Latest news with #Sanghavi
The Hindu
6 days ago
- General
- The Hindu
From exile to home: Tribal families reclaim roots in Gujarat village after a decade
In an emotional homecoming, 29 tribal families, who had left their ancestral village of Mota Pippodra in Banaskantha's Danta taluka 12 years ago due to a deep-rooted custom, were ceremoniously welcomed back on Thursday (July 17, 2025). These families, belonging to the Kodarvi community, had abandoned their native village on account of the tribal practice of Chadotaru — a traditional vendetta custom that had driven them into exile. The emotional return of nearly 300 members of these families to their ancestral land was facilitated through a collaborative initiative involving the Banaskantha police, local administration, and community leaders. The event was marked by symbolic rituals, heartfelt gestures of reconciliation, and a firm governmental commitment to integrate these families back into the mainstream with dignity and support. Addressing the gathering, Gujarat Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi called the occasion historic not just for Gujarat, but for tribal communities across India. 'Today marks the eradication of an old social ill and a step towards progress, peace, and collective prosperity,' he said. He praised the elders of both communities for choosing dialogue over conflict and honoured them on stage for their role in restoring harmony. 'Unity is the true identity of society, while hatred is a burden of darkness,' the Minister said. Mr. Sanghavi welcomed the returning families with kumkum tilak, conducted traditional housewarming rituals (gruh pravesh), and later they sowed maize seeds in their fields to mark a new beginning. Each household was provided with educational kits, ration supplies, a wheelchair in the case of a differently-abled member, and certificates of appreciation for their courage and patience. The Kodarvi families, who had scattered across Palanpur and Surat after fleeing Mota Pipada, were resettled on their legally owned 8.5-hectare land. The Banaskantha police, working with the District Inspector of Land Records, cleared and levelled the overgrown, desolate land to make it cultivable again, officials said. They said that two houses had already been constructed, and under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, efforts were underway to provide permanent housing for all families. Partnerships with voluntary organisations were also being leveraged to provide essential infrastructure and livelihood support. Mr. Sanghavi lauded the Banaskantha police for going beyond their security duties to help achieve lasting peace through community outreach. 'This is an exemplary case of law enforcement leading social change,' the Minister said.
The Hindu
16-07-2025
- General
- The Hindu
After 12-year exile, 29 Tribal families to return home in Gujarat
For 12 long years, 29 tribal families from the Kodarvi community lived in exile, forced to leave their ancestral village of Mota Pipodra in Danta taluka in Banaskantha district due to an age-old custom known as 'Chadotaru'—a tradition rooted in vengeance. But now, these families, comprising around 300 members, will finally return home, on Thursday (July 17, 2025). The Kodarvi families had migrated to Palanpur and Surat over a decade ago, leaving behind their homes, land, and memories. The 'Chadotaru' custom, which had led to disputes, made life in the village untenable for them. For years, they lived as outsiders, yearning to return but bound by fear and tradition. Recognising their plight, the Banaskantha police initiated a meticulous process of reconciliation, and held multiple meetings with village elders, panchayat members, and community leaders to ensure a peaceful homecoming, said Gujarat Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi. Adding to the emotional significance of this return, the District Administration identified and revived the families' ancestral land—approximately 8.5 hectares of once-barren terrain that had turned wild with neglect. 'The land was cleared, leveled, and made cultivable again, symbolising a fresh start,' Mr. Sanghavi said. As part of the rehabilitation plan, two houses have already been constructed, while the remaining 27 families will receive homes under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and with the support of social organisations, the Minister said. On July 17, Mr. Sanghavi said that they would welcome the families back to Mota Pipodra in a ceremony. The event will include a prayer ritual and the symbolic sowing of seeds on their revitalised land—a gesture of renewal and prosperity. The Minister said he would also distribute educational kits, ration supplies, and discuss long-term rehabilitation plans with the families. 'This is not just about bringing people back to their village; it is about healing old wounds and building a future of harmony,' said Mr. Sanghavi. 'We believe no tribal family should be left displaced due to outdated customs. Development and dialogue will always triumph over discord.' For the Kodarvi families, this homecoming is nothing short of a miracle—a chance to reclaim their roots, their land, and their dignity.
