RBI sets up fintech department
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced the creation of a specific department for fintech challenges with effect from January 4, 2022.
India’s central bank had formed a FinTech Unit in the Department of Regulation in 2018 for acting as a central point of contact in the bank for all activities related to fintech.
The upgrading of that unit into its own department is aimed at promoting innovation in the sector, identifying the challenges and opportunities associated with it and addressing them in a timely manner. The department will also provide a framework for further research on the subject that can aid policy interventions by the bank, RBI said in a document.
“All matters related to the facilitation of constructive innovations and incubations in the fintech sector, which may have wider implications for the financial sector/markets and falling under the purview of the Bank, will be dealt with by the FinTech Department,” the document added.
DFAN and SCV announce co-investment partnership with a corpus of Rs 100 Cr
Digital Futurists Angels Network (DFAN), a global community-backed angel network, has announced a co-investing partnership with Solis Capital and Ventures Pvt Ltd (SCV), a boutique investment banking firm.
According to the official statement, this partnership is aimed to strengthen the startup ecosystem by actively investing in startups along with providing active mentorships, advisory, and business development. The plan is to co-invest and deploy a corpus of Rs 100 crore in technology startups over the next four years.
DFAN plans to end this fiscal with a 3x growth in the number of investments in startups compared to last year. The firm claims to have achieved a Y-o-Y growth of 185 percent in startup evaluations and has enviable strategic partnerships in co-investment, outreach, and knowledge.
AMO Electric to raise $100M to expand product range, sales infra next fiscal
Electric two-wheeler maker AMO Electric is looking to raise about $100 million next fiscal as it looks to scale up R&D to introduce new products, expand manufacturing capacity, and enhance sales infra across the country in order to consolidate its position in the sector.
The Noida-based company currently sells four electric scooters through a sales network of over 150 outlets across the country.
“The electric two-wheeler segment is poised for tremendous growth over the next few years. In order to consolidate our position, we are looking to raise around $100 million next financial year. This will give impetus to the R&D endeavours and enable us to try to be among the top three players in the industry,” AMO Electric Founder and MD Sushant Kumar told PTI in an interaction.
The company is in talks with various financial institutions for raising the capital, he added.
Kumar noted that the company plans to launch two new products in the current quarter and four new high speed products, including an electric bike, in the next fiscal.
“All the new models would be high speed (50-85 km/h) with a range of 120 plus kilometers and there would also be the option of swappable batteries,” he noted.
In terms of sales network, the company aims to have about 650 dealerships across the country enabling it to sell more units in the days to come.
Mcap of eight of top-1O most valued firms jumps by over Rs 2.50 lakh Cr
Eight of the top-ten most valued companies together added a whopping Rs 2,50,005.88 crore in market valuation last week amid a rally in the equity market, with Reliance Industries and Tata Consultancy Services emerging as the lead gainers.
Among the top ten, Infosys and Wipro emerged as the laggards.
Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani
The valuation of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) zoomed by Rs 46,380.16 crore to reach Rs 16,47,762.23 crore.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) added Rs 43,648.81 crore taking its valuation to Rs 14,25,928.82 crore.
In the ranking of top-1O firms, RIL remained the most valued company, followed by TCS, HDFC Bank, Infosys, HUL, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India and Wipro.
Ex-RBI governor Urjit Patel appointed Vice President of AIIB
Former RBI Governor Urjit Patel has been appointed as a Vice President of the Beijing-based multilateral funding institution AIIB, according to sources in the bank on Sunday.
India is a founding member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) with the second highest voting share after China. It is headed by former Chinese vice minister for finance Jin Liqun.
Urjit Patel (Image : Bloomberg)
Patel, 58, will be one of the five Vice Presidents of the AIIB with a three-year tenure. He is expected to take over his posting next month.
He will succeed outgoing Vice President DJ Pandian, who is in charge of sovereign and non-sovereign lending of the AIIB in South Asia, the Pacific Islands and South-East Asia, AIIB sources told PTI.
Pandian, who has previously served as the chief secretary of Gujarat, is set to return to India later this month.
Patel had taken over as the 24th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) succeeding Raghuram Rajan on September 5, 2016.
Patel resigned in December, 2018 “on account of personal reasons , saying I have decided to step down from my current position effective immediately”.
Samunnati’s GTV crosses Rs 10,000 cr mark in six years
Agritech firm Samunnati on Sunday announced that gross transaction value (GTV) across its financial and agri-market linkage businesses has crossed the Rs 10,000 crore mark within six years of scaled existence.
Founded in 2014, Chennai-based Samunnati said out of the total GTV achieved so far, about Rs 6000 crore was lending, while the remaining Rs 4,000 crore worth of commodities was transacted on its platform since inception.
Anil Kumar SG, Founder and CEO, Samunnati | Photo: Medium
Samunnati offers non-banking financial services as well as agri-market linkages to farmer producer organisations (FPOs) and agricultural enterprises in the value chain, besides engaged in institutional building.
Speaking to PTI, Samunnati Founder and CEO Anil Kumar SG said, “We have been doubling our growth year on year. The Rs 10,000 crore GTV mark is a significant milestone in the company’s journey”.
He said the company’s GTV in the ongoing 2021-22 financial year is expected to touch Rs 5,000 crore, higher than Rs 2,600 crore achieved in the previous fiscal.
The company’s GTV includes both loan disbursement and marketing.
