Gearing up

As the annual festival season beckons, India's quick commerce startups are posing a stiff challenge to established players such as Amazon and Flipkart. Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart are adding costlier items and expanding stores, Mint reported. Most such quick commerce platforms already offer items such as earphones, toasters and induction cooktops, but are expected to expand stocks and add new categories for the festive season.

Shiny outlook

The World Bank is the latest to revise its 2024-25 GDP growth forecast for India, raising it to 7% from its previous estimate of 6.6%. The forecast comes days after India's GDP growth for the June-ended quarter came in at 6.7%, slowing from 7.8% in the preceding quarter. The slowdown came as government spending slipped during elections—but private consumption growth surged. The World Bank is betting on the services sector, capex spending and an uptick in private consumption to sustain India's growth.

Shopping list

$1 billion: That is the war chest the Adani group has built for acquisitions to boost the conglomerate's fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) business, Mint reported. Adani Wilmar, the group's FMCG arm, is in talks to buy at least three spices, ready-to-cook foods and packaged edibles brands in south and east India. The company, which was lying low in 2023 after the Hindenburg report, has staged a comeback this year with aggressive capex plans across verticals from cement to power businesses.

Health cover bugbear

One of the issues likely on the agenda in the 54th meeting of the Goods and Services Tax Council on Monday is the 18% tax slab on health and life insurance. The Centre has collected ₹24,500 crore in GST revenue from these insurance premiums in the past three years, but public health considerations are clashing with the government's revenue generation efforts, particularly due to the surge in premiums. Will the council cut the rate?

Small-ticket SIPs

At an industry event earlier this week, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch said that the regulator is "well on its way" to making a ₹250 systematic investment plan "a reality". She said an initiative is being worked on in collaboration with the mutual fund industry. The smaller-range SIPs are seen as a way to improve financial inclusion. Currently, mutual fund investors can invest through the SIP route with a minimum of ₹500 per month.

Paralympic glory

24: That's the number of medals snapped up by Indian athletes at the Paralympic Games in Paris, including 5 gold medals. This is the best-ever medal haul by India, surpassing 20 in the last edition. India has won medals across archery, athletics and badminton. A Mint article explained that the success of Paralympians is in part due to the broader significant advancement in use of assistive technology in Paralympic sports. This ensures the balance between fair competition and inclusivity.

Different tracks

India's manufacturing and services sector put up a divergent show in August. While the manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) slowed to a three-month low of 57.5, the services PMI rose to a five-month high of 60.9. Both numbers, however, are above the 50-mark that separates expansion from contraction. Manufacturing activity was moderated by slower demand and softer increases in new business. The pace of expansion in the services sector remained robust due to increase in new orders, particularly from domestic businesses.

Chart of the week: Realty ranks

India's real estate market has been categorized as 'transparent' for the first time in the Global Real Estate Transparency Index, compiled by property advisory JLL. The country's ranking climbed to 31 from 36 in the previous edition of the report in 2022. The real estate market in 89 countries is part of the index and the India rank is based on data from Tier-I cities.