Time of India
14-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Jane Street Sebi ban: F&O trade volumes drop nearly 20%; both BSE and NSE shares take a hit
NEW DELHI: India's booming futures and options (F&O) market saw a sharp dip in trading activity last week, with volumes dropping by nearly 20%, following Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi) ban on New York-based quantitative trading firm Jane Street over alleged market manipulation. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The daily average turnover in index options on the NSE, which dominates India's derivatives trade fell by 17.4% compared to the previous week. Analysts said that a quick recovery to recent peak volumes appears unlikely, potentially impacting earnings for stock exchanges in the near term. "The recent dip in options turnover is likely due to the exit of a large market-making participant, which has impacted market liquidity and efficiency," Vaibhav Sanghavi, CEO, ASK Hedge Solutions told ET. Sebi issued an interim directive last week, alleging that the US-based firm orchestrated deliberate market manipulation and accumulated profits of approximately Rs 36,500 crore. The regulatory body's investigation revealed that Jane Street conducted concurrent transactions across various market segments, including cash equities, stock futures, index futures and index options, allegedly in a calculated manner to influence market movements. The regulatory investigation revealed that Jane Street maintained "consistently the largest risks in 'cash equivalent' terms in F&O, particularly on index option expiry days." Jane Street's absence has influenced other major firms to reduce their trading volumes. Thursday's weekly options expiry, traditionally the most active trading session, witnessed a decline of over 21% in turnover to approximately Rs 472.5 lakh crore from Rs 601.2 lakh crore the previous week, according to ETIG data. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Vipin Kumar, assistant vice-president of derivatives and technical research at Globe Capital Market, said that index futures volumes dropped nearly 24% during the expiry week of July 4–10, while index options volumes declined by 16.5%, compared to the previous expiry week. Shares of both BSE and NSE (not listed) took a hit amid the drop in trading volumes. Since Sebi issued its order on July 3, NSE's unlisted shares have fallen by 6% as of July 13, while BSE's listed stock has declined 16%, according to data from "On July 11, Nifty breached that range on the downside and we recorded a sharp uptick in the volumes of index futures, stocks futures and stocks options that were up by 17%, 18% and 28%, respectively compared with the same day the previous week," Sanghavi told ET. Sanghavi further added that while this surge may temporarily lower overall turnover, it helps create a more balanced market by reducing the edge held by high-frequency or algorithmic traders, who typically contribute 40-45% of options trading volumes.
Economic Times
07-07-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
PSU banks trading below book value despite healthy ROE: Krishna Sanghavi
Despite healthy return ratios and minimal asset quality issues, several PSU banks are trading below book value, according to Krishna Sanghavi, CIO-Equity at Mahindra Manulife. This valuation anomaly comes at a time when the fund house is launching a dedicated BFSI sectoral fund, betting on India's demographic dividend and the ongoing financialization of savings in a formal economy. ADVERTISEMENT In this conversation, Sanghavi explains why BFSI offers both cyclical rebound potential in lending and secular growth in non-lending businesses, while discussing how the sector's composition has evolved dramatically—with banks' share of BFSI market cap shrinking from 85% to 57% over two decades, creating opportunities across insurance, AMCs, NBFCs, and capital market intermediaries. Edited excerpts from an interview: What's the core thesis behind launching a sectoral fund focused on BFSI at this market juncture? Are you betting on a cyclical rebound or a structural re-rating? BFSI is a core play on India's demographics, rising per capita income amidst the financialization of savings in a formal economy. Overall, we expect the penetration of different financial products to rise. More Indians are likely to enter higher income strata and can contribute to BFSI sectors' growth either as a saver or borrower (lending), investor (asset management or capital market or life insurance) or seeking protection (life insurance or general insurance). We see it as a combination of cyclical rebound (lending) in line with the economy and secular growth (non-lending businesses). Additionally, there are opportunities for earnings growth and valuations within the various micro-segments in BFSI. Banks, both private and PSUs, have healthy balance sheets and return ratios with minimal asset quality issues. Moreover, the