Connect with us

Technology

The electoral victory of the Modi-led coalition signals policy continuity in India – but also spending cuts

Published

on

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won India’s 2024 general elections, but with a smaller majority in comparison with 2019. According to post-election evaluation by Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, CLSA, UBS, Bernstein and Citi, this narrower mandate may urge the government – known for transforming India into a worldwide manufacturing powerhouse and making investments in sectors to cut back the country’s dependence on Western countries – to adopt a more populist stance in its third term, prioritizing the demands of lower-income segments and rural development.

A possible NDA victory signals policy continuity for enterprises and startups, with continued investment in infrastructure, digitalization and manufacturing. However, the narrower margin could prompt a reallocation of resources to rural and social welfare initiatives, which could impact some capital spending plans, brokerage firms warned. (About $45 billion in value was stripped from manufacturing giant Adani Group on Tuesday.)

The ruling party’s assertive stance on digital sovereignty and its recent clashes with Big Tech are also more likely to proceed. Over the past five years, Narendra Modi’s government has enforced or proposed a slew of regulations – including pushing to manage web apps, forcing streaming services to examine content for obscenity, and suing WhatsApp for requiring its Meta app to interrupt encryption – which have spooked big tech corporations .

New Delhi argues that it’s attempting to protect the interests of its residents through its proposals.

The likely agenda of the next NDA government. Image and projection: Citi

India, a U.S. ally, is also increasingly attempting to construct a technology stack that may compete with many popular and typically American offerings. For example, Rupay is India’s try and compete with the Visa and Mastercard card networks, while UPI, the interoperable real-time payments system built by Indian banks, has already grow to be ubiquitous in India and processes more transactions than all the card networks combined.

India has rapidly established itself as a worldwide manufacturing hub in recent years, attracting corporations including Apple, Samsung and Google by offering lucrative incentives to shift more of their assembly must India. Goldman Sachs and Citi said it is probably going that India will proceed to concentrate on the manufacturing sector, but fiscal allocation could also be lower than expected in the future.

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Technology

Revolut will introduce mortgage loans, smart ATMs and business lending products

Published

on

By

Revolutthe London-based fintech unicorn shared several elements of the corporate’s 2025 roadmap at a company event in London on Friday. One of the corporate’s important goals for next yr will be to introduce an AI-enabled assistant that will help its 50 million customers navigate financial apps, manage money and customize software.

Considering that artificial intelligence is at the middle of everyone’s attention, this move shouldn’t be surprising. But an AI assistant could actually help differentiate Revolut from traditional banking services, which have been slower to adapt to latest technologies.

When Revolut launched its app almost 10 years ago, many individuals discovered the concept of debit cards with real-time payment notifications. Users may lock the cardboard from the app.

Many banks now can help you control your card using your phone. However, they’re unlikely to supply AI features that might be useful yet.

In addition to the AI ​​assistant, Revolut announced that it will introduce branded ATMs to the market. These will end in money being spent (obviously), but in addition cards – which could encourage latest sign-ups.

Revolut said it plans so as to add facial recognition features to its ATMs in the longer term, which could help with authentication without using the same old card and PIN protocol. It will be interesting to see the way it implements this technology in a way that complies with European Union data protection regulations, which require explicit consent to make use of biometric data for identification purposes.

According to the corporate, Revolut ATMs will start appearing in Spain in early 2025.

Revolut has had a banking license in Europe for a while, which implies it may offer lending products to its retail customers. It already offers bank cards and personal loans in some countries.

Now the corporate plans to expand into mortgage loans – some of the popular lending products in Europe – with an emphasis on speed. If it’s an easy request, customers should generally expect immediate approval and a final offer inside one business day. However, mortgages are rarely easy, so it will be interesting to see if Revolut overpromises.

It appears that the mortgage market rollout will be slow. Revolut said it was starting in Lithuania, with Ireland and France expected to follow suit. Although all these premieres are scheduled for 2025.

Finally, Revolut intends to expand its business offering in Europe with its first loan products and savings accounts. In the payments space, it will enable business customers to supply “buy now, pay later” payment options.

Revolut will introduce Revolut kiosks with biometric payments especially for restaurants and stores.

If all these features seem overwhelming, it’s because Revolut is consistently committed to product development, rolling out latest features quickly. And 2025 looks no different.

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
Continue Reading

Technology

Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal is leaving PhonePe’s board

Published

on

By

Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal has stepped down three-quarters from PhonePe’s board after making an identical move on the e-commerce giant.

Bengaluru-based PhonePe said it has appointed Manish Sabharwal, executive director at recruitment and human resources firm Teamlease, as an independent director and chairman of the audit committee.

Bansal played a key role in Flipkart’s acquisition of PhonePe in 2016 and has since served on the fintech’s board. The Walmart-backed startup, which operates India’s hottest mobile payment app, spun off from Flipkart in 2022 and was valued at $12 billion in funding rounds that raised about $850 million last 12 months.

Bansal still holds about 1% of PhonePe. Neither party explained why they were leaving the board.

“I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Binny Bansal for being one of the first and staunchest supporters of PhonePe,” Sameer Nigam, co-founder and CEO of PhonePe, said in a press release. His lively involvement, strategic advice and private mentoring have profoundly enriched our discussions. We will miss Binny!”

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
Continue Reading

Technology

The company is currently developing washing machines for humans

Published

on

By

Forget about cold baths. Washing machines for people may soon be a brand new solution.

According to at least one Japanese the oldest newspapersOsaka-based shower head maker Science has developed a cockpit-shaped device that fills with water when a bather sits on a seat in the center and measures an individual’s heart rate and other biological data using sensors to make sure the temperature is good. “It also projects images onto the inside of the transparent cover to make the person feel refreshed,” the power says.

The device, dubbed “Mirai Ningen Sentakuki” (the human washing machine of the longer term), may never go on sale. Indeed, for now the company’s plans are limited to the Osaka trade fair in April, where as much as eight people will have the option to experience a 15-minute “wash and dry” every day after first booking.

Apparently a version for home use is within the works.

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com
Continue Reading
Advertisement

OUR NEWSLETTER

Subscribe Us To Receive Our Latest News Directly In Your Inbox!

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

Trending