Mumbai, July 27 (IANS) ICICI Bank, on Saturday, reported a 14.6 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 11,059 crore for the April-June quarter of the current financial year compared to the corresponding figure of Rs 9,648.2 crore in the same period last year.

The bank’s net interest income went up by 7.3 per cent to Rs 19,552.9 crore during the first quarter from Rs 18,227 crore in the year-ago period.

The gross non-performing asset of the lender came in at 2.15 per cent. The net non-performing assets (NNPA) stood at 0.43 per cent compared to 0.42 per cent last year.

ICICI Bank also disclosed that its provisions for Q1 have increased by 3.1 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1,332.2 crore.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 27 (IANS) As the Aditya Birla Group forays into branded jewellery business with an investment of Rs 5,000 crore, industry experts on Saturday said the shift towards consumers purchasing from branded retailers and upgrading to studded products will help the company cement its position in a massive over Rs 6.4 lakh crore domestic jewellery market.

The branded jewellery players ride on the huge wedding market which reached Rs 10 lakh crore in the last fiscal (FY24) in the country.

Keeping the potential growth in mind, Aditya Birla Group has entered the branded jewellery business — dominated by the likes of Tata Group’s Titan, Kalyan Jewellers and Joyalukkas, among others — under Novel Jewels with the brand name ‘Indriya’.

According to Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group, they have “redoubled their bet on the dynamism of the Indian consumer this year, by launching two major new consumer brands — in paints and jewellery,”

He said that entering the jewellery business is compelling due to the ongoing value migration from informal to formal sectors, the rising consumer preference for strong, trusted brands, and the ever-booming wedding market, all of which present substantial growth opportunities.

The company aims to be among the top three jewellery retailers in the country over the next five years, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 50 per cent.

Experts said the increasing frequency of visits by jewellery lovers at branded stores will continue to benefit the market players over the medium term.

“Rising disposable incomes and economic growth across the parameters are other factors that will drive the jewellery market,” they added.

According to a Motilal Oswal report last month, the jewellery retail sector recorded a rapid growth in the last five years — surging from Rs 5,04,400 crore in 2019 to Rs 6,40,000 crore in 2024 on the back of rising incomes and greater trust in the products due to hallmarking.

The report mentioned that there are multiple drivers in the industry leading to such rapid growth, driven by rising disposable income (higher per capita growth in double digits), an improving mix for regular wear (beyond weddings and investment-led), enhanced product offering (such as design and diamonds), trust-building through hallmarking, and a better buying experience at organised retail outlets.

The leading brokerage said weddings and festivals are the primary reasons for the purchase of jewellery in India.

Bridal jewelry still accounts for a significant portion of demand, contributing 55 per cent to the total demand and daily wear jewellery accounts for 30-35 per cent of the Indian jewellery market.

On the other hand, fashion jewelry contributes nearly 10 per cent to the domestic jewellery market.

To begin with, the Aditya Birla Group will open four ‘Indriya’ stores in Delhi, Indore and Jaipur, and aims to expand to more than 10 cities within six months.The company plans to offer an initial assortment of about 15,000 curated jewellery pieces with more than 5,000 exclusive designs.

Earlier this year, Aditya Birla Group entered the decorative paints business under the ‘Birla Opus’ brand, targeting Rs 10,000 crore in gross revenue within three years of full-scale operations.

Meanwhile, the Union Budget 2024-2025 has announced to reduce customs duty on gold and silver to 6 per cent and platinum to 6.4 per cent.

Piyush Gupta, Director at PP Jewellers by Pawan Gupta, said this reduction is a significant move that will not only make these precious metals more affordable for consumers but also provide a great boost to the jewellery industry.

Lower customs duties mean reduced costs for raw materials, enabling jewellers to offer more competitive prices and innovative designs to our customers.

“We expect this reduction to help in stimulating demand, promoting higher sales, and ultimately supporting the growth of the entire jewellery sector,” he explained.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 27 (IANS) The Press Information Bureau (PIB), under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Ministry, refuted the ‘microphone switched off’ claims of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the NITI Aayog meeting in the capital and termed it ‘misleading’.

“It is claimed that the microphone of CM, West Bengal was switched off during the 9th Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog. This is not correct. The clock only showed that her speaking time was over. Even the bell was not rung to mark it,” PIB said in a fact-check.

It also said that the Bengal Chief Minister was rather given ‘preferential treatment’ and was allowed to speak ‘out of turn’ else her turn would have come after lunch.

“Alphabetically, her turn would have come after lunch. She was accommodated as the 7th speaker on an official request of the West Bengal government as she had to return early,” PIB said further in its fact-check.

Earlier, Mamata Banerjee walked out of the NITI Aayog, alleging insult. She claimed that the Chief Ministers of other states like Andhra, and Chhattisgarh were given enough time to speak but her remarks were ‘cut short’ after just five minutes.