Nifty Financial Services index underperformed the Nifty 500 index in four out of the last five calendar years. Valuations are reasonable and earnings outlook is also improving. The Nifty Financial Services index has already shown signs of revival, outperforming the broader Nifty 500 index by nearly 9.8% in the January to June 25 period. While liquidity has improved, we are yet to see improvement in deposit and credit growth, which could play out as the year progresses, supporting our positive views on the overall BFSI sector. ADVERTISEMENT Expect credit quality to remain good and steady growth to help BFSI maintain broad participation in the profit pool. BFSI is already one-third of India's market cap and profit pool. What's the incremental opportunity you see, and how differentiated can this fund be from existing diversified funds? Within BFSI, companies in sub-sectors such as lending, asset management, and wealth fund will thus be a standalone play on the BFSI theme, compared to our diversified funds where BFSI is only a part of the overall portfolio sectoral continuity of earnings from fund will thus be a standalone play on the BFSI theme compared to our diversified funds, where BFSI is only a part of the overall portfolio sectoral portfolio. ADVERTISEMENT While banking has been the traditional heavyweight, how are you looking at the broader spectrum—insurance, AMCs, fintechs, NBFCs? Which segments excite you the most today? As income levels rise, customers start shifting from savers to either borrowers or investors. This creates wider opportunities for those businesses. When we examine history, in March 2005, Banks constituted nearly 85% of the BFSI market capitalisation, now make up only 57% of the BFSI market capitalisation, while 2—Various from NBFCs and the remaining 20% from segment BFSI financial services companies has continued to rise with their strong earnings growth and news has kept on rising with their strong earnings growth and also newer listings. Each of these financial services segments brings in its own set of opportunities and challenges. Insurance companies have seen healthy growth, driven by rising penetration. Asset managers have seen rapid AUM growth in the last few years, thanks to rising incomes & shift towards investing, partly helped by strong market returns. On the fintech side, there have only been a couple of listings till now and a few others are expected to get listed soon. We believe these segments offer a reasonable growth opportunity. ADVERTISEMENT With valuations in private banks and NBFCs at or below long-term averages, do you see this as a compelling entry point or is it more about selective positioning? Yes, equity portfolio construct would always be about selective positioning based on stock specific criteria like growth, management and valuations. At times this gets impacted due to distortions of ownership or inclusion/exclusion in ETFs. Also, it is part of the investing cycles that at any point, some companies trade at higher or lower than long term average. Overall, we see a healthy environment with a supportive monetary policy on both lower rates as well as higher liquidity and this can help few lenders based on their asset liability mix. How do you perceive the growth opportunity in PSU bank stocks? The PSU banks have gone through a healthy consolidation (mergers), governance reforms & balance sheet improvement. The balance sheet has strengthened with higher capital adequacy, and the narrative on PSU stocks has improved due to diversification into retail lending and recoveries from corporate loans. Operationally, the digital rollout is helping and so is control over total employees. Higher capital would help them grow lending when the corporate capex cycle picks up. From a valuation perspective, quite a few PSU banks are trading below book value despite healthy ROA & ROE in FY25. ADVERTISEMENT Capital market intermediaries have become significant in BFSI's narrative and an investor favourite as well. Do you see them as consistent compounders? Capital market players have a good growth potential as India moves from being a nation of savers to a nation of investors. Rising per capita income as well as younger demography creates new customer segments who are looking at risk-return trade-offs on their investments. One advantage for these businesses is they don't require much capital for growth and hence a good execution led by digital distribution can help them grow sustainably at higher rates. The BFSI universe includes quite a few capital market intermediaries and we expect more investible opportunities from future listings. However, some of these businesses are cyclical and hence a focus on earning sustainability and valuations is a must. In between the two ends of banks and NBFCs, the tilt has largely been in favour of the latter in a rate cut cycle. But given the valuations for both, which one would you be more biased towards? The fact that banks