Digital payments major Paytm today said it has crossed an annual gross transaction run-rate of USD 29 billion, driven by growth across mobile payments and bank transfers through its platform. A Paytm spokesperson said the company is witnessing strong growth in both mobile payments usage as well as transactions through bank transfers, which has been recently introduced. “We are already seeing a GTV (gross transaction value) run rate of USD 29 billion.

State Bank of India (SBI), one of the four large Indian banks with which Facebook-owned WhatsApp, has been working to launch a full-fledged payments service, will join the platform by August, according to sources. Earlier this week, Bloomberg had reported that the messaging app may launch its payments service next week with its other partners — HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank — without waiting for SBI to come on board.

The government may ask state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) to bear fuel subsidy to help cut petrol and diesel prices, sources said today. The government does not want to cut excise duty and is looking at alternative means to reduce petrol and diesel prices that had on Tuesday touched an all-time high of Rs 78.43 per litre and Rs 69.31 a litre respectively. Sources said the alternative in works is to ask ONGC give subsidy to fuel retailers so that they can sell petrol and diesel at below market rates.

Close on the heels of its merger with Vodafone India, Idea Cellular on Thursday announced the completion of the sale of its standalone 9,900 towers to the Indian unit of US-based tower firm American Tower Corporation (ATC) for Rs 4,000 crore.

Earlier, Vodafone had also sold off its tower business to ATC for an enterprise value of about Rs 3,850 crore.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has ended the special dispensations granted earlier for non-banking financial corporations (NBFCs) owned by the government.

Instead, it has specified a roadmap, stretching till 2021-22, for these lenders to meet the norms on capital adequacy, provisioning and corporate governance.

Supply of fruit, vegetables and milk is likely to get disrupted in some pockets of India, with a 10-day strike call from Friday, given by a Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh (RKM), describing itself as an umbrella body of nearly 110 farmer associations.

However, among those saying they are not part of this stir are Confederation of Indian Farmers’ Association (CIFA) and Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (led by Raju Shetty, MP). Hence, the impact is likely to be partial.

New Delhi: India’s Reliance Industries Ltd, owner of the world’s biggest refining complex, plans to halt oil imports from Iran, two sources familiar with the matter said, in a sign that new US sanctions are forcing buyers to shun oil purchases from Tehran.

Reliance’s move, expected to take effect in October or November, came after US President Donald Trump abandoned a 2015 nuclear agreement this month and ordered the reimposition of US sanctions on Tehran.

Mumbai: Multiple years of losses have substantially eroded the networth of engineering major L&T's shipbuilding arm and led its independent auditors to cast “significant doubt” over whether the company can continue as a "going concern".

L&T, the parent, however said its investment in L&T Shipbuilding is “strategic” and affirmed its financial support. In accounting parlance, the 'going concern assumption' typically means that the company will remain in business for the foreseeable future without being forced to halt operations and liquidate its assets.

The country’s second largest IT services firm Infosys on Wednesday said it had completed the acquisition of US-based WONGDOODY. In April, Infosys had said it would acquire WongDoody Holding Company, a US-based digital creative and consumer insights agency, for a total consideration of up to USD 75 million.

Banking operations in the country were hit today as 10 lakh employees, primarily from PSU banks, went on 2-day strike to protest against a “meagre” 2 per cent salary hike offered by Indian Banks Association (IBA) — the management body.

The strike, also supported by employees of some old generation private sector banks and foreign banks, will continue tomorrow.

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