“This is insulting. I will not attend any further meetings,” said the TMC chief speaking to reporters after leaving the NITI Aayog meeting, mid-way.

Notably, she was the only chief minister from Opposition-ruled states to attend the NITI Aayog meet.

West Bengal Chief Minister said that she participated in the NITI Aayog meeting to strengthen the spirit of co-operative federalism but the government’s ‘partisan’ approach only worsened the matter.

She along with other INDIA bloc allies has already accused the latter of favouring allies-run states and giving unfair treatment to Opposition-ruled states in the Union Budget.

Meanwhile, the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the West Bengal Chief Minister’s allegations are “completely false”.

“She attended the Niti Aayog meeting. We all heard her. Every Chief Minister was given the allotted time and that was displayed on the screen which was present before every table,” the Finance Minister said.

“She said in the media that her mic was put off. That is completely false. Every Chief Minister was given their due time to speak. It is unfortunate that the Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee has claimed that her mic was switched off which is not true. She should speak the truth behind this rather than again build a narrative based on falsehood,” the Finance Minister added.

The BJP also reacted to Mamata’s ‘microphone muted’ charge and accused the latter of attempting to build a narrative, based on falsehood.

BJP Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala said that Mamata Banerjee was competing with the Congress in crying foul over any issue and also politicising every platform.

Notably, the West Bengal Chief Minister had earlier told scribes that she would leave the meeting if she would not be allowed to put across her point of view.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 26 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that Viksit Bharat@2047 is the ambition of every Indian and the states can play an active role to achieve this aim as they are directly connected to the people.

Addressing the 9th Governing Council meeting of the NITI Aayog here, PM Modi said, “This decade is of changes, technological and geopolitical, and also of opportunities. India should grab these opportunities and make our policies conducive to international investments. This is the stepping stone for progress to make India a developed nation.”

The theme of the NITI Aayog meeting is ‘Viksit Bharat@2047’, with a central focus on making India a developed nation, and fostering participative governance and collaboration between the Centre and the state governments, enhancing the quality of life for both rural and urban populations by strengthening the delivery mechanisms of government interventions.

The Governing Council meeting discussed the Approach Paper for the Vision Document on Viksit Bharat@2047. Detailed deliberations were also held on the role of the states in achieving the goal of Viksit Bharat@2047.

India is on track to become the world’s third-largest economy and aims to reach a $30 trillion economy by 2047.

Achieving the vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047 will require a collaborative approach between the Centre and the state governments. The 9th Governing Council Meeting was held to create a roadmap for this vision, fostering teamwork between the Centre and the states as ‘Team India’.

The Governing Council also took up the recommendations of the 3rd National Conference of Chief Secretaries held from December 27-29, 2023.

Under the overarching theme of ‘Ease of Living’, recommendations were made during the 3rd National Conference of Chief Secretaries on five key themes, namely drinking water, electricity, health, schooling, and land and property.

–IANS

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Mumbai, July 27 (IANS) Indian stock market witnessed a stellar rally in the Budget week. Last week, Sensex and Nifty surged by 728 points or 0.90 per cent and 303 points or 1.24 per cent respectively. This was the eighth consecutive week when the market closed with gains.

This is the first time since January 22, 2018 that the market has continued to rise for such a long period.

On a weekly basis, Tata Motors (13 per cent), HDFC Life Insurance (10.6 per cent), Sun Pharma (9.3 per cent), NTPC (8.7 per cent), BPCL (8.2 per cent), Titan (7.2 per cent), SBI Life Insurance (6.3 per cent) and Cipla (6 per cent) were the top gainers in the Nifty pack.

During this period, no Nifty stock posted negative returns.

Among the sectoral indices, Nifty Pharma soared by 5.77 per cent, Nifty Media saw a gain of over 5.5 per cent, Nifty Auto surged by 5.16 per cent, Nifty Energy climbed by 2.79 per cent and Nifty FMCG posted 2.69 per cent weekly gains.

However, Nifty Bank (1.86 per cent), Nifty Realty (1.69 per cent), Nifty Finance (1.19 per cent) and Nifty PSU Bank (0.44 per cent) were the major laggards.

Nifty made a new all-time high of 24,861 and Sensex closed near its lifetime high on Friday. Sensex closed at 81,332, up 1,292 points or 1.62 per cent, and Nifty closed at 24,834, up 428 points or 1.76 per cent.

According to market experts, “The market has now recovered its losses from budget day, driven by positive US GDP data and expectations of improved global demand. Moving forward, the direction of the domestic market will likely be influenced by the progress of the earnings season.”

“DIIs continue to employ a ‘buy on dips’ strategy, which contributed to market gains on the week’s last trading day, particularly in the pharma, auto, metal, IT, and FMCG sectors,” they added.

–IANS

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