may face margin pressure in a rate cut cycle and NBFCs may benefit is largely known. So, NBFCs have done well in the last year and now valuations for few NBFCs are higher relative to banks. Based on the investment timeframe being short or medium term, the rate cut cycle would start supporting the cost of funds for banks with a time-lag based on their liability franchise, maturity structure and rate cut on savings deposits. The CRR cut and easy liquidity too would help. India's insurance sector remains underpenetrated despite a decade of liberalization. What's the investment case for life vs general insurance at this stage? The outlook for the life insurance segment looks healthy at the moment given these companies faced VNB margin pressure in FY25 due to higher salience of ULIP sales in their mix. The product mix can be more balanced this year, aiding the margin growth. The general insurance segment is seeing slower growth on the motor segment while health insurance segment growth is strong though not very profitable. With the upcoming regulatory norms on expense management, the profitability of the general insurance sector could show improvement as insurers adhere to expense and commission caps. From the investor side, expected IFRS implementation in the next 2 years will help reduce the gap between accounting profits and VNB profits. Another regulatory support is the expected reduction in GST rate that can make insurance products more affordable. So, both Life & General insurance makes a good investment case from a longer term.
Time of India
07-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
PSU banks trading below book value despite healthy ROE: Krishna Sanghavi
Despite healthy return ratios and minimal asset quality issues, several PSU banks are trading below book value, according to Krishna Sanghavi , CIO-Equity at Mahindra Manulife. This valuation anomaly comes at a time when the fund house is launching a dedicated BFSI sectoral fund, betting on India's demographic dividend and the ongoing financialization of savings in a formal economy. In this conversation, Sanghavi explains why BFSI offers both cyclical rebound potential in lending and secular growth in non-lending businesses, while discussing how the sector's composition has evolved dramatically—with banks' share of BFSI market cap shrinking from 85% to 57% over two decades, creating opportunities across insurance, AMCs, NBFCs, and capital market intermediaries. Edited excerpts from an interview: What's the core thesis behind launching a sectoral fund focused on BFSI at this market juncture? Are you betting on a cyclical rebound or a structural re-rating? BFSI is a core play on India's demographics, rising per capita income amidst the financialization of savings in a formal economy. Overall, we expect the penetration of different financial products to rise. More Indians are likely to enter higher income strata and can contribute to BFSI sectors' growth either as a saver or borrower (lending), investor (asset management or capital market or life insurance) or seeking protection (life insurance or general insurance). We see it as a combination of cyclical rebound (lending) in line with the economy and secular growth (non-lending businesses). Additionally, there are opportunities for earnings growth and valuations within the various micro-segments in BFSI. Banks, both private and PSUs, have healthy balance sheets and return ratios with minimal asset quality issues. Moreover, the Nifty Financial Services index underperformed the Nifty 500 index in four out of the last five calendar years. Valuations are reasonable and earnings outlook is also improving. The Nifty Financial Services index has already shown signs of revival, outperforming the broader Nifty 500 index by nearly 9.8% in the January to June 25 period. While liquidity has improved, we are yet to see improvement in deposit and credit growth, which could play out as the year progresses, supporting our positive views on the overall BFSI sector. Expect credit quality to remain good and steady growth to help BFSI maintain broad participation in the profit pool. BFSI is already one-third of India's market cap and profit pool. What's the incremental opportunity you see, and how differentiated can this fund be from existing diversified funds? Within BFSI, companies in sub-sectors such as lending, asset management, and wealth fund will thus be a standalone play on the BFSI theme, compared to our diversified funds where BFSI is only a part of the overall portfolio sectoral continuity of earnings from fund will thus be a standalone play on the BFSI theme compared to our diversified funds, where BFSI is only a part of the overall portfolio sectoral portfolio. While banking has been the traditional heavyweight, how are you looking at the broader spectrum—insurance, AMCs, fintechs, NBFCs? Which segments excite you the most today? As income levels rise, customers start shifting from savers to either