion index, which captures the extent of financial inclusion across the country, improved to 67 in March 2025 compared to 64.2 in the corresponding period the previous year. The central bank has said that growth was witnessed across all sub-indices – access, usage, and quality – in FY25. Recently, in its half-yearly Financial Stability Report (FSR), the RBI also noted that the Indian economy remains a key driver of global growth, underpinned by sound macroeconomic fundamentals and prudent macroeconomic policies. At the same time, it has proposed the creation of a Financial Conditions Index (FCI), which would enable real-time monitoring of the country's financial health. As the central bank, the RBI plays a vital role in regulating the country's economy and promoting financial literacy. Let's explore its formation, evolution, core responsibilities, and contemporary issues. The RBI was established on April 1, 1935 via the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 based on the recommendations of the Hilton Young Commission. The bank was constituted with primary objectives of regulating the issue of currency, maintaining reserves, and operating the credit and currency system of the country. As a colonial institution owned by private shareholders, the RBI was nationalised in 1949, and its objectives were realigned with India's developmental goals. Following economic liberalisation of the 1990s, the RBI's role evolved further and became more facilitative in nature. There was noted a shift from direct control of foreign exchange rates and credit to a broader focus on monetary policy and systemic regulation. The RBI is governed by a Central Board of Directors appointed by the Government of India. The board comprises official directors (the Governor and up to four Deputy Governors) and non-official directors, including nominees from various fields, government officials, and representatives from the four local boards. All members are appointed for a period of four years. The RBI operates through 30 specialised departments, such as the Department of Currency Management and the Department of Banking Regulation, and maintains its presence across the nation through its central office and 33 regional offices. In a key reform in 2016, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) – a six-member statutory body – was established to control the level of inflation in the economy. In doing so, it uses tools such as repo rate – the rate at which the RBI lends money to banks. Headed by the Governor of the RBI, the MPC is mandated to meet at least four times a year. The body takes decisions on the basis of majority vote. Last month, the MPC announced a significant cut in repo rate by 50 basis points (0.5 per cent) to 5.5 per cent and reduced the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by 100 basis points to boost growth prospects. The RBI acts as banker to both the Government of India and state governments, managing their banking accounts and debt. It is also the banker of all scheduled banks, and manages their accounts as well as facilitates inter-bank transactions. In addition, the central bank acts as a 'lender of last resort' for commercial banks, meaning it provides financial support to commercial banks that are facing severe liquidity issues, and prevents systemic crises. It has an important developmental role through the promotion of financial inclusion and awareness, and ensuring credit flow to various sectors via priority sector lending requirements. In essence, the RBI steers the Indian economy, effectively balancing both stability and growth. It makes use of a range of tools to achieve the goals of its monetary policy. The most important among them are: — Repo Rate: The rate at which the RBI lends money to commercial banks. It is a benchmark rate, meaning it acts as a reference point for commercial banks to set the interest rates. A lower repo rate makes borrowing cheaper and encourages economic activity, while a higher repo rate discourages banks from lending and controls inflation. Fixing the repo rate is the core responsibility of the MPC. — Reverse Repo Rate: The interest rate the central bank pays commercial banks when they park their excess cash is called the reverse repo rate. — Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR): The percentage of a bank's total deposits that it is required to maintain in liquid cash with the RBI. The RBI determines the CRR percentage from time to time. — Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR): Percentage of a bank's deposits that it is required to maintain in the form of liquid assets like cash, gold, or approved securities. — Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) Rate: The rate at which banks can borrow money from the RBI on an overnight basis in an emergency situation due to the lack of interbank liquidity. — Open Market Operations (OMOs): The RBI buys and sells government securities in the open market for the injection or absorption of durable liquidity in the banking system. An increase in the repo rate, SLR, CRR, and MSF reduces the money supply in the economy, helping in inflation control but slowing down growth. On the other hand, reducing these rates injects liquidity into the economy, stimulating growth but potentially causing inflation. Calibrating these monetary tools to strike the right balance between price stability and sustainable growth is one of the core responsibilities of the RBI. Moreover, there are challenges faced by the country's central bank, notable among them are the digitalization of the economy, the emergence of new financial technologies (fintech), and the growing threat of cyberattacks. The pace of innovations in the financial sector, such as in areas like digital payments, requires the central bank to swiftly build and deploy advanced supervision and regulation technology (RegTech and SupTech). In addition, maintaining the resilience of the Indian economy to withstand shocks, both global and domestic, remains one of the key responsibilities of the RBI. Notably, the RBI is actively developing regulatory frameworks for emerging technologies to enhance supervisory oversight for managing cyber and even climate-related financial risks, and strengthen capital and liquidity requirements for reinforcing overall financial sector resilience. It has also introduced initiatives like the digital rupee as a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) to keep pace with evolving financial trends. This proactive approach ensures the central bank remains at the forefront of safeguarding India's economic stability. (Kannan K is a Doctoral candidate at the Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad) Share your thoughts and ideas on UPSC Special articles with Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and stay updated with the news cues from the past week. Stay updated with the latest UPSC articles by joining our Telegram channel – IndianExpress UPSC Hub, and follow us on Instagram and X.
Time of India
19 minutes ago
- Time of India
PM Modi UK Visit Live Updates: PM Modi embarks on 4-day visit to UK, Maldives
Prime Minister Narendra Modi departed for the United Kingdom on Wednesday as part of a two-nation visit that will also take him to the Maldives later this week. His UK visit, scheduled for 23–24 July, aims to strengthen bilateral ties, with the signing of the long-awaited India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) as a key highlight. Under negotiation for three years, the FTA is expected to eliminate tariffs on 99% of Indian exports to the UK and reduce tariffs on 90% of British goods. It is projected to double bilateral trade by 2030 from the current USD 60 billion and boost British exports such as whisky and cars to India. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, PM Modi will hold wide-ranging discussions with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on the full spectrum of bilateral relations, as well as regional and global issues. He is also expected to meet King Charles III. India and the UK will review cooperation in defence, climate, innovation, education, and technology, including collaboration in artificial intelligence and semiconductors. PM Modi is likely to raise concerns about Khalistani extremists in the UK. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said, 'The issue of the presence of Khalistani extremists, bodies close to these people, is something that we have brought to the attention of our partners in the UK.'
