NEW DELHI: German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz today reported 40 per cent jump in sales in January-March quarter at 3,566 units in India, as compared to 2,554 units sold in the same period of last year.

Besides, the company posted its highest ever sales in a fiscal year in India at 11,213 units in 2014-15, up 17.5 per cent, from 9,548 units sold in the previous year.

PUNE: The International Institute of Information Technology-Bangalore (IIIT-Bangalore) and Peesh Venture Capital (PVC), a NASSCOM investment partner, have entered into a strategic partnership to accelerate and fund India's Internet of Things and Mobile App start-ups. The goal of this public-private partnership is to produce successful Indian mobile app companies from India.

The initiative will seek to combine IIIT-Bangalore Innovation Centre's incubation facilities and knowledge ecosystem with PVC India-focused Rs 310 crore venture capital fund that invests in entrepreneurs with disruptive ideas.

BSE Sensex, NSE Nifty are closed on Thursday and Friday due to public holidays. Trading will resume on Monday.

The benchmark BSE Sensex on Wednesday began the new fiscal year on a promising note by gaining more than 300 points to settle the day at 28,260.14, recording first weekly gain in three weeks while Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and Ranbaxy Laboratories surged ahead of a planned merger.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd has stopped selling pick-up trucks and sports utility vehicles in Brazil, seven years after it entered the market, due to factors including changes in local regulations, an executive said.

India’s top utility vehicle maker will continue to service customers in Brazil through its local partner and will also still sell tractors in the country, Pravin Shah, CEO of the group’s automotive division and international operations, told Reuters.

After two consecutive months of decline, the manufacturing sector output rose in March amid stronger increase in new orders that led firms to boost production levels, but payroll levels remained unchanged. The headline HSBC India Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), compiled by Markit, improved from 51.2 in February to 52.1 in March.

A figure above 50 indicates that the sector is expanding, while a figure below that level means contraction.

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has commissioned the second 800 MW supercritical boiler at Sri Damodaram Sanjeevaiah Thermal Power Plant (SDSTPP) at Krishnapatnam in Nellore District of Andhra Pradesh. The first 800 MW boiler was commissioned earlier by BHEL at the same project on August 28, 2014.

“The commissioning of the two 800 MW boilers at Krishnapatnam is an important development for the country seeking to achieve self-reliance in the field of contemporary, state-of-the-art supercritical technology and demonstrates BHEL's capability in the area of supercritical technology. Supercritical technology is expected to lower coal consumption and eco-friendly and efficient power generation,” said BHEL in a press release.

National carrier Air India on Wednesday said it was seeking offers for financing of six Boeing 787 (Dreamliner) aircraft under a sale and lease back (SLB) arrangement for $720 million (Rs 5,000 crore).

Under the arrangement, Air India would sell the six planes to the lessor and immediately lease them back under an operating lease for 12 years with an option to extend, the carrier said in a tender statement. “Air India has fixed a reserve purchase price of $120 million (Rs 750 crore) for each aircraft,” the tender said.

As many as 189 companies or nearly 13% of the 1,457 NSE -companies missed the March 31 deadline of appointing a single woman director on their boards, according to a compilation by Prime Database.

The number stood at 245 companies as on 4:30pm on March 31. More than 50 companies including Adani Enterprises on Wednesday announced the appointment of women directors, even as many others including some state-run giants lagged behind in getting a female member on their board to comply with a new regulatory requirement.

MUMBAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asked the Reserve Bank to prepare a 20-year road map for financial inclusion and nudged banks to be considerate in giving loans to the poor as also while making recoveries from them, especially farmers.

"RBI will be completing 100 years in 2035...it will be appropriate for the central bank to work on the theme of financial inclusion and prepare a road map for achieving it," he said while addressing a function to mark the 80th anniversary of the Reserve Bank of India.

MUMBAI: ICICI Bank said on Wednesday over half of its 4,000 branches will be open for general business on Thursday, a public holiday on the occasion of Mahavir Jayanti.

"Our branches will remain open and will operate as per regular business hours on April 2, except for branches in Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh," the country's largest private lender said in a statement.

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