borrowers or investors. This creates wider opportunities for those businesses. When we examine history, in March 2005, Banks constituted nearly 85% of the BFSI market capitalisation, now make up only 57% of the BFSI market capitalisation, while 2—Various from NBFCs and the remaining 20% from segment BFSI financial services companies has continued to rise with their strong earnings growth and news has kept on rising with their strong earnings growth and also newer listings. Each of these financial services segments brings in its own set of opportunities and challenges. Insurance companies have seen healthy growth, driven by rising penetration. Asset managers have seen rapid AUM growth in the last few years, thanks to rising incomes & shift towards investing, partly helped by strong market returns. On the fintech side, there have only been a couple of listings till now and a few others are expected to get listed soon. We believe these segments offer a reasonable growth opportunity. With valuations in private banks and NBFCs at or below long-term averages, do you see this as a compelling entry point or is it more about selective positioning? Yes, equity portfolio construct would always be about selective positioning based on stock specific criteria like growth, management and valuations. At times this gets impacted due to distortions of ownership or inclusion/exclusion in ETFs. Also, it is part of the investing cycles that at any point, some companies trade at higher or lower than long term average. Overall, we see a healthy environment with a supportive monetary policy on both lower rates as well as higher liquidity and this can help few lenders based on their asset liability mix. How do you perceive the growth opportunity in PSU bank stocks? The PSU banks have gone through a healthy consolidation (mergers), governance reforms & balance sheet improvement. The balance sheet has strengthened with higher capital adequacy, and the narrative on PSU stocks has improved due to diversification into retail lending and recoveries from corporate loans. Operationally, the digital rollout is helping and so is control over total employees. Higher capital would help them grow lending when the corporate capex cycle picks up. From a valuation perspective, quite a few PSU banks are trading below book value despite healthy ROA & ROE in FY25. Capital market intermediaries have become significant in BFSI's narrative and an investor favourite as well. Do you see them as consistent compounders? Capital market players have a good growth potential as India moves from being a nation of savers to a nation of investors. Rising per capita income as well as younger demography creates new customer segments who are looking at risk-return trade-offs on their investments. One advantage for these businesses is they don't require much capital for growth and hence a good execution led by digital distribution can help them grow sustainably at higher rates. The BFSI universe includes quite a few capital market intermediaries and we expect more investible opportunities from future listings. However, some of these businesses are cyclical and hence a focus on earning sustainability and valuations is a must. In between the two ends of banks and NBFCs, the tilt has largely been in favour of the latter in a rate cut cycle. But given the valuations for both, which one would you be more biased towards? The fact that banks may face margin pressure in a rate cut cycle and NBFCs may benefit is largely known. So, NBFCs have done well in the last year and now valuations for few NBFCs are higher relative to banks. Based on the investment timeframe being short or medium term, the rate cut cycle would start supporting the cost of funds for banks with a time-lag based on their liability franchise, maturity structure and rate cut on savings deposits. The CRR cut and easy liquidity too would help. India's insurance sector remains underpenetrated despite a decade of liberalization. What's the investment case for life vs general insurance at this stage? The outlook for the life insurance segment looks healthy at the moment given these companies faced VNB margin pressure in FY25 due to higher salience of ULIP sales in their mix. The product mix can be more balanced this year, aiding the margin growth. The general insurance segment is seeing slower growth on the motor segment while health insurance segment growth is strong though not very profitable. With the upcoming regulatory norms on expense management, the profitability of the general insurance sector could show improvement as insurers adhere to expense and commission caps. From the investor side, expected IFRS implementation in the next 2 years will help reduce the gap between accounting profits and VNB profits. Another regulatory support is the expected reduction in GST rate that can make insurance products more affordable. So, both Life & General insurance makes a good investment case from a longer term.
